Transcript: 10 Freshmen Lawmakers Talk With Diane Sawyer

Newly-elected Tea Party members talk about their hopes for Congress.

ByABC News
November 4, 2010, 12:30 PM

Jan. 05 , 2010 — -- DIANE SAWYER:Welcome. Here you are. Can you believe it? Anybody-- anybody still a little stunned?

FRANK GUINTA:I think we're ready to go.

DIANE SAWYER:Yeah?

FRANK GUINTA:We're-- we're anxious to get to work.

DIANE SAWYER:All right. Let me do something. I just want to go around each of you and ask you to give me the one word that best expresses what you felt when you walked in knowing you were here.

FRANK GUINTA:Conviction.

MARLIN STUTZMAN:I'd say humbled.

RAND PAUL:The imminence of the problems.

MIKE LEE:Expensive. (LAUGH)

DIANE SAWYER:You mean as in--

MIKE LEE:Washington is expensive. (LAUGH)

MIKE LEE:It costs the American People a lot of money.

DIANE SAWYER:Ah.

SCOTT TIPTON:I'd say humility.

VICKY HARTZLER:Determined.

PAUL GOSAR:Energized.

MICHAEL GRIMM:Responsibility.

MO BROOKS:Gravity. As in the gravity of the situation that we face as a country.

TIM HUELSKAMP:Probably humility.

DIANE SAWYER:So, where-- who's gonna live in their office? (LAUGH) We read that some of you are gonna be sleeping in your offices?

MALE VOICE:Not I.

DIANE SAWYER:No?

MALE VOICE:My wife said--

DIANE SAWYER:You are?

PAUL GOSAR:I am. (LAUGH) I'm one of the sleepers. (LAUGH)

DIANE SAWYER:And have you got your-- one of-- what do you have? A sleeping bag? A sofa?

PAUL GOSAR:I've got this little small pup tent-- I-- no, I'm just kidding. No, blowup mattress. They work out very, very well.

DIANE SAWYER:You're gonna do this the whole time?

PAUL GOSAR:Start out right now. And get up my feelings for the-- the job. I-- I usually-- go to bed late and get up early. So, I'm one of those strange people. So, hey. Cater to my-- to my little whims.

DIANE SAWYER:And-- what-- you're-- you're the second dentist, yes?

PAUL GOSAR:I'm-- I'm the second dentist currently. John Lender (PH) was also a dentist and so was Charlie Norwood (PH). But John Lender just retired. So, I-- I am one of the-- a fearsome duo.

DIANE SAWYER:Because we've been-- we've been marveling and-- and-- telling everyone about the great variety, the infinite variety of people arriving in Congress now. From all walks of life. And it strikes me there are two dentists, two ophthalmologists?

RAND PAUL:I think so.

DIANE SAWYER:So, you've got-- you've got more than a quorum here. (LAUGH)

RAND PAUL:I think we need more people from different walks of life. I think-- we need more people that have been outside of government service. I think one of the interesting things in the Senate is-- is that we have several people who have never held office before. I've never been in any office. In fact, I joked that I ran for student council in the sixth grade and was defeated and was demoralized and never ran again till I ran for the U.S. Senate. I think Mike has not held office before.

MIKE:That's right.

DIANE SAWYER:So, you were-- and you've been talking about the fact that you bring a completely different perspective. I think you said— Doctor Gosar - at one point that you don't speak foreign languages, but you speak hick?

PAUL GOSAR:I do. (LAUGH)

DIANE SAWYER:Can you say a word in hick for us?

PAUL GOSAR:We don't want to go there. (LAUGH)

DIANE SAWYER:So, anybody surprised yet? Anybody encountered something you truly did not expect?

TIM HUELSKAMP:Diane, I guess I was surprised by the gravity of the situation and seemingly the lack of a crisis response. When you look at $14 trillion of debt and all of the problems in this country. And-- and-- things seem status quo around here. So, I-- I guess that surprised me.

DIANE SAWYER:I was-- I-- I read that you had said there doesn't seem to be enough sense of urgency. From whom? From the re-- the leadership? Even the Republican leadership? From whom?

TIM HUELSKAMP:No, just Wa-- Washington in general. I mean, the American People are ready for some changes. And-- they expect that-- to be delivered. And-- and-- you know, one party was thrown out. And-- and-- they're expecting us to-- to make a difference. And-- so, to see the lack of urgency amongst the people already here was-- was surprising in a way to me.

DIANE SAWYER:I want to ask about some of the first encounters, for instance. To-- the Constitution will be read. How many of you carry-- can you just raise your hand. How many people carry a Constitution with you?

FRANK GIUNTA:Got mine right here.

MARLIN STUTZMAN:Right here.

DIANE SAWYER:And is there a passage of it you're waiting most to be read?

MIKE LEE:I think the part that needs to be read the most is Article I, Section 8. Read in tandem with the Tenth Amendment. It's Article I, Section 8, together with the Tenth Amendment that tells us basically what Congress's powers are. And everything on that list is something Congress can and should do. And for the most part, if it's not in Article I, Section 8, odds are pretty good Congress doesn't really have the authority to do it. Or it's using a really expansive interpretation of one of its integrated powers in order to try to do that.

RAND PAUL

And-- and a good point about it is-- is, you know, there was a writer from a prominent network recently who said, "Oh, the Constitution's written over 100 years ago, we couldn't possibly understand it." The thing is, is recently-- and this is not an arcane subject. Obamacare passed, the health care takeover passed, and we have a federal judge who says that the commerce clause doesn't allow this. The commerce clause is an important part of the Constitution, but it doesn't mean anything.

And the-- the judge says that inactivity is not commerce. Because if inactivity, me not doing anything, choosing not to buy insurance, if that's commerce, they can regulate anything. My walking, my breathing, my talking. If they can regulate inactivity. So, it's important that we know about the Constitution.

DIANE SAWYER:The New York Times, Senator, said that you felt that the New York Times-- that the Constitution, not the New York Times (LAUGH) actually had a divine quality. That was their words. Is that--

MIKE LEE:I-- I believe the Constitution was written by wise men. And I believe that they were raised up by divine providence to that very purpose. They came at a particular place and time in history when-- ev-- events were right for limited self government here in America. And-- it's-- it's something that we need to respect. Just like all of our laws. But it's our law of laws and we've gotta respect it and we have to honor it.

And among its most prominent attributes. And I think first and foremost among them is the concept that our founding fathers did not want a centralized national government with general police powers. With the power to regulate on any subject.

DIANE SAWYER:So-- have you come here to storm the place? (LAUGH) Right word? What's the verb?

MARLIN STUTZMAN:You know, I was surprised that the Constitution had not been read in Congress for so long. And that this is really almost setting precedent. And I think it's about time. Because, you know, I-- I consider myself a constitutional conservative. Serving in the state legislature, I-- I have seen and experienced what the federal government does to the states. And they continue to tie our hands.

SCOTT TIPTON:I think a lot of the purpose actually is to bring really just restore some common sense back to Washington. You know, coming from rural Colorado, you see an overreach of government into our daily lives. And-- I think that-- you know, a lot of people will point to the Constitution-- the Constitution speaks to common sense. And that's what people expect to see out of government. They want the opportunity to be able to lead their lives and to be able to build for their futures without unnecessary interference coming out of Washington.

MICHAEL GRIMM:I also think it's an important to look at the framers point of view when they were drafting the Constitution. Yes, there was a tremendous amount of wisdom, but they also had something to look at. They looked at the way England was doing business and they said, "What's wrong? What's broken? And let's write a document so that our government doesn't make these mistakes." And they put in safeguards to prevent the United States from having the problems that almighty England had. And the irony of it is that we've gotten away from the Constitution. We stopped respecting the way we were founded and sure enough, we're having some of those exact problems.

DIANE SAWYER:A couple of questions-- again about this first experience. Some of you, not all of you for sure-- come in as Tea Party candidates. How many of you, in this moment, feel you're Tea Party first, Republican second?

FRANK GUINTA:I feel I'm American first. And that I'm here to reflect and represent New Hampshire. And to change the direction of the nation. And I'm proud that I've got so many supporters, whether they're Tea Party members or Republicans or independents as New Hampshire is so well known for. Sending me here to do a job and to be effective in doing that job.

DIANE SAWYER:And American first, Tea Party second?

VICKY HARTZLER:Well, I'm a member of the fourth district of Missouri. And we just believe it's common sense to have limited government and lower taxes. And-- we were maybe Tea Party before Tea Party was cool. We don't see a divide. It's just-- the common sense. It's the way that we're supposed to be.

DIANE SAWYER:And one more question about arriving. Have you found everything yet? (LAUGH) Bathrooms?

MALE VOICE:Certainly not.

DIANE SAWYER:Cafeteria?

VICKY HARTZLER:No.

DIANE SAWYER:No?

VICKY HARTZLER:I need a map of the tunnels.

MICHAEL GRIMM:Yeah, the capital police are exceptionally good at-- pointing us in the right direction. So, they've been wonderful. Extremely gracious. And I'm always turned around. I have a bad sense of direction to begin with. But when I got here, the first thing I did was find one of the-- the men or women in blue and said, "Hey, where do I go-- for this?" And-- and they've been great. So, they-- they're a big help for us. Big help. (UNINTEL PHRASE).

DIANE SAWYER:And you were saying that-- that the-- that the parking lot costs more than--

MO BROOKS:Well, in shopping, my wife and I decided that we were going to live here-- in addition to sustain a home back in-- the Tennessee valley-- of Alabama. And we were surprised to discover that to buy a place where you can park your car cost more than our first house. That was remarkable.

DIANE SAWYER:So-- any of you run into-- to former Speaker Pelosi yet?

MARLIN STUTZMAN:I was actually sworn in November 16th because of a special election. And-- was sworn in on November 16th and met her then. And-- so, I was-- had the experience of serving through the lame duck session.

DIANE SAWYER:So, many of you campaigned against her. What's the first word going to be when you see her?

MO BROOKS:My first word will be, "Hi." (LAUGH) You know, we--

DIANE SAWYER:But what's your first thought gonna be after campaigning against her so hard?

MO BROOKS:Well, it's professional.

DIANE SAWYER:Which you really did.

MO BROOKS:It's-- it's not personal. She has a different ideology. It's not an ideology we share. It's not an ideology that we believe is in the best interest of America. But she's entitled to her ideological beliefs. But that's on a professional level. On a personal level, I'll be happy to go out with-- to lunch with her. Chat with her. But we're gonna fight pretty hard when it comes down to some of the basic beliefs that we have. Whether we're gonna be socialists, for example, or believe in the free enterprise system. Those are basic tenets. And I think everybody here who was elected and the Republican side, we have a common understanding of where we're coming from and where our country needs to go.

(OVERTALK)

RAND PAUL:I was just gonna interject that-- that's-- I had one chance to speak with the President. And I told him that from one who is seen as being associated with the Tea Party, I want to make sure he knows that I want a civil discourse. Because sometimes in the media, they've portrayed 100,000 people at a crowd and one guy with a mean sign towards the President. That's not me holding that sign or any of these people. We want a polite discussion. And we disagree. And it can be very strong disagreement. And his response was, "Yeah, we can disagree and not be disagreeable." And I agree completely.

DIANE SAWYER:In fact, I read that your children would like to meet the Obama daughters?

RAND PAUL:We're still workin' on that. We would love to. Yes.

MARLIN STUTZMAN:I think that's one thing that, you know, we all need to remember is that, you know, politics, even though it's been really rough, is that we are all human beings first. And that it is more important for us to have civil dialogue. And you know what? I'm conservative, but I'm not mad about it. I-- I can do it with a smile on my face. And we can have civil discourse. And we can realize that there are some points, we are gonna just disagree upon. And that's-- that's okay, but hopefully--

DIANE SAWYER:But Senator, there was a sense that everybody had come to storm the place. I-- I mean--

MIKE LEE:I-- I couldn't disagree more. I could not disagree more. The-- the idea behind the Tea Party Movement is neither partisan nor is it angry. I think it's-- it's widely been misunderstood and in some cases, unfortunately, it's been deliberately misrepresented.

DIANE SAWYER:But are you gonna disappoint a lot of people out there who wanted you to be angry?

MIKE LEE:No, they don't want us to be angry, Diane. What they want--

DIANE SAWYER:Righteously--

MIKE LEE:--is for us to stand for the proposition--

DIANE SAWYER:--in their view.

MIKE LEE:--that the federal government is too big and it's too expensive. Because it's trying to do too many things. It's trying to tell us where to go to the doctor and how to pay for it. It's not supposed to do that. They want that problem fixed. It's that simple. It's that free of emotion. Except to the extent that they want something done.

RAND PAUL:And I would call it concern not anger. We're concerned about the debt. We're worried about the debt. But we're not angry about anything.

MICHAEL GRIMM:I don't think we're angry, but I-- I do think that the people of the United States have been angry. And for the right reasons. The bottom line is our government hasn't listened. Our government hasn't followed through on the promises that they made. We haven't done the things we were supposed to do. We didn't act responsibly or prudently. And the people were angry-- angry. But what-- they're not looking for anger now. I think one of the mandates that the people of the United States-- and it's much bigger than the Tea Party. The Tea Party seems to be the face of what I would say the average American that's not usually involved in politics. And that's what you see in my grassroots campaign. They want us to work together. A one party system doesn't work. We've just seen that.

DIANE SAWYER: Let's talk -

MICHAEL GRIMM:They want us to work together and we have to.

DIANE SAWYER:Okay, let's talk substantively about what's gonna be awaiting you very soon. You've got two big votes on the economy. You've got the continuing resolution on the budget. And then you've got the debt ceiling. Can I just ask again for a show of hands, this is so important to people, how many of you are gonna vote in favor of the continuing resolution on the budget?

SCOTT TIPTON:No, I think we're gonna first of all have to actually--

(MALE VOICE: UNINTEL)

SCOTT TIPTON:--see what leadership is going to do. We weren't here to do business as usual. We're going to have to stand up. We want to see real changes. That-- we're going to be reducing the size of government. Reducing spending in Washington. And-- can't speak for anyone else, but you will not be a rubber stamp for business as usual in Washington, because that is not the message that was sent in this last election.