WASHINGTON—United States Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN), a member of the Senate Banking, Foreign Relations, and Rules Committees and former U.S. Ambassador to Japan, yesterday joined Balance of Power on BloombergTV to discuss Democrats’ refusal to fix the southern border crisis, as well as the Department of Defense (DOD) nomination holds, and the negative effects of the Basel Endgame Proposal.
Partial Transcript
Hagerty on Democrats wanting to fund other countries’ borders, but not our own southern border: “It’s not just domestic politics; this is about our national security and sovereignty as a nation. And I think it’s very difficult to justify to American taxpayers that we won’t even protect our own sovereignty, yet we want to take American taxpayer funds and use [them] to protect the sovereignty and people of another nation. So, we need to address this; I think Republicans are making it clear we’ve had it. We have an emergency and a crisis at our southern border, and it must be addressed […] I think there’s a lot of discussion that is taking place right now. It’s still early for me to be able to say whether a deal [has been made]; certainly, it hasn’t formulated to a point that I’ve seen any text or had anything to review. But the conversations are underway; I think they’re very serious conversations, and I think the Democrats are coming to the realization that the Republicans are dead serious about fixing our southern border.”
Hagerty on negotiating the policy changes proposed in H.R.2: “I think that the contents of H.R.2 are laudable. That’s certainly something that I would be supportive of if we can get that done here. And I think the question becomes: How close to the goals of H.R.2 can we get in these negotiations? […] What we’ve got is a situation where the current Administration just ignores the law, so we’re going to have to put in place something that’s enforceable, something that this Administration will not be able to get around, and something that will, in fact, secure our border once and for all.”
Hagerty on Tuberville’s DOD nomination holds: “I think Senator [Tommy] Tuberville is taking a very close look at a way to address this. I frankly think that this policy that the Pentagon has adopted violates the Hyde Amendment; I think it’s against the law. I’d like to see this fixed, and the [National Defense Authorization Act] is possibly the vehicle to get it done, and it’s going to happen soon.”
Hagerty on Tuberville’s commitment to finding a solution: “I certainly think that Senator Tuberville means everything that he says. He’s certainly a man of his word, and I am certain that I did not hear that exact comment. But I’m certain that he’s working hard—he’d like to see this addressed as well—but there’s a very serious policy concern that he’s trying to address. He’s operating within his rights as a United States Senator; we’d all like to see this resolved.”
Hagerty on Schumer’s proposed rule change resolution to circumvent Tuberville’s holds: “That’s certainly not the desired vehicle. What he would be doing is taking away standard rights that Senators have; I think we can find another way to address it…I’d much rather see it take the form of something like an amendment to the NDAA or another vehicle, certainly not this rule change.”
Hagerty on the negative effects of Basel Endgame Proposal: “I think the thing we’re all concerned about right now is this proposed Basel Endgame and what the effect will be on the capital requirements of these banks. If capital requirements go up, that means there’s going to be less funds to lend here in America. It’s going to have a dampening effect on our competitiveness; I’m very concerned about it. I’m looking forward to hearing from these CEOs how they think that this Basel Endgame Proposal will affect their banks.”
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