- And joining us now,Indiana Senator, Mike Braun.
Senator, welcome.
So at today's hearing yougot Doctors Fauci and Collins
to agree with you about the need
to understand the originsof the coronavirus.
Were you satisfied with their answers
or did they need to say more
in order to maybe winback some lost credibility
when it comes to theinception of the virus?
- So when it comes to Dr. Fauci,
that is as much as you'regonna ever get him pinned down.
And I tried to do it
to where I got him toagree with transparency.
And then, there at the end,
without saying they directly request that
from President Biden,
they know that releasing the information
that we have through the Directorof National Intelligence,
and through the DHS,that that makes sense.
So, no, I was satisfiedthat for as much as,
especially Dr. Fauci's beenout on a broad spectrum
of issues when it comes tothe covid saga, that here,
that's about as far asyou're gonna get him to go,
to say that he believes in transparency
and that yes,
we should probably look atall the information we have.
So, I was pleased with it.
- Senator Braun, another big issue here
in Washington is infrastructure.
President Biden set a timelinefor a deal on infrastructure.
We know the senate ispreparing to go on recess.
Senator Braun, any hope
of a bipartisan deal being worked out?
- I don't think so.
Because I think you can take your cue
from what happened with the rescue act,
the American, you know, the actthat went through for covid.
But, the covid relief packagewas not spent on covid relief.
Less than 10% of it.
Here, we've gone from 2.3trillion down to 1.7 trillion,
and you're not gonna findmany republicans, I think,
interested in infrastructure,
unless you're gonna have some discussion
on how you're gonna pay for it.
But I think they're gonnago through the process
to say that they've tried
and then do exactly what theydid with the rescue bill,
do what they want withprobably no republican support.
- Yeah, we will see.
And Mitt Romney also saying he was against
the 1 trillion dollarfigure for infrastructure.
Senator, what about thebipartisan commission
on the capital attack?
You said that day that it waswrong, unacceptable and ugly.
Do you support or opposethe idea of this commission?
- We've been working on that.
The democrats have been so adamant
about letting the proper agencies,
law enforcement, do their job
and I don't think when yougo through 450 arrests,
when you have the committeehearings that we've had,
then you've gotta justifythis for the political effect
of just dragging it into the 2022 election.
So, I don't think there'sgonna be much support
other than maybe a handfulof republican senators
that are gonna be interested
in giving them a political gift
that they will belabor and belabor,
when the FBI's been working on it
every day since January 6th.
We've had senate committeestalkin' about it.
Its clearly a political adventure
on the other side of the aisle.
- There's talk of banning the filibuster
over this commission issue, and to that,
if democrats wind upeliminating, Senator Braun,
the 60 vote rule,
whether it is on the commission
to investigate the insurrectionor on infrastructure,
what will the fallout be?
How will you and your colleagues
on the republican conference respond?
- That means that you've gotten rid
of any chance of bipartisanship
and I've been here a littleunder two and a half years
and we have evolved in that time
in a place where one sideof the aisle believes
in the federal governmentto do everything.
And, we're really that far apart
when it comes to things weoughta be willing to do together.
Maybe making sure we defend our country,
infrastructure, if you defineit the way we all knew it
before this discussion,
roads, bridges, rail,air, inland water ways,
rural broadband, maybe sewerand water treatment plants,
but there's a host of otherthings in there as well.
So, I don't know.
I think that sometimesthis has to get solved
at the ballot box and I hope in 2022,
people are paying attentionwhat we're doin' now.
- So, Senator, we wannatalk to you about this bill
that you had that would make it illegal
to research or create hybridsbetween humans and animals.
First, what prompted this?
And second, is there any concern
your bill potentiallylimits ethical research
in new medical therapiesfor cancer treatment
or other debilitating diseases?
- For those not familiar with it,
a chimera is the combination of cells
of two different species.
China has actually been dabblingin that with primate cells.
Here, in our own U.S.,
we've already mixed 4%of human cells into mice,
you know, to try to findtherapeutic remedies for things.
But, to me, this brings up a whole range
of ethical concerns when you look
at the sanctity of life in general,
is that the domain of God?
Or is that the domain of the laboratory?
This is a place where weneed to make a solid stand
that its enough is enough
and that we don't go any further with it.
And this would actually make it a crime
if you did this here inthe U.S. in a laboratory.
- Finally, Senator, we wanna talk to you
about what you, SenatorCruz, and Leader McConnell
recently introduced,
its the Don't Weaponize the IRS Act.
The goal, as I understand,
is to protect conservativenon-profit groups.
Senator Braun, why do thesegroups need to be protected?
- We cannot have any of that money
that is gonna be sold
on trying to better collectwhat's owed the U.S. government,
to have the federalgovernment doing what it did
back in the Obama years
and trying to discriminateagainst conservative groups
when they try to get theirstatus set up as an entity.
We've got, and this is hard to believe,
I brought that bill out,
the first co-sponsor was Leader McConnell,
and we've got, I think,46 republican senators,
just lacking 4,
that have signed on to that.
Normally, that would take months
to get that many onyour own side interested
in a given bill.
- Alright, well thereis a long list of things
you all are dealing with up there.
Senator Mike Braun of Indiana,
we appreciate you taking the time with us.
Thank you so much.
- My pleasure.
