Senator Marshall: Democrats Want to Defund the Police

Senator Marshall Joins Mornings with Maria

Salina - U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-Kansas), joined Fox Business' Mornings with Maria with Maria Bartiromo to discuss the Democrats' continuing refusal to fund DHS and the Republican plan moving forward, why Republicans haven't ended the filibuster, the Pentagon's ask for more funding, the SAVE Act, and President Trump's wins for American farmers.

Click HERE or on the image above for Senator Marshall's full interview

On funding DHS, border patrol, and ICE:

"Yeah, I think in principle, yes. Unfortunately, the Democrats are never going to fund ICE or Border Patrol, so we have to do something. And I'm as frustrated as my colleagues on the House side are - I can't believe we cannot get seven Democrats to come across the aisle and vote in favor of our national security. In a country with 50 million noncitizens in our country, some legal, some illegal, they won't fund Border Patrol, they won't fund ICE. So we have to do something. I think the reconciliation process is probably the ticket to do it. And now you know, the question is, for how long do we do it? Do we fund just ICE and border patrol, or do we fund all of DHS and just take Democrats out of the equation? Lastly, remember, the Democrats waited 30 days from the time DHS was shut down before they would even engage in talks, and the talks were never serious."

On ending the filibuster:

"Well, you know, Maria, I spent hours and hours trying to think through this. I'm willing to end the filibuster for certain things: national security, voting integrity, those would be a couple of things I'm willing to do it for. But a third of our conference isn't, and I respect where they're coming from. The filibuster protects you when you're in the minority, and keeps wide swings, say, in tax policy and other issues, and it protects small states as well, so the filibuster has its place. I wish we could enshrine it in the Constitution, because I do fear the Democrats will end it the next time they control the Senate."

"Yeah, Maria, so I've done that calculus, and I agree with you, so I'm willing to do it. But I'm telling you, a third of the Republican caucus, very thoughtful men and women, are not. They're so concerned that they want to protect us when we're a minority. I respect them, and there's not a right or wrong answer on this. This is one of the toughest - you know I've spent as much time with this as the decision where to go to medical school, what to major in college. All those major decisions, I've given that much thought to this, and it is not black and white."

On defense funding:

"Well, Maria, I think spending a trillion dollars is plenty. I'm going to call the Pentagon out on this - look we knew that a drone war was coming, but we weren't ready for it, it's so frustrating. Over, I think, three years ago, I was in Israel and met the person who invented a laser that would do the job that we're talking about. I think within the next year, Israel will have that laser installed. The challenge with lasers is as they get up further and further from the source, the energy dissipates, so we need a laser that actually reaches out and touches something. So it could be like 30 cents at each shot, rather than a million dollars a shot. But our Pentagon and our defense manufacturers were so dug in on these million-dollar missiles at the time, they had no interest in doing that. I think we're spending plenty of money, we need to reorganize and rethink how we're spending it."

On passing a reconciliation package:

"Absolutely on board with it. I'm on the Budget Committee, I've been pushing for this for over a month that we needed to do a reconciliation package. The question is, how much and for how long, what part of voter integrity could survive the Byrd Rule, all those types of things as well. And hopefully, in this two weeks when we're not in DC, people can put their heads on and think through a reconciliation package so we get back there, we can get it through the process, the Senate floor, the House floor, within another week's time."

On putting the SAVE Act in a reconciliation package:

"I'm afraid we can't put all of it in there, Maria. I think that we can nip around the edges, I think that we can work on them going through their own registration lists, making the elections more secure. But getting the voter ID in there? I don't see how that survives the Parliamentarian."

On President Trump's support for farmers:

"Yeah, I think the President has done more for the American farmer than any administration has ever done. Let's start with the $50 billion for the Rural Health Transformation fund, another $50 billion for crop insurance, $40 billion in Farm Aid, 20 trade deals are done, that's going to mean $60 billion of trade as well, and then what he went through increasing the renewable volume. So he's going to increase the amount of renewable diesel made from soybeans by 60%. So you're seeing people out right now, my farmers are choosing, 'Do we plant corn or do we plant soybeans?' because of increased trade and because of what the President has done with the renewable diesel volumes. Then they're going to require more and more diesel fuel from soybeans, maybe a 15% consumption of the soybean."

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