Congress is set to vote on a border security bill Thursday, which would keep the government from shutting down at midnight Friday. President Trump says he does not like the bill, because it includes a fraction of the money he's demanded to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. On the eve of a possible shutdown, Congresswoman Katherine Clark joined Joe Mathieu to discuss the bill and its likelihood of passing. The transcript below has been edited for clarity.
Joe Mathieu: Are you going to pass this bill today?
Rep. Katherine Clark: We are. The bill will be coming up today in the House of Representatives. And we believe that, while it's not the bill that Democrats would have written on our own, it is a good bipartisan deal that is strong on border security, and we think that the president should sign it.
Mathieu: Pretty unusual at this stage of the game, Congresswoman, to not know if the president is going to support this.
Clark: Well, the hallmark of this presidency that he governs by chaos and creating drama. Unfortunately, it was federal employees and their families, and the American economy, that really suffered in the shutdown that he caused at the beginning of the year. We think that he has learned that is not the way to govern — that by standing up to him in the House of Representatives and saying you have to open government then we will negotiate — that he has learned that this is not an appropriate way to have a policy dispute. That you don't take federal employees hostage, that you come to the table and strike a deal. That's what we've done, we've lived up to our end of the bargain, our responsibilities to the American people, and we certainly hope he will live up to his.
Mathieu: Our listeners are all asking the same questions that I suspect your constituents are asking, Congresswoman. Is the government going to stay open this weekend?
Clark: I am confident that the government is going to stay open. I think that we have created a strong bipartisan deal. And it will allow us to make smart investments in border security, and at the same time, we also are putting forward six other bills that have rejected President Trump's deep budget cuts and make great investments in the American people — whether it's housing or infrastructure, supporting our small businesses. So these are bills that that are ready to go. And we are going to be voting on them today, and we think that the White House will join us in signing up.
Mathieu: President Trump has said several times recently that they have already begun building a wall, they simply need to finish it. Is that true?
Clark: No, in a word. We have seen this president change his concept over a wall spanning our southern border many times. It's been concrete. It was going to be a very large steel wall, a see-through wall. Now, apparently, he is building a wall made of air. I think this is a pivot for him to try and find an exit ramp on a failed strategy of this wall for him and his base, and he can do what he feels he needs to do. But this was a political applause line that really ground our economy to a halt and took him $11 billion out of it. That's not the way to govern. It's not living up to the responsibilities that we have to the American people, and we hope with this bipartisan deal we're going to be able to move on and get to the agenda that Democrats have been promoting — investing in our infrastructure, reducing healthcare costs, and cleaning up corruption in politics.
Mathieu: Well, that actually was my next question, Congresswoman, as vice chair of the Democratic caucus, I suspect that you're looking forward to embracing and pursuing the Democratic agenda once we get through all of this, and I noticed yesterday that the House Judiciary Committee passed HR8 — the Bipartisan Background Checks Act. You tweeted about that. This is the type of progress that Democrats are looking for.
Clark: Exactly. Today is the anniversary of the shootings at Parkland, and we are so grateful that the Judiciary Committee passed that bill. And Americans understand that we have to address the public health crisis of gun violence and that a smart bill a bill that is supported by 97 percent of Americans saying let's keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people is a great start to reducing violence in our communities at home in Massachusetts.
