1
00:00:02,133 --> 00:00:05,466
JUDY WOODRUFF: And now, 
for a Democrat's take, 
we turn to Senator Chris 
Van Hollen of Maryland.

2
00:00:06,600 --> 00:00:08,266
Senator, welcome back 
to the "NewsHour."

3
00:00:08,266 --> 00:00:10,633
Is there any sign 
of a breakthrough, 
as far as you know?

4
00:00:10,633 --> 00:00:12,600
SEN.

5
00:00:12,600 --> 00:00:15,400
CHRIS VAN HOLLEN (D), Maryland: 
I have not given up hope 
that we can get a vote in the

6
00:00:15,400 --> 00:00:20,400
Senate tomorrow to reopen the 
government for two weeks, until 
February 8, which would give

7
00:00:22,800 --> 00:00:26,966
us a little breathing 
room, a little space 
to end this madness, 
because a time-out really

8
00:00:28,966 --> 00:00:31,900
doesn't prejudice 
anybody's arguments.

9
00:00:31,900 --> 00:00:36,533
It would allow federal 
government employees to get 
their paychecks, to be repaid.

10
00:00:36,533 --> 00:00:38,566
They can pay their bills.

11
00:00:38,566 --> 00:00:42,900
It would allow us to do a 
little bit of the business of 
the federal government and then

12
00:00:42,900 --> 00:00:46,733
have a discussion to end 
this shutdown madness.

13
00:00:46,733 --> 00:00:49,433
JUDY WOODRUFF: But 
you're referring to the 
Democratic proposal.

14
00:00:49,433 --> 00:00:50,433
Is that right?

15
00:00:50,433 --> 00:00:51,966
SEN.

16
00:00:51,966 --> 00:00:53,566
CHRIS VAN HOLLEN: Well, it's not 
really a Democratic proposal.

17
00:00:53,566 --> 00:00:56,966
I would say the 
Democratic proposal is 
the one that I support.

18
00:00:56,966 --> 00:01:01,166
It was voted on the very 
first day of the session in 
the House of Representatives.

19
00:01:01,166 --> 00:01:03,200
It's in the Senate.

20
00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:06,466
It's had bipartisan Senate 
support, which would open the 
federal government and fully

21
00:01:06,466 --> 00:01:09,000
fund the agencies through 
the end of the fiscal year.

22
00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:11,766
So this is not that 
Democratic proposal.

23
00:01:11,766 --> 00:01:16,200
This is a stopgap 
measure, stopgap measure, 
two weeks' time-out.

24
00:01:16,200 --> 00:01:21,200
And, again, I don't think it's 
the greatest idea, but it's 
certainly the best alternative

25
00:01:22,633 --> 00:01:24,733
that we have in front of us 
right now to end the shutdown.

26
00:01:24,733 --> 00:01:29,233
JUDY WOODRUFF: But, as far as 
we know, right now, Republicans 
are not prepared to support

27
00:01:29,233 --> 00:01:30,400
that.

28
00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:32,266
They have got the 
majority in the Senate.

29
00:01:32,266 --> 00:01:36,200
You were just telling me 
you're about to go to a 
meeting of bipartisan senators.

30
00:01:36,200 --> 00:01:41,200
Is there some give on both sides 
that you think could reach some 
kind of agreement tomorrow?

31
00:01:41,900 --> 00:01:43,900
SEN.

32
00:01:43,900 --> 00:01:46,866
CHRIS VAN HOLLEN: Well, what 
I hope to come out of this 
meeting is an understanding that

33
00:01:46,866 --> 00:01:51,833
the best way forward tomorrow 
would be to open the government 
for this two-week period

34
00:01:53,500 --> 00:01:58,366
and give the Senate time 
to work on these issues 
in the regular order.

35
00:02:00,933 --> 00:02:03,633
So, we can consider the 
president's proposal, 
but it should also be 
subject to open amendment.

36
00:02:04,800 --> 00:02:06,833
Let people vote 
however they want.

37
00:02:06,833 --> 00:02:10,300
Let the American people 
know where they stand.

38
00:02:10,300 --> 00:02:15,300
Look, Lindsey Graham, 
Senator Graham proposed 
the idea of a three-week 
opening of the government

39
00:02:16,200 --> 00:02:18,533
a little while ago.

40
00:02:18,533 --> 00:02:23,500
This is even a smaller window, 
a shorter window, two weeks.

41
00:02:23,500 --> 00:02:25,566
And that would give a 
little breathing room here.

42
00:02:25,566 --> 00:02:29,033
JUDY WOODRUFF: Obviously, you 
have a lot of federal employees 
in the state of Maryland.

43
00:02:29,033 --> 00:02:31,266
What are you hearing from 
your constituents right now?

44
00:02:31,266 --> 00:02:32,733
SEN.

45
00:02:32,733 --> 00:02:34,800
CHRIS VAN HOLLEN: I'm 
hearing two things, Judy.

46
00:02:34,800 --> 00:02:38,433
First and foremost, people 
want to get back and do their 
jobs for the American people.

47
00:02:38,433 --> 00:02:43,433
I mean, these are people who 
are civil servants, but they're 
also telling stories about how

48
00:02:44,500 --> 00:02:46,166
they're getting totally 
squeezed, right?

49
00:02:46,166 --> 00:02:49,566
I mean, their paychecks 
have stopped, but the 
bills keep coming in.

50
00:02:49,566 --> 00:02:53,966
So lots of them are having 
trouble paying their 
rent and their mortgages.

51
00:02:53,966 --> 00:02:58,966
I spoke to the head of a 
community college recently who 
said that they were having to

52
00:02:58,966 --> 00:03:03,633
work out payment plans because 
parents who work for the 
federal government, parents who

53
00:03:03,633 --> 00:03:07,566
had students at college, 
couldn't make the monthly 
installment plans.

54
00:03:07,566 --> 00:03:09,733
So this is really 
squeezing the pocketbooks.

55
00:03:09,733 --> 00:03:14,733
And that's why you're seeing 
even those 100,000 employees who 
are still being asked to work

56
00:03:16,733 --> 00:03:19,766
without pay, they're not able 
to cover some of their very 
basic expenses, like getting

57
00:03:19,766 --> 00:03:21,266
to work.

58
00:03:21,266 --> 00:03:24,766
It's costing them to do their 
work for the federal government.

59
00:03:24,766 --> 00:03:29,433
JUDY WOODRUFF: Senator, on 
just the basic proposal here, 
the president wants some money

60
00:03:29,433 --> 00:03:32,300
at least for a physical wall.

61
00:03:32,300 --> 00:03:34,833
Democrats have supported 
that in the past.

62
00:03:34,833 --> 00:03:39,200
Why not go along with some 
of that now in order to get 
the government open again?

63
00:03:39,200 --> 00:03:41,233
SEN.

64
00:03:41,233 --> 00:03:45,200
CHRIS VAN HOLLEN: As you said, 
we have proposed physical 
barriers in strategic areas.

65
00:03:46,833 --> 00:03:51,066
What we will not do is 
operate under a total 
threat of shutdown.

66
00:03:52,966 --> 00:03:56,800
And the reason why is because 
this will become habit-forming 
for President Trump.

67
00:03:58,866 --> 00:04:03,166
If he thinks that every time 
he doesn't get his way, he can 
shut down the government like

68
00:04:03,166 --> 00:04:06,766
this, it will be a recipe for 
continuing government shutdowns.

69
00:04:06,766 --> 00:04:11,766
So I will say that, if you look 
at the proposal the president 
made the other day from the

70
00:04:13,800 --> 00:04:17,133
Oval Office, as you look more 
closely, it includes all these 
poison pills that he didn't

71
00:04:17,966 --> 00:04:20,166
talk about.

72
00:04:20,166 --> 00:04:23,966
It would actually change 
our asylum laws in ways 
which would make it much 
harder for unaccompanied

73
00:04:26,100 --> 00:04:31,100
adults who have been victims 
of sexual violence and were the 
victims of sexual trafficking

74
00:04:32,300 --> 00:04:33,800
to seek asylum in 
the United States.

75
00:04:33,800 --> 00:04:37,100
A lot of things like that 
that were in that proposal.

76
00:04:37,100 --> 00:04:42,100
We should not be holding 
the entire country 
hostage in the process.

77
00:04:43,500 --> 00:04:47,500
And that's why this two-week 
time-out is a good idea.

78
00:04:48,666 --> 00:04:50,333
It's not the best 
idea, by any means.

79
00:04:50,333 --> 00:04:52,666
But it is the best option 
on the table today.

80
00:04:52,666 --> 00:04:56,200
JUDY WOODRUFF: Senator Chris 
Van Hollen of Maryland, 
thank you very much.

81
00:04:56,200 --> 00:04:57,200
SEN.

82
00:04:57,200 --> 00:04:57,333
CHRIS VAN HOLLEN: Thank you.