U.S. Rep. David Cicilline is the guest this week on Political Roundtable.
The topics include Ukraine, President Biden, the outlook for elections this year in the U.S. House and more.
Cicilline, a Democrat, has represented the First Congressional District since first winning election in 2010.
Transcript:
IAN DONNIS: You say Vladimir Putin should pay a great cost for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, are economic sanctions going to be sufficient to achieve that goal and to get Putin to change course?
REP. CICILLINE: Well, I think the President has President Biden has done an extraordinary job in terms of developing an international coalition of the United States, our NATO partners and our allies around the world. To be certain that these sanctions are really crushing the first tranche of those sanctions were imposed. The President just announced additional sanctions, which will have a devastating impact on the Russian economy. And obviously, there are additional sanctions are going to be available over the next several weeks, depending on the conduct of Vladimir Putin. But it’s really one of the most powerful tools we have to prevent Vladimir Putin from having the ability to continue to finance this military aggression, it will have an impact on the Russian economy. There’s already some reporting that Russians are beginning to protest against the attack of Ukraine. This is one of the most powerful tools we have to impose really severe sanctions on Vladimir Putin. The President has been saying for several weeks, that if Putin in fact invades the sanctions would begin and that process has already started.
DONNIS: What is the next step? If Putin just sucks up the economic fallout and keeps prosecuting this invasion in Ukraine and perhaps seeks other geographic games?
CICILLINE: Well, the President announced that we were sending additional troops into Europe into the western flank of NATO, to support NATO countries. So I think that the message is very clear that obviously for NATO, the United States and the other NATO countries have a treaty obligation. If one country is attacked, we are all attacked. And so the President reiterated that if there is any incursion into a NATO country, Article Five is triggered, and that would require the direct military engagement of the United States and all of our NATO partners. So there are additional troops being sent into countries that we have those NATO obligations with. And I think that’s a message to Vladimir Putin, about any potential extension beyond Ukraine. And the President also announced again, that we’ll continue to support the Ukrainian people with financial assistance with military assistance in terms of arms and ammunition, training intelligence, as well as the Europeans and NATO allies in the region who are doing the same.
DONNIS: Your colleague US Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, said autocrats around the world are watching to see what happens with this invasion. What can the US do to better counter the spread of authoritarian regimes around the world,
CICILLINE: The United States can continue to support democracies around the world. And we do that in a variety of different ways: investing in democracy building and the rule of law and civil society. We do that through our diplomatic corps and through USAID, helping countries combat misinformation and propaganda that’s often used by dictators to stay in power, and then making sure we do everything we can to support emerging democracies like Ukraine. I was there recently, the United States has invested a lot in Ukrainians democracy, they’ve made tremendous progress. And so you know, making sure that we all stand up against dictators. America has a long tradition of that, and standing up for freedom. And we should continue to do that around the world.
DONNIS: Back here in the US, there’s been some good news about job growth, but a lot of Americans are concerned about inflation. Has President Biden done an effective job in messaging to Americans on the economy?
CICILLINE: Well, look, I mean, I think there’s no question that there’s been tremendous progress on the economy: almost 7 million jobs last year, record low unemployment rates. Two of the biggest challenges facing the economy and facing working families is inflation at the grocery store and inflation at the gas pump. Those are real challenges. The President’s done a lot to try to stabilize gas prices by releasing some from the petroleum reserve by directing agencies and the federal government to go after gouging where they can prove it. A lot of this is as a result of big corporations, particularly large corporations that have tremendous market share just raising prices because they can, taking advantage of this pandemic, to gouge consumers. Some of these corporations are making record profits and they’re just raising prices, because they can so I think the President has been speaking about that. I think you’re gonna hear him talk more about it during the State of the Union. Same thing with food prices. You know, I had a hearing in my committee, part of the reason food prices are going up is because these mega companies that control a giant share of the sector of our economy dealing with food are just raising prices because they can and just using this public health crisis as an opportunity to take advantage of working people. We need to bring more competition into all areas of our economy, including in our food supply, including in, you know, energy supply. And that’s part of the work that I’m doing in the antitrust subcommittee. But look, I think we all need to tout the work that we did, both in the American Rescue Plan in the bipartisan infrastructure bill, the work we’re trying to get done and build back better to help people, you know, get through this pandemic, to help rebuild the economy. And Democrats are guilty of one thing, we’ve been working hard with our head down trying to get this work done. I think over the next several months, you’re going to hear a lot more about, you know, explain to people what we’ve done and reinforcing and reminding people of what a difference it’s made, and that our Republican colleagues voted against every piece of this relief package.
DONNIS: President Biden’s approval rating is not so great. He’s going to be 80 years old in November, is he the best hope for Democrats in retaining the White House in 2024?
CICILLINE: That’s a long way off. That’s a decision the President will make I think if the President continues to deliver the results that he has delivered to the American people, that he’ll be a strong candidate for re-election in 2024. That’ll be a decision he makes, but I think Democrats are gonna win the midterms and win the next presidential election, not because we talk about it, but because we’ve delivered real results that improve people’s lives. And we have a Republican Party, that not only voted against every provision in the American Rescue Plan, to help small businesses to help working families to reduce the cost of childcare, and to reduce the cost of prescription drugs and everything that’s in that bill they voted against. They are the political party now of corruption and chaos, and insurrection. And I think the American people are not going to be prepared to give them control over anything in their lives.
DONNIS: Well, speaking of Republicans, the Washington Post recently reported on your view that you and your colleagues in the US House of Representatives need to do more to link current Republicans with former President Trump. But there has been coverage in the media, also of how Democrats internal polling shows that voters think Democrats went too far on COVID restrictions. Is there a gap between what you’re most concerned about and the top concerns of voters?
CICILLINE: No, look, I think the top concerns of voters, at least in speaking and listening to my constituents are inflation at the gas pump and inflation at the grocery store, people are really, really concerned about that. And I think we have to be very, very focused on that. In addition, I think people want to be sure that we’re getting through this pandemic, so that we ultimately defeat this virus and they can resume their lives and that when they resume their lives, that we’re building an economy that actually works better for folks and includes everyone. I think that’s the work we’re doing. I think the other thing that we have to do is we’ve got to contrast ourselves with the Republicans, you know, this is not your mother and father’s Republican Party that just had, you know, certain views on tax policy or environmental policy. This is a party that is aligned with an attempt to, you know, overturn the results of a presidential election, that think people who killed police officers and you know, injured dozens of police officers, damaged US Capitol should be pardoned, because they’re patriots, that this was legitimate political discourse, rather than a bloody attack on our democracy. I mean, this is a Republican party that has really lost its way that is a party promoting the big lie and corruption and chaos in people’s lives. And I don’t think that that’s a winning argument for the Republican Party. And so we’ve got to be sensitive to the current issues that our people are struggling with. Be sure we tell people what we’re doing to make things better, and contrast ourselves with the Republican Party that I think is very dangerous in 2022.
DONNIS: You put out a statement this week criticizing Fox News as a propaganda outlet you recently appeared on Fox News with Tucker Carlson, some people might say the bigger issue is how cable news is dominated by opinions rather than fact-based journalism. But what do you consider the solution if Fox functions more as a propaganda outlet than a news organization?
CICILLINE: One thing we have to do as citizens of our democracy is we’ve got to develop better media literacy so that we, that people have the ability to listen to something and then make a determination as to whether or not it’s accurate. I mean, Tucker Carlson is not news. It’s an opinion show. And now a mouthpiece for, you know, Vladimir Putin. So that’s very dangerous. If people think that he is somehow reporting facts reporting news, we continually have to speak the truth, because the truth matters. And I think when people are saying things which are untrue, we need to call them out. But I think one of the big problems we’ve seen in the decline of local news is because of the power of these large technology platforms that are basically making it impossible for newspapers and radio and television, and particularly local newspapers and radio and television, to stay in business because they’re taking their content, and they’re appropriating it and using it and so I have a piece of legislation to specifically address that because local journalism is how we hold power to account it’s how people get trustworthy, reliable, information on what’s happening in their communities, and how we ensure that our democracy functions properly. So this is a serious problem. We’ve got to do something about it to help support local journalism. We also have to take on the use of these large platforms that, that facilitate the spread of misinformation, propaganda, hate speech, at record speed to record numbers of people.
DONNIS: How much advance notice did you get that your colleague Jim Langevin was planning not to seek re-election this year?
CICILLINE: He called me that morning, early that morning before he made the announcement in the afternoon.
DONNIS: And the expectation is that Republicans will take over control of the US House in elections this year. If that’s the case, what difference does it make if Langevin’s successor is a Republican if that’s if that’s not the deciding vote for Republican control in the house?
CICILLINE: I absolutely don’t accept your premise that Republicans will take over. I think what’s going to happen is we’re going to finally defeat this virus and, and the communities in our state will re-open fully and the impact of the investments we’ve made to help build people’s lives back will be fully felt, the inflation rates will level off, and I think you’re gonna see the President’s numbers go up tremendously. And when Americans are reminded of what we did, and who stood in the way, I think we’re gonna grow our majority in the House, hold on to the Senate. And so I don’t think that’s the case. But look, the most important thing is that the party in power decides what the agenda is, we have an agenda that is focused on working families, cutting costs, from everything from prescription drugs, to healthcare to child care, the Republican Party has stood up against every single one of those things that helps working folks, the last big thing they did was give a gigantic tax cut to the richest people in this country. And the first vote that a Republican would take is to make Kevin McCarthy, Speaker of the House. That would be bad for Rhode Island, it would be bad for our country. And it makes a difference who the majority party is because that sets the agenda. The agenda that Republicans have put forth is not good for the country. It’s not good for working people, it’s certainly not good for Rhode Island. So it makes a big difference that we not send one vote, one more vote for Kevin McCarthy to Washington.
DONNIS: Rhode Island Attorney General Peter neurona, last week rejected the proposed merger between Lifespan and Care New England, do you think he got that decision right?
CICILLINE: You know, I just started to read it’s a very lengthy, very exhaustive review of the application. And I will confess that I just began reading it actually yesterday. I have confidence that he studied it carefully that he applied the law appropriately. I have always been concerned about ensuring that Rhode Islanders have access to high quality health care, our hospital system is a critical part of that. So I think, I hope there will be some additional discussions how we can ensure that happens. But I think, you know, the thing that he raises, at least in the first pages of the review is about the concentration of you know, 80% or so of the market into one entity that just you know, has sort of red flags and warning signs to me, just in terms of just general antitrust law. Now, there may be things that were specific about Rhode Island that made it different. And, you know, as I said, haven’t read the whole thing. We have to be sure that we are working to make certain that everyone Rhode Islander has access to high quality, affordable health care. And you know, one of the things that drives innovation is competition. And the absence of competition often results in higher prices, less quality, less choices, harmful impacts on workers, so I’ll read it carefully and review it and but I think we have to all work together to figure out how we make sure our hospitals are strengthened and Rhode Islanders have access to really high quality care.
