Live from Music Row Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) to the newsmaker line to discuss his humorous exchange with Senator Bernie Sanders regarding legislation within the budget bill that would give away green cards to illegals.
Leahy: We welcome Tennessee’s United States Senator Bill Hagerty. Welcome, Senator Hagerty.
Hagerty: Good to be back with you Michael.
Leahy: I didn’t realize you had such a fun sense of humor. Our story cracked me up from yesterday. You have asked Bernie Sanders to speak out against proposed green card provisions in this reconciliation bill. You are calling him to task. I just thought it was a brilliant and funny thing for you to do.
Hagerty: Well, who would have thought that Bernie Sanders and I would be, or at least should be on the same page with respect to anything? But this is one where he’s been touting himself for years as someone who is a proponent of the middle class, someone who wants to look out for the American worker.
Yet what’s embedded in this bill, hidden deep inside of 2,500 a page monstrosity is something that would blow the cap off of green cards and allow unlimited green cards, which is the permanent resident status for foreign workers for a decade.
And that would take the opportunity away from our children who are in school trying to struggle to make stem degrees work for them.
It’s going to take that opportunity away from them. and allow these corporations, big tech companies can hire an unlimited number of people from overseas.
Leahy: You used Senator Sanders own words against him. You said, look, if you’re opposed to this, you ought to be opposed to this in the reconciliation bill. You said, join me. Let’s get this out of the bill. Have you heard back from Senator Sanders?
Hagerty: You know, shockingly I have not heard a word. Crickets coming from the Democratic side.
Leahy: Here’s a line you can use for him, right? I stole this line from Howie Carr. When the phone didn’t ring, you knew it was Senator Bernie Sanders.
Hagerty: (Chuckles) That’s a good one.
Leahy: Crom Carmichael has a question for you, Senator Hagerty.
Carmichael: Senator, I was under the impression that the immigration issues, that the parliamentarian has ruled that they cannot be part of this $3.5 trillion bill. Am I just misinformed?
Hagerty: Well, it’s up to the parliamentarian to rule on each of these matters. And one of the issues that you’ve heard about, I’m certain is granting amnesty to all of these people that have come into the country illegally across our southern border.
That’s the biggest issue that we’ve heard about. This one was tucked away, hidden inside this bill. And again, our staff is going through the House bill. The Senate bill has not been revealed. It’s going to be a complete secret.
It sort of reminds you crime of the Nancy Pelosi. You’ve got to pass it to find out what’s in it. This is insanity, what they’re proposing.
I don’t know when the parliamentarian is going to have a chance to go through this with a fine-tooth comb. Obviously, it’s necessary.
Carmichael: Can the parliamentarian go through the House bill, or does the parliamentarian have to wait until there is a Senate document in order to have issues to rule on?
Hagerty: She’s going to have to see what the Senate proposes specifically. That’s her jurisdiction.
Carmichael: So Republicans cannot approach the parliamentarian and ask hypothetical immigration questions in regard to green cards or citizenship or all these different things? Republicans cannot go to the parliamentarian and ask the parliamentarian to rule?
Hagerty: Crom, I think you can see the method here in my action. We don’t have a ripe issue at this point in terms of exact language. But me bringing this forward, pointing out the language in the House bill, asking Bernie Sanders to make certain that the House strips it out, highlights this for the parliamentary.
She can read as well. She can pick up the newspaper. She might even be listening to this broadcast. I don’t know, but this is the way to make certain that she is sensitized to it.
Leahy: So is Senator Bernie Sanders like avoiding you when you cross in the hall? Does he run away from you because he doesn’t want to answer this question?
Hagerty: (Laughs) I don’t know. I can’t tell you what’s in Bernie Sanders’s mind.
Leahy: Billionaires and billionaires are stopping us! It’s all your fault.
Hagerty: Well, he’s a millionaire himself now. It’s a mystery of how this happens up here in Washington, but Bernie himself has become a millionaire somehow, in his socialist utopia, he’s been able to put himself in the millionaires’ circle.
Carmichael: Where do you think this bill right now? Are Republicans just and the Senate just being forced to sit completely on the sidelines because the negotiations are among the 50 Democrats?
Hagerty: I think we’re enjoying the circular firing squad that’s going on with the Democrat side. But I intend to continue to take up pieces of this that we can find in the House bill. Again, it’s a massive bill. These components are buried inside it.
I intend to keep pointing this sort of thing out day after day, week after week. As long as it takes. We intend to let the American public know what’s going on. It’s very similar to when I stood up on the infrastructure bill.
I was one out of 100 that stood up and stopped the infrastructure bill so the public could find out what was in it. You remember that. They wanted to accelerate the passage of it the night that we found out it was not paid for exactly.
Leahy: Well, Senator Bill Hagerty, Congratulations to you for finding this. Congratulations for putting Bernie Sanders on the defensive. And let us know what else you find because this is too good. It’s too funny, and we love reporting about it.
Hagerty: Well, thanks for helping us get the word out. Much appreciated.
Leahy: Senator Bill Hagerty, who knew he had such a great sense of humor Crom?
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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to the Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
Photo “Bernie Sanders” by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0.
Senator Hagerty, Please explain to Tennesseans how an unelected individual as the parliamentarian can make such a binding decision to put our country in financial ruin? Hagerty did you go to Washington to just be an empty suit? Why aren’t you publicly questioning how an unelected parliamentarian is making these decisions? I find your behavior since being in the senate to be out of step with Tennesseans! Your first vote was to elect RINO Mitch McConnell as leader. You broke your promise to support senator Cruz to support the voter integrity act. You asked to be ion the senate foreign relations committee. Ask t\little Bob Corker ho. that committee worked out for him! Little Bob left office very unpopular. I predict you are a one term senator that represents the DC swamp.We need a real Tennessee conservative! You are a Empty suite! Tennesseans deserve a better Senator!
I wish Senator Hagerty (Dizzy Bill) would be a Tennessee conservative senator! He continues to support RINO Mitch McConnell who just broke his promise to raise the debt ceiling and voted for a one trillion dollar infrastucture spending! All this defeceit spending, means spending money we don’t have and is adding to inflation! Bill Hagerty supports more debt and that is adding to Tennesseans high costs of living! Dizzy Bill please resign you have proven to be a part of the DC swamp and not a Tennessee conservative! Spend more time with hard working Tennesseans to see how unpopular the DC Swamp and McConnell are to Tennesseans!