mcmorrisoman cathy rodgers were asked for reaction to governor nikki haley's criticism of donald trump during her state of the union response. mrs. mcmorris rodgers: good morning, everyone. thanks for joining us here in baltimore. this is our second annual joint house-senate republican retreat sponsored by the congressional institute. we are here as the people's representatives to engage in a competition of ideas. as we think about the future of 2016 and beyond. so on tuesday for the state of the union we heard one future based upon president obama's legacy, really based upon a top-down government knows best approach. and we are here to put together a different choice for america

as we head into this year and beyond. a future that's built upon solutions really from the bottom up. trust people to make the best decisions for themselves. families, students, small businesses, seniors. having the ability to pursue their own dreams. and where people are not defined by where they come from but empowered by what they can become. we'd like to think of the house and the senate and this time as really being the think tank for conservative policy. that's how this retreat has been set up to foster that discussion among the people's representatives. throughout the day the members are going to be participating in thought provoking discussions on various policy initiatives. whether it's jobs and economy, national security, health care, rethinking outdated poverty programs. and the reforation of the actual in article 1. it's our opportunity to rally

around a common vision for america and the best way to move that forward. thank you. senator thune: thank you, cathy. i want to welcome all of you to baltimore. it's a very exciting day. you get to hang with us now and cover a presidential debate tonight. we are excited to be with our house colleagues again this year. when we met last year we had a new majority. we were in the process of trying to get the senate functioning again so we could work with our house colleagues to actually get some things done for the american people. i think that we have at least, if you look at the record of this last year, done that in a pretty effective way. first balanced budget since 2001. first meaningful education reform since 2002. first significant social security reform since really 1983. and first multiyear highway bill since 2005. not to mention cybersecurity and a number of other things that we were able to transact through

the senate this year. keystone pipeline which ultimately was vetoed. repeal of obamacare. there were a whole serious of things -- series of things that the senate was able to get done this year. we think that we have at least restored the senate to where it's functioning again. we hope that this year will build upon that foundation, build upon that success and lead to more accomplishments. this session this week is really all about getting our members together, talking about our ideas. as cathy mentioned, it is a competition of ideas. we believe we are a party of ideas. we are the party of innovation. the party of economic growth and opportunity. and we are the party of compassion. so the sessions today are really focused on that. we've got a panel of people we are going to hear from this morning to talk about economic growth and innovation. we've got a panel that's going to talk about the future of health care. we have a panel that's going to talk about how to keep the country safe and fight

terrorism. and we've got a panel that's going to talk about how to update outdated poverty programs that have been ineffective and aren't working. that's really what the sessions are about today. very much focused on policy. very much focused on the agenda for this next year, knowing it's an even numbered year, it's an election year which makes it more challenging because people tend to go to their respective corners. of course there is a presidential campaign going on at the same time. but as a congress, as a republican majority, we want to be driving forward, putting ideas out there, creating an agenda that we think is good for the american people, that will lead to greater prosperity and greater security for our country. that's what we are here to do these couple of days. i'm pleased that we have a good representation of our members in the united states senate to join our colleagues in the house of representatives. questions. comments. accusations.

>> nikki haley got a lot of attention this week by her speech. the state of the union response. clearly comments directed at donald trump. she said to avoid sort of the temptation to follow the angriest voices. some people in the room think they have to be the loudest voice in the room to make a difference. that's not true. do you agree with what she's saying? senator thune: well, i think that she did a really good job. i thought she was very impressive in her remarks and delivered very, very well. i think delivered a face and voice for our party that really is what we are all about, and that is growing our majority, obviously. reaching out to more people across this country. presenting ideas we think are compelling and will attract people to join our vision. we have different people have different ideas and different ways of communicating and different style and tone. i thought that she did a nice job, i think, at least of

reflecting what many of us here are talking about this week. and that is pro-growth agenda for the american people. one that reaches out and tries to attract more people to our cause. >> clearly talking about what we are hearing on the campaign trail, do you share the concerns that the rhetoric on the campaign trail and will that impact your ability to keep the majority, to win back the white house? senator thune: i think in a presidential campaign the rhetoric gets hot. that's just inevitable. we can't control what presidential candidates are going to say or do. the only thing we can do is control what we do here. what we do as individual members of congress. what we want to do is make sure both house members and senators are well positioned going into this election year, can talk about a positive agenda for the future of this country. talk about a record of accomplishment which i think is, as i said, pretty self-evident from last year and run their own

campaigns. what happens above us on the presidential ballot you don't control. the overwhelm thing you can do is control what you can control. what we want to do is articulate a clear, positive vision agenda for the future of this country. and the presidential campaign at some point when we have a nominee, hopefully we'll be able to sync up with them and their agenda, but we want to make sure that our members have something that thee they can be talking about when they go out and try to encourage their voters to give them another opportunity to represent them. i don't know if you want to add anything. mrs. mcmorris rodgers: there is a loft frustration across the country. and we have -- that is reflective among the members, too. part of the reason we have dedicate the time while we are together to look at the question of article 1, power of the purse, how we restore the rightful role of elective representatives of the people and the decisionmaking processes

is on the forefront of our minds. i think it goes to. so fears and frustration that is we see from people across the country when decisions, more and more decisions are being made either the president, the executive branch, or the judicial branch that don't reflect the will of the people or are not voted on by the people. so that is -- we want to be focusing on, we think it is fundamental to who we are as representatives and as a reflection of the people through representative government. >> to follow up on your point, you said hopefully we'll be able to sync up with their agenda whoever the nominee is. is there a concern because of the frontrunner that republicans might not be able to sync up with whoever the republican nominee is if it is donald trump? a number of people including the speaker have repudiated some of the things he said.

we can talk upstairs on these different issues, but if that doesn't sync up with who the republican frontrunner is isn't that a problem for the g.o.p.? senator thune: we are a big and diverse party, very entrepreneurial party. lots of ideas out there. people are different in terms of the style and tone which they convey their message. i assume at some point, don't know how soon it's going to happen, but we are going to have -- people are going to start voting here in the next three weeks or month. the primaries are going to start ticking off. we'll get closer and closer. the debate will engage and be joined even more. people are going to start looking very, very seriously at these candidates. and i think the candidate that's ultimately going to be successful is going to have to tap into as cathy said some of the frustration that's being experienced by the american people. but ultimately i think people want those who are -- that they vote for and elect to office to

appeal to their hopes. i think that articulating a hopeful vision, a clear agenda for the future of this country will be critically important. that candidate, whoever that nominee ultimately is, has an agenda they want to talk about, i think there will be areas where we'll find common ground with that agenda. what we want to be prepared to do, to see that our members, both house and senate, are positioned well going into this election year to make their case to their voters about why we need to retain a republican majority in the united states -- in congress. and i think, again, the record of this last year, the things that we want to do this next year, the ideas we are going to put forward, i hope are going to provide the necessary wherewithal for our candidates to do that. irrespective what's happening on top. mrs. mcmorris rodgers: i agree. that's part of why we are here. part of why we are here today is because we are a broad diverse

group of people. we welcome the competition of ideas. we also believe that it is very important as we head into 2016 that we are articulating as representatives in the house and senate what are those specific policy solutions. so that people in this country know what we as republicans believe are the specific policy solutions that will help grow our economy, get people back to work. for those that have been out of work, get them the training, skills, so we can get this economy growing at a faster pace. what is the future of health care? the republicans believe that there's a better future than what is currently offered to america, that has resulted in less choices, higher costs. so we want to present that as a choice to the country. we believe it is very important that the safety and security of this country is first and foremost. and that that also is going to be a focus today and moving forward.

and we are thinking these outdated poverty programs. we think as the members of congress it is important that we are presenting that choice as we head into this election so people can know what we would like to accomplish. >> senator, pursuing your agenda, do you anticipate any kind of change in the senate rules? do you think you'll pursue a change in the filibuster rules so that you can pass any of these things on your agenda? do you support that idea? do you think that's something you would pursue? senator thune: i have my own personal views about that, but i think as a conference we have people who have been studying, giving a great deal of attention to how we might make the senate work more efficiently. as this leader always says in the senate, floor time is the coin of the realm. we have a limited amount of it and how do we build more capacity in so we can get more things done so we can move individual appropriation bills. we have some folks looking at

some of the rules, some of the procedures that we use in the senate. how can we get on appropriations bills? this last year we had democrats blocking every appropriation bill on the motion to proceed because they want more money. if you can't get on the bill, you can't move, can't debate it, can't amend t we are looking at those things. but if we were, in the end if there were any recommendations that came out of this from the rules committee, this is basically -- we had some people study it, report to the rules committee, the rules committee would ultimately have to put something forward, the question, i think, is can we get 67 votes to do it the traditional way? to change the rules in the senate if you do it the traditional way gets 67 votes. we have to have something a lot of big majority of our members would support as well as a number of democrats. and i don't want to handicap that process at this point because right now it's very preliminary. i do think it's fair to say -- one of our goals is, instead of

getting where we -- at the end of the year are doing these massive omnibus bills, that everybody hates, if you do appropriation bills individually, it's much cleaner, much more transparent, much more accountability there. we have to get back to that. how do you facilitate and make that happen within the parameters we have to deal with. our rules and procedures are very limiting as you know in the senate. taking a look at those things and seeing how we can find additional capacity to do more is one of the issues we are interested in. i'm open to that. i think on a -- just again, this does not reflect the views of the conference, i think that if on a motions to proceed, there's a lot of redundancy built in. we have multiple cloture votes in most cases on bills, to get on bills in limited circumstances, particularly appropriations bills which i think are critical to our article 1 responsibility, the power of the purse, i'm open to that.

again no decisions have been made and no recommendations have been made. it's very preliminary in terms of the discussion. [inaudible] what are your thoughts on that? it one calling the majority leader a liar. senator thune: i'm personally offended to be called the establishment. we understand that politics is politics. it's very popular right now, there's a good amount of the

american electorate, which i totally get, that's frustrated with washington generally. that's what's fueled the rise of some of our presidential candidates on our side as well as on the democrat side. you look at the ascendance of bernie sanders, there are people out there who are genuinely frustrated. many of us who serve in the senate and cathy can speak for the house, you do your best to reflect the will of the people you represent. in my first run for political office, i was running as the insurgent. outsider. i was running as the person that was the anti-establishment candidate. we all -- i understand that. i get that. i think that's a part of the political process. when we have a nominee and we are trying to figure out how to win that general leaks electorate, that's -- electorate -- general election electorate, that's going to be our hope we can get our team teem together and focus in a unified way a goal. articulate a clear, positive vision for the future of this country with clear solutions and

that present a contrast, alternative, to what's been offered up by the president for the last several years. and what's been offered up by democrats in congress, which i think is just generally more of the same. which is more expanded government. our vision is much more about expansion of liberty. mrs. mcmorris rodgers: thanks, everyone. we'll be back. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2016] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] mr. ryan: you people have to turn some a.c. on. welcome, everybody. i want to spk