Transcript: Rep. Nancy Mace on "Face the Nation," April 30, 2023

The following is the transcript of an interview with Rep. Nancy Mace, Republican of South Carolina, that aired on "Face the Nation" on April 30, 2023.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Last week, two heavily Republican states, Nebraska and South Carolina failed to pass near-total abortion bans. South Carolina Republican congresswoman Nancy Mace joins us now. And it's good to have you here in person, you're often joining us remote.

REP. NANCY MACE (R-SC): Good morning, and thank you for having me.

MARGARET BRENNAN: So I want to get to a lot of what we just talked about there with the debt ceiling. But let's start off on abortion. You've been talking about this being a very moral issue, but also a political one that will impact voters in 2024. Nikki Haley, former ambassador, former governor of your state said, "no Republican president will have the ability to ban abortion nationwide." And she believes there is a federal role on abortion. But she didn't say specifically what it is that she believes, no Limits exactly, no exceptions. Does she need to?

REP. MACE: Well, I think any presidential candidate, anyone running for office at the federal level, including members of Congress, incumbents and people that are running to flip seats in '24 need to have a position, need to articulate that position. What I've been trying to do since Roe was overturned is show a roadmap. I represent a swing district in South Carolina, but show a roadmap for winning states that are very purple are districts that are purple, and articulating where we stand on the message and we have to show- and I'm pro life, but I'm a conservative who reaches across the aisle and works with the other side. I've worked with Ro Khanna, great to see him this morning on your program. I work with Democrats all the time on issues where we can agree on and there's so much when it comes to protecting life and protecting women that we can agree on in terms of gestational limits. That's something that can happen at the state and the federal level and I talk to and listen to my constituents all the time. And I read a letter from a woman who's no longer Republican, she's an independent voter now, she's pro-choice, and her gestational limits are 14 weeks. Well, I'm a pro life legislator, mine are 15 to 20 weeks.  We want to make sure there are exceptions. So there's so much I think, in how we talk about the issue, but we have to as Republicans show compassion towards women and life. I mean, you can do both and win. I did it overwhelmingly in November when we won by 14 points, overwhelmingly in a swing district.

MARGARET BRENNAN: And just for clarity, the majority of abortions are performed in that window of 15-weeks. 

REP. MACE: Right. 

MARGARET BRENNAN: So, former President Trump has taken criticism from Republicans, though, for- for not specifying a position either, has just said it's up to the states. Both of South Carolina's senators has- have picked that window, 15 weeks, 20 weeks. Tim Scott's running for president potentially here he said he'd signed a 20 week limit. Is he closer to what the Republicans need to be doing then Nikki Haley is? 

REP. MACE: Well, I think 15 to 20 weeks is the sweet spot here, because the Democrats often are at 24 weeks. And that's too far for a lot of people. No one wants zero. No one wants zero weeks. 

MARGARET BRENNAN: But, you want this to be clear, at the federal level, you want a law not to kicking it back to the states? 

REP. MACE: It can be. I mean, I think there's a role for the state government and for the federal government. If it's gestational limits, certainly we can find some agreement. That's why I say 15 to 20 weeks, that's something even pro-life groups like Susan B. Anthony's list, although they're against it now, two years ago they were for 20 weeks with exceptions. They've just moved the goalposts, but for years Republicans have been for 15 to 20 week bans, with exceptions, including both my senators from South Carolina at the federal level, and I think most 80% of America would agree with that, but they want us to protect women and girls who are victims of rape, victims of incest, women whose lives are at risk. We also need to make sure that we're making- that- that birth control that women have access to birth control, particularly in rural areas. In South Carolina, we have 14 counties in our state that don't have a single OBGYN doctor. And then what do we do with the babies who are born who are unwanted? What about our foster care system, adoption care, birth control, there's so many things that we can work on to show that we're pro women. Rape kits, we have over 100,000 rape kits in this country that have yet to be processed. We can do both. We can walk and chew gum at the same time. 

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, you have said Republicans need to have a woman on the ticket. 

REP. MACE: Yep. 

MARGARET BRENNAN: Nikki Haley endorsed you. Are you ready to endorse her?

REP. MACE: Well, we're gonna see how the race shapes up that- not everybody is in. I'm watching very carefully. I love Nikki Haley, I've not been quiet about that. She was the only person to endorse me in my election last year and I do want to see a woman on the ticket, but I also want to see who jumps in. I want to give everybody a shot, but I am cheering her on. She's a constituent and I love what she's doing. I love that she gave a speech last week on women's issues. That's very important. Women are watching,

MARGARET BRENNAN: But you want her to go farther and be more specific? Is what I understand. 

REP. MACE: I would love to see her move on. Yes. 

MARGARET BRENNAN: So can a Republican candidate who supports or signs into law, as governor DeSantis did, a six-week limit to abortion–

REP. MACE: In dead of night by the way.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Can he succeed in running for the presidency? I mean, is this really going to be something that- and people who are in Republican districts have to make this calculus, you say you're in a purple one, so you have to compromise.

REP. MACE: Well, it's the number two issue in my district .Number one is inflation, the debt ceiling is an important issue. Number two is abortion and finding a middle ground. Signing a six-week ban that puts women who are victims of rape and girls who are victims of incest and in a hard spot isn't the way to change hearts and minds. It's not compassionate. The requirements he has for rape victims are too much, not something that I support, it's a non starter. I am a victim of rape, I was raped by a classmate at the age of 16. I am very wary and the devil is always in the details, but we've got to show more care and concern and compassion for women who've been raped. I don't like that this bill was signed in the dead of night. And it puts them in a very difficult position for a general election in my opinion, which is why I have been so vocal on this issue. I would like us to win, I would not only like us to win the electoral college, I want us to win the popular vote. And if we can show the middle ground, which shouldn't be controversial, birth control shouldn't be controversial. It keeps a number of abortions down if women have access to birth control. It shouldn't be controversial.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, it's interesting because some candidates also, like Mike Pence, have said he would sign a 15 week limit, but he ultimately wants to get to a ban. So there's some- some nuance in there too in some of these positions, but I want to ask you about debt ceiling. You opposed and then voted for Speaker McCarthy's bill that we were just discussing with Congressman Khanna here to lift the debt ceiling in exchange for trillions of cuts. The bill is dead on arrival in the Senate. White House says they're not ready to negotiate. Can you actually be confident that we will avoid getting close to default? Even if we don't get over that cliff, it's very dangerous the longer this goes on.

REP. MACE: It is and we don't want to play chicken with the economy. And when I sat down with Kevin McCarthy, the Speaker, on Wednesday, we talked about us leading a Balanced Budget Amendment. I believe we need to do that. As you mentioned, as Ro mentioned earlier, the last time we balanced the budget was under Bill Clinton. Republicans in '94 put together a plan to balance a budget in 10 years. They did it in '98, four years later, with a Democrat president and a Republican majority. It is not out of- out of the thinking that we can do this together under a Democrat president with Republicans in charge. We did it again, we had cut Cap and Balance in 2010. With Obama as President– 

MARGARET BRENNAN: Are there red lines here for you, though?

REP. MACE: Well, certainly the fear tactic of default is a red line, that is not going to happen. We get 11 times the revenue that we need to pay the interest on the debt. The president can also prioritize spending. We don't- no one wants to cut veterans benefits or Social Security or food stamps. That's not what this is about, but we have $31 trillion in debt that was started by both sides under President Trump, $8 trillion added to the debt under President Biden, $4 trillion. That's $12 trillion in six years. The President needs to come to the table, take a look at what we have offered and start negotiating. This is a serious problem and as Ro mentioned earlier, families are living paycheck to paycheck. They have to balance their checkbooks every week, so too should the federal government. Our tax revenues last year were $4.7 trillion, yet we're spending over 6 trillion every single year.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, we are not going to abandon this issue. We know it's going to be looming for some time. Thank you, both of you, for joining us. Face the Nation will be back in a minute. Stay with us.