Senate Democrats Shut Down 'Czar' Legislation

This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," September 25, 2009. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

SEAN HANNITY, HOST: Senate Democrats successfully killed legislation yesterday that would have reigned in the dozens of unconfirmed "czars" in the Obama administration. Now Republicans have voiced concern over these high-profile positions because many of them are not required to go through the Senate confirmation process.

Take, for example, Kevin Jennings, who President Obama appointed to be his safe schools “czar".

Now, it's a position that is supposed to advocate drug and violence prevention activities in schools. But red flags are now being raised by conservatives, who have concerns over Jennings' promotion of homosexuality in schools, and they're also critical of Jennings past drug use.

In his own autobiography, Jennings wrote, quote, "I got stoned more often and went out to the beach." He also said he spent hours, quote, "watching the planes take off and land at the airport, which is actually quite fascinating when you're drunk and stoned."

And joining me now with reaction to all of this is Tennessee Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn who has pushed "czar" accountability legislation in the House.

Congresswoman, you know, why don't we first explain, before we get to the extremism element of this, why don't we first explain why this is an issue, because we're putting people in the White House that normally wouldn't get confirmed. Explain why that's important.

REP. MARSHA BLACKBURN, R-TENN.: Sean, what we see happening this time around is, No. 1, the proliferation of "czars" and then also the placement of these "czars" between the White House and the Cabinet secretary.

And they're overseeing policy. They are acting with the political power and the responsibility of a Cabinet secretary. And when that happens, then they are outside of the jurisdiction of Congress to have oversight over their activity. And it is something that is of concern to us.

HANNITY: Yes.

BLACKBURN: We think all "czars" should be created equal.

HANNITY: Good line, Congresswoman.

But you know, here is what FOX News reports. We have — we've gone into the discussion of this guy in the past. But this is a guy that's advocated promoting homosexuality in schools. This is a guy we have talked about his past. He's had contempt for religion, et cetera, et cetera.

And I'm saying, look, if liberals want to raise their kids, and they want to teach them anything they want about homosexuality, that's fine. But there are a lot of parents that have different values. They want to give condom and cucumber demonstrations, I guess that's their values. I'm not going to stop them.

Isn't the issue here that what they're teaching oftentimes, value-wise, contradicts what parents are teaching? And isn't that morally wrong?

BLACKBURN: We are very concerned. And when you look at Mr. Jennings's background, it causes me great concern. And all of this is something that would come up through the Senate confirmation process. Being able to look at his writings and his speeches and go through those tapes and look at what he has had to say about different issues. Because he is in charge of the safe schools, drug-free schools program.

And, Sean, this is an agency that has a $700 million budget. And he is one of only two deputy assistant secretaries that are operating and running their own division, operating without Senate confirmation.

So you get into the oversight issues, and you also get into the — the issues of what is — what he's teaching, the moral issues.

HANNITY: We — we got into the issue of Van Jones in great detail. Van Jones is gone. You've got another guy, John Holden. And, you know, this is a guy that, you know, has advocated for forced sterilization. He's still there. We've got Cass Sunstein, who wants to ban hunting, and he wants animals to have the right to have lawyers appointed to represent them in court.

And I can go on for another hour. You know, one guy, you know, supporting the use of Sharia Law in American courts. I'm stunned that there hasn't been a public outcry for all these guys to go. And the question I have is why.

BLACKBURN: And the more people know about this and the more they realize that this administration has put in place as many "czars" in eight months as the Bush administration did in eight years. And that is of concern.

And the other thing is the lack of transparency. We think, when individuals are going to act with this authority, that a Cabinet secretary has, or be placed between the administration and the Cabinet secretary and be outside of that line of congressional oversight, that, indeed, the American public needs to know.

You know, you can go in and look at the — at the questionnaire that those that are going through Senate confirmation, through the Senate Armed Services Committee, what Senator Levin requires people to fill out in the questionnaire is lengthy. It's, I think, 50 pages. It is intrusive. It has much detailed information, lets you know what the conflicts of interest would be, what your background is.

And all of that is required to be revealed and to be brought before the Senate in that confirmation and vetting process.

HANNITY: Right. But isn't it — isn't it, in the case of school when talking about Jennings, I don't know what it is about liberals. I think they think they have the right to raise our kids. I mean, you know, the idea that you would promote whatever your agenda, on sexuality, any controversial issue. This is a divided country, liberals can raise their kids any way they want. It's like with this tape in New Jersey, your reaction to, you know, these young kindergartners praising Barack Hussein Obama, blah, blah, blah.

BLACKBURN: Yes.

HANNITY: You know, you think this is appropriate? Do you think this is widespread? And doesn't it also bring up the idea of choice in education?

BLACKBURN: Well, it does. And it also brings up the — the provision that people talk about more and more and more. And that is trust. How do they trust their government? And how do they trust institutions and their concerns about what — what they see happening in our structural institutions in this country.

Sean, it is of great concern, when you see tapes and you hear from the parents that you are hearing from now, with the situation at that school, with the children being used in that manner.

And people are — they want to know who is going to be in charge. They want to know what is going to be brought forward. And they're very concerned about this.

HANNITY: I think they have every right to be. And I think America has a right to be, you know, informed and know that there are a lot of radicals in this White House with very extreme positions, although it doesn't seem to be the media that's reporting on it but FOX, talk radio, and some of the great bloggers out there.

Congresswoman, good to see you. Thank you for being with us.

BLACKBURN: Good to see you. Thank you.

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