WEBVTT 00:01.990 --> 00:05.610 Yeah , welcome back everyone . I'm 00:05.619 --> 00:07.897 Chief Petty Officer Kyle Peterson . Uh , 00:07.897 --> 00:10.008 and it's my pleasure to be serving as 00:10.008 --> 00:12.063 one of the M CS this year . Our next 00:12.063 --> 00:14.175 speaker is no stranger to the city of 00:14.175 --> 00:16.175 Omaha . Congressman . Don Bacon has 00:16.175 --> 00:18.341 represented Nebraska's second district 00:18.341 --> 00:20.008 in the United States House of 00:20.008 --> 00:22.360 Representatives since 2016 and 00:22.370 --> 00:24.370 currently serves on the House Armed 00:24.370 --> 00:26.592 Service Committee . Earlier this year , 00:26.592 --> 00:28.370 Congressman Bacon was named the 00:28.370 --> 00:30.620 chairman of the Hak Cyber Information 00:30.629 --> 00:32.296 and Technology and Innovation 00:32.296 --> 00:34.619 subcomittee following his chairmanship 00:34.919 --> 00:37.086 uh of the Committee's Military Quality 00:37.086 --> 00:39.740 of Life panel . Prior to being elected 00:39.750 --> 00:42.119 to the Congress Representative Bacon 00:42.130 --> 00:44.241 served in the United States Air Force 00:44.241 --> 00:46.297 for nearly 30 years , culminating in 00:46.297 --> 00:48.569 the rank of brigadier general where he 00:48.580 --> 00:50.469 specialized in electronic warfare 00:50.580 --> 00:52.024 intelligence and airborne 00:52.024 --> 00:53.802 reconnaissance . Please welcome 00:53.802 --> 00:55.080 Representative Bacon . 01:20.669 --> 01:22.836 Well , hello , everybody . And if , if 01:22.836 --> 01:24.836 you're gonna walk out might as well 01:24.836 --> 01:24.660 walk out to Aerosmith , don't you think ? 01:26.680 --> 01:28.791 Well , I did , I was a commander five 01:28.791 --> 01:30.958 times and they would say , what do you 01:30.958 --> 01:30.599 want to play for your , you know , when 01:30.610 --> 01:32.721 you take command back in the saddle ? 01:34.160 --> 01:36.271 Aerosmith . So that's unique . Nobody 01:36.271 --> 01:38.382 does that . I go well , that , that's 01:38.382 --> 01:40.549 how I like to do it . I wanna thank uh 01:40.549 --> 01:39.870 Chief Petty Officer Peterson for the 01:39.879 --> 01:42.550 welcome and uh Doug Costa the CIO . 01:42.559 --> 01:44.837 Thank you for welcoming you here today . 01:44.940 --> 01:47.750 And we also have uh General Henry of 01:47.760 --> 01:50.199 the J two . So welcome to everybody 01:50.209 --> 01:52.431 here . Uh Let me just tell you a little 01:52.431 --> 01:54.431 bit about Omaha real fast . You may 01:54.431 --> 01:54.120 have heard it from Senator Fisher and a 01:54.129 --> 01:56.470 few others , but Forbes rates as the 01:56.480 --> 01:59.419 number one place to live and we have 01:59.430 --> 02:01.374 the fastest growing economy in the 02:01.374 --> 02:03.989 United States right now at 9% GDP 02:04.000 --> 02:06.620 growth . And so if you're like me , I 02:06.629 --> 02:08.962 did 30 nearly 30 years in the Air Force . 02:08.962 --> 02:11.073 I picked this place . So I hope I see 02:11.073 --> 02:13.129 all the uniforms out here . We got a 02:13.129 --> 02:12.690 house for you . We'll bring you out , 02:12.699 --> 02:14.977 make , put you right here at home . Ok ? 02:14.977 --> 02:17.559 You got it . So , uh we , we welcome 02:17.570 --> 02:19.570 here . Hopefully you , if you get a 02:19.570 --> 02:21.626 chance , go down to the old market , 02:21.626 --> 02:23.459 it's , we got about 100 bars and 02:23.459 --> 02:25.459 restaurants down there . We got the 02:25.459 --> 02:27.570 best museum or the best zoo uh in the 02:27.570 --> 02:29.792 world . And if you could , if you got a 02:29.792 --> 02:29.350 car , go to the Sack Museum , it's on 02:29.360 --> 02:31.360 the west side of town , but there's 02:31.360 --> 02:33.471 tons of good stuff to do . I've lived 02:33.471 --> 02:35.638 16 places in , in the Air Force had 16 02:35.638 --> 02:37.860 assignments . I should say I joined the 02:37.860 --> 02:39.860 Air Force in 1985 . Uh Anybody here 02:39.860 --> 02:42.020 went to Lowry Air Force Base , got a 02:42.029 --> 02:44.251 couple of Lowry back up . There we go . 02:44.251 --> 02:46.418 So , the , the , the older , I have to 02:46.418 --> 02:48.585 say , the younger folks , no , I don't 02:48.585 --> 02:50.751 know . But I went to Lowry and my wife 02:50.751 --> 02:52.918 and I were newly married and they go , 02:52.918 --> 02:55.085 where do you want to be assigned ? And 02:55.085 --> 02:54.460 I said , they , they said , by the way , 02:54.470 --> 02:56.526 if you're top one or two graduate in 02:56.526 --> 02:58.526 your class , you'll likely get your 02:58.526 --> 03:00.581 assignment . Right ? And so , uh , I 03:00.581 --> 03:02.470 said , well , I wanna go anywhere 03:02.470 --> 03:01.889 overseas . I wanna see the world . I'm 03:01.899 --> 03:03.955 a farm boy from Illinois . Right ? I 03:03.955 --> 03:06.010 was corning soybeans , beef cattle . 03:06.010 --> 03:08.177 And , uh , and I didn't travel a whole 03:08.177 --> 03:10.232 lot . I got to travel a little bit . 03:10.232 --> 03:12.455 And , uh , so I really worked hard at , 03:12.455 --> 03:14.343 at Lowry and I ended up being the 03:14.343 --> 03:16.677 number one graduate . And I got my wife , 03:16.677 --> 03:16.050 I said , Angie , we're gonna get Korea 03:16.059 --> 03:18.800 or Japan Germany because I said 03:18.809 --> 03:20.976 anywhere overseas and they said they'd 03:20.976 --> 03:23.309 accommodate if you're number one or two . 03:23.309 --> 03:25.309 And I opened it up off at Air Force 03:25.309 --> 03:27.531 Base and my wife goes , are they called 03:27.531 --> 03:30.389 the Corn Huskers ? Yeah . Are you're a 03:30.399 --> 03:33.910 corn farmer ? Right ? I go , yeah . So , 03:33.919 --> 03:35.975 but we loved it . And so today I got 03:35.975 --> 03:38.086 three kids living here on my four , I 03:38.086 --> 03:40.252 got eight grandkids . My mother-in-law 03:40.252 --> 03:40.169 moved in here , my father in law , 03:40.179 --> 03:42.401 moved in here , uh , sister-in-law , my 03:42.401 --> 03:44.568 nephew moved in , he runs all the five 03:44.568 --> 03:46.623 guys . So we're just taking , taking 03:46.623 --> 03:48.290 the place over . Uh , my last 03:48.290 --> 03:50.401 assignment was in the A two and I had 03:50.401 --> 03:52.457 AJ wick a zipper and a nipper all on 03:52.457 --> 03:54.512 the desk . I just had to make sure I 03:54.512 --> 03:56.735 was on the right one , you know , doing 03:56.735 --> 03:55.789 the right , right stuff at the right 03:55.800 --> 03:57.967 one on the right computer at the right 03:57.967 --> 04:00.300 time . But I appreciate what you all do . 04:00.300 --> 04:02.244 It's the bottom line . So I have a 04:02.244 --> 04:04.960 really two messages for you up front . 04:04.970 --> 04:06.970 Then I wanna talk about the world a 04:06.970 --> 04:09.026 little bit and how I see it being on 04:09.026 --> 04:08.910 the armed services committee . But I 04:08.919 --> 04:10.979 wanna thank you little Taylor , the 04:10.990 --> 04:13.157 first part of my message for you uh in 04:13.157 --> 04:15.434 the dota community here . First of all , 04:15.434 --> 04:17.768 if you , if you haven't heard it enough , 04:17.768 --> 04:19.879 he here today and while you're here , 04:19.879 --> 04:22.046 I'm gonna , I'm gonna tell you again , 04:22.046 --> 04:24.212 what you do is vitally important . I'm 04:24.212 --> 04:26.434 a , I'm a John Boyd guy trained in that 04:26.434 --> 04:28.546 steeped in that , you know , with the 04:28.546 --> 04:30.823 loop , observe orient , decide and act . 04:31.070 --> 04:33.529 We can't do that without the , the top 04:33.540 --> 04:35.818 secret communications that you provide . 04:36.850 --> 04:39.072 Our commander gotta get the information 04:39.072 --> 04:41.239 fast , they gotta decide and they have 04:41.239 --> 04:43.294 to execute without you . It does not 04:43.294 --> 04:45.517 happen . So I hope you know what you do 04:45.517 --> 04:47.683 is vitally important to win our wars . 04:48.070 --> 04:51.329 You have to be told you , we , we need 04:51.339 --> 04:53.359 you to be successful . And uh so I 04:53.369 --> 04:55.559 wanna praise you right up front . The 04:55.570 --> 04:57.700 second thing I wanna communicate is I 04:57.709 --> 05:00.700 ask you not to be overconfident . I , I 05:00.709 --> 05:02.653 was , I studied war history . I've 05:02.653 --> 05:04.765 studied it since I was 10 years old . 05:04.765 --> 05:06.931 My grandmother gave me a World War Two 05:06.931 --> 05:09.153 book . I read it about 20 times . I got 05:09.153 --> 05:11.320 hooked . I was reading war history for 05:11.320 --> 05:13.153 my , all my teenage years and in 05:13.153 --> 05:15.376 college and I also love doing it in the 05:15.376 --> 05:17.265 Air force . I think the his , the 05:17.265 --> 05:19.320 history of war will tell us that our 05:19.320 --> 05:21.542 opponents are better than what we think 05:21.549 --> 05:24.730 in getting into our networks . And 05:24.739 --> 05:26.572 there's so much history . I just 05:26.572 --> 05:28.795 thought I'd pull out three or four as a 05:28.795 --> 05:30.572 reminder that we need to be not 05:30.572 --> 05:32.739 overconfident with what you're doing . 05:32.739 --> 05:34.961 We need you to be over zealous and over 05:34.961 --> 05:36.961 vigilant at what you're doing . But 05:36.961 --> 05:39.017 just , I was my , one of my favorite 05:39.017 --> 05:41.649 generals is General Grant and in 1862 05:41.660 --> 05:43.771 Colonel Grant , now Brigadier General 05:43.771 --> 05:45.993 Grant had won the first battles for the 05:45.993 --> 05:48.850 North . Uh , otherwise the north was 05:48.859 --> 05:50.970 losing other , other battles in other 05:50.970 --> 05:53.192 parts of the country , but he was won , 05:53.192 --> 05:55.359 he won his first battles in Missouri , 05:55.359 --> 05:57.470 then Kentucky and Tennessee . So he's 05:57.470 --> 05:59.526 getting all this praise in the press 05:59.526 --> 06:01.803 and it made one guy particularly angry . 06:01.803 --> 06:03.859 That was Gerald Halle , a two star , 06:03.859 --> 06:06.137 his boss . Right ? And she was jealous . 06:06.137 --> 06:08.359 Why is , you know , this guy is working 06:08.359 --> 06:07.070 for me ? I should be getting all the 06:07.079 --> 06:09.079 credit . Right ? I'm the guy that's 06:09.079 --> 06:11.301 running the Western division out here . 06:11.301 --> 06:13.412 So , but General Halleck told General 06:13.412 --> 06:15.412 Grant . Brigadier General Grant , I 06:15.412 --> 06:17.523 want daily updates it , you know , so 06:17.523 --> 06:19.635 they had the telegraph . I want daily 06:19.635 --> 06:21.746 updates . What you're doing with your 06:21.746 --> 06:23.912 manpower . What's your plans ? And Joe 06:23.912 --> 06:23.779 Grant was a very , uh , you know , he 06:23.790 --> 06:25.846 followed orders , but he was sending 06:25.846 --> 06:28.220 daily updates to Jo Halle , but there 06:28.230 --> 06:30.619 was a confederate sympathizer working 06:30.630 --> 06:33.890 the telegraph and he was 06:33.899 --> 06:36.000 intentionally ensuring that General 06:36.010 --> 06:38.670 Halleck got none of these updates . And 06:38.679 --> 06:41.012 Jo Halo , what did he think ? He thinks ? 06:41.012 --> 06:43.470 Uh Joel Joel Grant's being , you know , 06:43.480 --> 06:46.769 insubordinate and he , so he sends a 06:46.779 --> 06:50.029 note to General mcclellan way out . He 06:50.040 --> 06:51.818 saying , I think Gerald Grant's 06:51.818 --> 06:53.929 drinking again and I want to fire him 06:54.359 --> 06:56.581 and Gerald Granger mccullough is like , 06:56.581 --> 06:58.803 fire him , right ? So we , we came with 06:58.803 --> 07:00.915 him , ok ? But he decided not to fire 07:00.915 --> 07:03.081 him . He decided to make him as deputy 07:03.081 --> 07:05.137 and put a General Smith in charge of 07:05.137 --> 07:07.303 the actual unit down there . But , you 07:07.303 --> 07:06.750 know , General Grab didn't wanna be a 07:06.760 --> 07:08.704 deputy who did not , you know , he 07:08.704 --> 07:10.760 didn't do anything as a deputy , any 07:10.760 --> 07:14.029 deputies in here . I'm sorry , what ? I 07:14.040 --> 07:16.262 was a deputy . But , you know , I , I , 07:16.262 --> 07:18.373 my job was to help kick people's butt 07:18.373 --> 07:20.484 and , and let the , uh the , the main 07:20.484 --> 07:22.818 guy run , run the think big my guy , my , 07:22.818 --> 07:24.762 my job was to make sure things are 07:24.762 --> 07:24.450 running out of time in the office there 07:24.459 --> 07:26.681 as a deputy . But I drove Grant did not 07:26.681 --> 07:28.848 like being a deputy and he , he had no 07:28.848 --> 07:31.070 control forces and that was what he was 07:31.070 --> 07:33.181 meant to do . He was getting ready to 07:33.181 --> 07:35.750 resign . Move back to Illinois and J 07:35.850 --> 07:37.961 Sherman came in and talked him out of 07:37.961 --> 07:40.183 it . And uh but think about how the war 07:40.183 --> 07:42.239 would have changed . But my point is 07:42.239 --> 07:44.461 here , we had a Southern sympathizer in 07:44.461 --> 07:47.839 the command chain of communications and 07:47.850 --> 07:49.794 nobody knew it for years . Right . 07:50.619 --> 07:53.510 Think about Germany said they 07:54.540 --> 07:58.010 coding their enigma was Impenetrable . 07:59.369 --> 08:01.880 In 1944 we were reading the mail before 08:01.890 --> 08:05.410 Hitler was reading his mail . Japan 08:06.250 --> 08:08.361 had no idea . We were reading their , 08:08.361 --> 08:10.417 their codes and it helped lead us to 08:10.417 --> 08:13.220 victory in the battle of Midway . There 08:13.230 --> 08:15.397 is unclassified stuff that there shows 08:15.397 --> 08:17.619 at the times we were reading the Soviet 08:17.619 --> 08:19.508 codes and they didn't know it . I 08:19.508 --> 08:21.563 thought they figured it out and then 08:21.563 --> 08:20.769 they killed somebody , whoever , 08:20.989 --> 08:24.059 whoever showed the vulnerability . 08:24.850 --> 08:27.128 Then we had a guy named by John Walker . 08:27.128 --> 08:29.350 Anybody remember John Walker ? He was a 08:29.350 --> 08:31.461 navy guy who gave up our codes in the 08:31.461 --> 08:33.659 Navy and allowed the Soviets for years 08:33.669 --> 08:36.400 to track our command and control with 08:36.409 --> 08:40.150 the Navy . And I'm just , I just wanted , 08:40.159 --> 08:42.103 I , I , when I talk to some of our 08:42.103 --> 08:44.270 folks that go down , it's impossible . 08:44.270 --> 08:46.159 I don't , I don't think nothing's 08:46.159 --> 08:47.715 impossible when it comes to 08:47.715 --> 08:49.715 communications and getting into our 08:49.715 --> 08:52.349 communications cyber people with thumb 08:52.359 --> 08:54.526 drives and you know , I just go on and 08:54.526 --> 08:57.669 on . So if I could a tailored message 08:57.679 --> 09:01.679 to you all today and do us is what 09:01.690 --> 09:04.023 you do is vitally important without you . 09:04.023 --> 09:06.280 We cannot win our nation's wars and 09:06.289 --> 09:08.511 please don't be overconfident . We need 09:08.511 --> 09:10.733 you to be overzealous and over vigilant 09:10.733 --> 09:13.159 because the bad guys are smart , they 09:13.169 --> 09:15.391 are very smart and they could put a lot 09:15.391 --> 09:17.502 more manpower on these things that we 09:17.502 --> 09:17.400 can . China , China's got , you know , 09:17.409 --> 09:20.349 1.4 billion people , by the way , a 09:20.359 --> 09:22.719 declining population and so their , 09:22.729 --> 09:25.007 their demographics putting them in AAA , 09:25.007 --> 09:27.229 they're gonna have some huge challenges 09:27.229 --> 09:29.451 in the future competing with us . Uh if 09:29.451 --> 09:31.618 you look at it , so it's not , they're 09:31.618 --> 09:33.729 not 10 ft tall , but bottom line is , 09:33.729 --> 09:33.359 they could put a lot of manpower 09:34.630 --> 09:36.741 attacking our networks and they are . 09:36.940 --> 09:39.162 And so , and Russia's working that hard 09:39.162 --> 09:41.051 too . And I , as you know , I ran 09:41.051 --> 09:42.829 recently when I was going after 09:42.829 --> 09:44.884 President Trump's communication . So 09:44.884 --> 09:47.107 China was doing this too recently , the 09:47.107 --> 09:49.218 former president . Uh it's a , it's a 09:49.218 --> 09:51.440 tough world out there now . I'd like to 09:51.440 --> 09:53.662 back up and I wanna go to the 10,000 ft 09:53.662 --> 09:55.718 level and just talk about what I see 09:55.718 --> 09:55.169 coming out of the armed services 09:55.179 --> 09:57.880 community , uh or the Arm Armed Armed 09:57.890 --> 10:00.057 Services Committee and just talk about 10:00.057 --> 10:02.057 what the , what the world's looking 10:02.057 --> 10:04.112 like in my perspective because we're 10:04.112 --> 10:04.049 all here . We're part of the war 10:04.059 --> 10:06.909 fighting team . I think the world is on 10:06.919 --> 10:09.590 fire . It is the most dangerous 10:09.599 --> 10:11.543 environment we've had in decades . 10:13.169 --> 10:16.340 Russia's invasion of Ukraine . It was 10:16.349 --> 10:18.450 brazen , it was barbaric , 10:20.359 --> 10:22.526 putting their thumb right in our right 10:22.526 --> 10:24.637 in our eyes saying we're gonna invade 10:24.637 --> 10:26.748 this , our neighbor and we don't , we 10:26.748 --> 10:28.859 don't fear you America . That's how I 10:28.859 --> 10:32.239 look at it . You got an unholy alliance 10:32.250 --> 10:35.789 right now between Russia , China , Iran 10:35.799 --> 10:37.799 and North Korea . And I don't think 10:37.799 --> 10:40.021 they're a formal alliance . They are in 10:40.021 --> 10:42.132 some cases , you know , bilaterally , 10:42.132 --> 10:44.299 but they're all working together . You 10:44.299 --> 10:46.299 got China buying Iranian fuel which 10:46.299 --> 10:48.410 helps prop up their economy . China's 10:48.410 --> 10:50.577 buying Russian energy , helping Russia 10:50.577 --> 10:52.799 with their financial uh needs . You got 10:52.799 --> 10:55.690 Iran selling drones to Russia , by the 10:55.700 --> 10:59.020 way , Israel just hit that plant . Good 10:59.030 --> 11:02.270 job Israel . Uh You have uh North Korea 11:02.280 --> 11:04.447 sending uh I've seen different numbers 11:04.447 --> 11:06.849 maybe 3000 troops to help . And I guess 11:06.859 --> 11:08.780 in the curs area now , as of this 11:08.789 --> 11:11.011 morning and you got , they're providing 11:11.011 --> 11:13.178 100 and 55 millimeter or 100 and 57 mL 11:13.178 --> 11:15.345 shells , whatever the , the , the main 11:15.345 --> 11:17.345 artillery shells that Russia uses , 11:17.345 --> 11:19.345 they're providing drones as well to 11:19.345 --> 11:21.456 Russia that these , these folks are , 11:21.456 --> 11:23.919 are working together and their , what's 11:23.929 --> 11:26.270 their goal ? They want to have a new 11:26.280 --> 11:28.469 world order without , with , without 11:28.479 --> 11:30.820 America being the lead . They don't , 11:30.830 --> 11:32.719 they , their world order does not 11:32.719 --> 11:35.429 envision democracy does not envision 11:35.440 --> 11:37.559 free market system does not envision 11:37.570 --> 11:40.479 dignity of the human being , rule of 11:40.489 --> 11:43.109 law . Their vision is where they rule , 11:43.119 --> 11:45.452 where they can dominate their neighbors . 11:45.710 --> 11:47.877 And in , in China's case , wants to be 11:47.877 --> 11:49.932 the world superpower in 1020 years . 11:50.140 --> 11:53.140 Where , where right makes Mike , this 11:53.150 --> 11:55.039 is their , that's their vision or 11:55.039 --> 11:57.039 excuse me , let me take that back . 11:57.039 --> 11:59.261 Where might makes right ? Where , where 11:59.261 --> 12:00.983 power at the end of the gun is 12:00.983 --> 12:03.719 ultimately what's gonna be decided and 12:03.729 --> 12:05.785 it's gonna be cited in their favor . 12:05.799 --> 12:08.590 This is what we're facing right now in 12:08.599 --> 12:10.979 America . And I traveled recently to 12:12.119 --> 12:16.000 Ukraine just last month . This is a war 12:16.010 --> 12:18.177 of attrition . It's gridlock . I think 12:18.177 --> 12:20.399 this was precipitated by Afghanistan in 12:20.399 --> 12:22.621 my view , which I served in Afghanistan 12:22.621 --> 12:24.899 and lost five friends there . And I to , 12:24.899 --> 12:27.121 to this day , I'm chagrined with how we 12:27.121 --> 12:29.121 pulled out . But what I really fear 12:29.121 --> 12:31.121 what happened when we pulled out of 12:31.121 --> 12:33.288 Iran or excuse me , out of Afghanistan 12:33.288 --> 12:35.510 was that the world saw weakness . And I 12:35.510 --> 12:38.479 think it , it incentivized or 12:38.489 --> 12:40.433 encouraged Putin to do what he did 12:40.433 --> 12:43.039 later with Ukraine . I think it's , uh , 12:43.109 --> 12:45.700 it lowered the deterrent effect that 12:45.710 --> 12:48.659 Iran has had looking at us . And I 12:48.669 --> 12:50.836 think this is why this world is a more 12:50.836 --> 12:52.891 dangerous place . I think it started 12:52.891 --> 12:54.780 with Afghanistan in my view , but 12:54.780 --> 12:56.669 travel to Ukraine , it's a war of 12:56.669 --> 12:58.780 attrition . We need to be giving them 12:58.780 --> 13:01.280 the most . The , you know , the more 13:01.289 --> 13:03.520 attack comes more precision , more and 13:03.530 --> 13:05.979 we need to take the roes off , off of 13:05.989 --> 13:07.711 Ukraine so they can attack the 13:07.711 --> 13:09.656 airfields that are attacking their 13:09.656 --> 13:12.159 cities . Because if it goes much longer , 13:12.169 --> 13:14.336 this war of attrition , there's always 13:14.336 --> 13:16.336 so much Ukraine could do . We gotta 13:16.336 --> 13:18.391 hope Ukraine prevail . Now , in my , 13:18.391 --> 13:21.150 this is my opinion , if Ukraine falls , 13:21.169 --> 13:23.169 our national security interests are 13:23.169 --> 13:25.280 injured , they're hurt . You're gonna 13:25.280 --> 13:27.359 have Russia more so on the border of 13:27.369 --> 13:29.425 NATO . I think Moldova will be taken 13:29.425 --> 13:31.369 next . I think the Baltics will be 13:31.369 --> 13:33.425 threatened . You'll see what's gonna 13:33.425 --> 13:36.270 happen with Georgia . I mean , I , we 13:36.280 --> 13:38.447 have to prevail here . Ukraine's doing 13:38.447 --> 13:40.502 the bleeding but we got to help them 13:40.502 --> 13:42.558 win with the weapons of technology . 13:42.558 --> 13:44.502 Let's , and let's stop putting our 13:44.502 --> 13:46.558 force and put them to fight with one 13:46.558 --> 13:48.502 arm , you know , behind their back 13:48.502 --> 13:48.260 because that's the way it appears to me 13:48.270 --> 13:50.929 right now . What we're doing , I was 13:50.940 --> 13:52.996 just there , as I mentioned and it's 13:52.996 --> 13:55.051 mind boggling the technology changes 13:55.051 --> 13:57.218 that are going on there and we need to 13:57.218 --> 13:59.384 be very cognizant of what's going on . 13:59.384 --> 14:01.496 They have 1000 small drones flying at 14:01.496 --> 14:04.090 any given time . 1000 . They have 14:04.130 --> 14:06.297 kamikaze drones . They got drones that 14:06.297 --> 14:08.297 carry two bombs on them . They have 14:08.297 --> 14:10.297 drones that ram other drones . They 14:10.297 --> 14:10.130 have drones that are doing 14:10.140 --> 14:12.307 reconnaissance and intelligence . They 14:12.307 --> 14:14.529 have drones that are delivering food to 14:14.529 --> 14:16.584 the troops in the front lines pretty 14:16.584 --> 14:18.584 oppressive . And what bothers me is 14:18.584 --> 14:20.696 when you talk to Ukrainian front line 14:20.696 --> 14:22.640 folks , they say our drones aren't 14:22.640 --> 14:24.418 competitive and that's , that's 14:24.418 --> 14:26.640 embarrassment . I thought so . We gotta 14:26.640 --> 14:26.510 look inwardly , what are we , we , we 14:26.520 --> 14:28.631 need to take stock of that and ensure 14:28.631 --> 14:31.890 that our industry is pushing the 14:31.900 --> 14:34.067 envelope here . And because why should 14:34.067 --> 14:36.178 Ukraine and Russia both be relying on 14:36.178 --> 14:38.289 Chinese drones ? Right ? We should be 14:38.289 --> 14:40.456 there helping with our drones and help 14:40.456 --> 14:42.678 c help Ukraine prevail . I was up there 14:42.678 --> 14:45.400 with the sea drones . Ukraine today has 14:45.409 --> 14:48.650 sea supremacy and they did it without a 14:48.659 --> 14:51.210 single ship in the Black Sea , 19 14:51.219 --> 14:53.690 Russian ships have been sunk and a lot 14:53.700 --> 14:55.644 of them through sea jaws , it some 14:55.644 --> 14:57.811 through ballistic missiles . But uh uh 14:57.811 --> 14:59.978 we need to be watching that technology 14:59.978 --> 15:02.890 and realize that every 30 days there's 15:02.900 --> 15:05.609 new iterations on these weapons because 15:05.619 --> 15:07.919 if you don't keep up , you get beat and 15:07.929 --> 15:10.151 that's , that's what's going on there . 15:10.151 --> 15:12.151 What's going on in I with what Iran 15:12.151 --> 15:14.318 that Hamas Hezbollah , the Houthis all 15:14.318 --> 15:16.485 focused on Israel . It is my opinion , 15:16.485 --> 15:18.485 those the enemies of Israel are our 15:18.485 --> 15:20.596 adversaries as well . They would just 15:20.596 --> 15:22.762 assume do to us what they try to do to 15:22.762 --> 15:24.873 Israel . And it's of , of my view too 15:24.873 --> 15:26.985 that we need to be helping out Israel 15:26.985 --> 15:28.985 win quickly and get this thing over 15:28.985 --> 15:31.270 with . But what Iran has done 100 and 15:31.280 --> 15:33.391 10 ballistic missiles in one attack , 15:33.391 --> 15:35.613 100 and 80 in another attack . I worked 15:35.613 --> 15:37.836 there . I worked when I was part of the 15:37.836 --> 15:39.836 third air force in 2009 , 10 and 11 15:39.969 --> 15:42.191 helped put in the aerial defense system 15:42.191 --> 15:44.247 with the radar and , or our infrared 15:44.247 --> 15:46.247 satellite system . Isn't it amazing 15:46.247 --> 15:49.340 that we have a 99% PK on 100 and 10 15:49.349 --> 15:51.238 ballistic missiles and 100 and 80 15:51.238 --> 15:53.127 ballistic missiles . I have so uh 15:53.299 --> 15:55.440 encouraged by the success of our 15:55.450 --> 15:57.672 ballistic missile defense stuff that we 15:57.672 --> 16:00.159 helped Israel uh put in and then we got 16:00.169 --> 16:02.669 China . China is eyeballing Taiwan 16:02.679 --> 16:04.457 watching how we handle Israel , 16:04.457 --> 16:06.623 watching how we handle Iran , watching 16:06.623 --> 16:08.512 how we handle Ukraine again . I'm 16:08.512 --> 16:11.409 saying the world is on fire and we need 16:11.419 --> 16:15.409 to be at our best . What is our role ? 16:16.429 --> 16:18.540 I think it's important that we have a 16:18.540 --> 16:20.651 strategy and a vision of what America 16:20.651 --> 16:22.540 should look like . America is the 16:22.540 --> 16:24.429 indispensable power for freedom . 16:24.570 --> 16:26.789 Nobody can replace us , but we need 16:26.799 --> 16:29.021 good allies . We gotta , we can't do it 16:29.021 --> 16:31.021 by ourselves . So my vision is as a 16:31.021 --> 16:33.750 country that is the leader for freedom , 16:33.760 --> 16:36.049 democracy , free markets , rule of law , 16:36.599 --> 16:40.090 defending these values , but also 16:40.099 --> 16:42.155 working and building up our allies . 16:42.155 --> 16:44.320 NATO is vitally important , Canada , 16:44.330 --> 16:48.260 Australia , Japan , hopefully India 16:48.270 --> 16:51.090 down the road . But it's gonna take a 16:51.099 --> 16:53.340 coalition of freedom loving nations to 16:53.349 --> 16:55.460 stand up against these four countries 16:55.460 --> 16:57.719 that are lining up against us . So 16:57.729 --> 16:59.729 what's the challenges are making it 16:59.729 --> 17:01.951 hard for us to do this ? I'm gonna do , 17:01.951 --> 17:04.007 I'm gonna go from 10,000 ft to maybe 17:04.007 --> 17:07.479 20,000 ft . I think the U uh the 17:07.489 --> 17:10.390 current budget that we have is 17:10.400 --> 17:12.511 inadequate to do what we need to do . 17:13.198 --> 17:16.058 We're spending 3.1% of our GDP on 17:16.068 --> 17:18.619 defense . It's the second lowest going 17:18.629 --> 17:21.380 back to World War Two . It was only LA 17:21.459 --> 17:23.839 under Bill Clinton and I submit to you 17:23.849 --> 17:26.959 today that 3.1% GDP does not allow us 17:26.969 --> 17:29.660 to do the Sentinel missile , the B 21 17:30.439 --> 17:33.739 the new Boomer submarines , the stealth 17:33.750 --> 17:35.849 technologies that we need , the size 17:35.859 --> 17:38.530 navy that we need and the quality of 17:38.540 --> 17:41.609 life that we need for our military . If 17:41.619 --> 17:43.841 we want to do the appropriate pay , fix 17:43.841 --> 17:45.730 the dorms and do all these weapon 17:45.730 --> 17:48.250 systems , 3.1% does not cut it . And I 17:48.260 --> 17:50.371 would tell you what I've sit in these 17:50.371 --> 17:52.093 committees and I hear from the 17:52.093 --> 17:54.149 executive branch , we also hear from 17:54.149 --> 17:56.427 our own side on the legislative branch , 17:56.427 --> 17:55.810 we have a budget . They'll , they say 17:55.819 --> 17:58.959 that is made to counter China and I 17:58.969 --> 18:01.136 just think it's smoke and mirrors . We 18:01.136 --> 18:04.810 gotta be candid 3.1% does not do it . 18:05.650 --> 18:08.380 And we should be saying as military 18:08.390 --> 18:10.557 services or as the , as the leaders of 18:10.557 --> 18:12.790 the joint joint chiefs with the budget 18:12.800 --> 18:15.022 you're given as Congress at 3.1 this is 18:15.022 --> 18:17.244 what we can do , but this is what we're 18:17.244 --> 18:19.356 not doing . And I don't hear that . I 18:19.356 --> 18:21.578 always hear this is adequate where this 18:21.578 --> 18:23.744 is gonna be fine and I'm just , I just 18:23.744 --> 18:25.967 think we gotta have transparency here . 18:25.967 --> 18:25.800 If we want to counter China Russia , 18:25.810 --> 18:28.032 Iran , North Korea and take care of our 18:28.032 --> 18:31.709 troops . We have a huge cyber threat 18:31.770 --> 18:33.992 which comes back to what you got , what 18:33.992 --> 18:36.159 you all work on . We're being attacked 18:36.159 --> 18:38.492 every day . I , I do the military cyber , 18:38.492 --> 18:40.548 but I work closely with the Homeland 18:40.548 --> 18:42.659 Security cyber uh subcomittee . It is 18:42.659 --> 18:44.826 my bill that put the Homeland Security 18:44.826 --> 18:46.881 and the CISA in charge of everything 18:46.881 --> 18:48.826 nondefense to help all our private 18:48.826 --> 18:51.670 industry or our , our infrastructure to 18:51.680 --> 18:53.791 defend ourselves from these attacks . 18:53.791 --> 18:55.958 And we're being attacked every day . I 18:55.958 --> 18:58.180 got my son's like the number two guy at 18:58.180 --> 19:00.236 Con Agro doing Cyber there , they're 19:00.236 --> 19:02.402 being attacked every day , but there's 19:02.402 --> 19:04.569 no doubt that the Russians and Chinese 19:04.569 --> 19:04.359 Iran , Iranians , North Koreans to a 19:04.369 --> 19:06.910 lesser extent . On day one of war , we 19:06.920 --> 19:08.920 want to take down our energy grid . 19:08.920 --> 19:11.087 They wanna take down our Wall Street , 19:11.087 --> 19:13.253 uh you know , communicate our all up , 19:13.253 --> 19:14.976 you know , all our banking and 19:14.976 --> 19:17.142 financial and just create chaos in our 19:17.142 --> 19:19.309 country and that threat is real . Uh I 19:19.309 --> 19:21.420 think I feel better about it from the 19:21.420 --> 19:23.642 military side , what we can do , but uh 19:23.642 --> 19:25.587 on the private sector side and our 19:25.587 --> 19:27.698 infrastructure side , uh we , we , it 19:27.698 --> 19:27.689 is my firm belief that I know Jerry 19:27.699 --> 19:29.755 Hock . He was a colonel when I was a 19:29.755 --> 19:31.755 one star . I think we have the best 19:31.755 --> 19:34.089 cyber offense in the world , but we 19:34.099 --> 19:36.155 have the most digital communications 19:36.155 --> 19:38.155 too that we rely on , makes us most 19:38.155 --> 19:40.321 vulnerable . And , uh , so we are , we 19:40.321 --> 19:40.229 have the work cut out for us there , by 19:40.239 --> 19:43.150 the way , what , a year ago , 14 months 19:43.160 --> 19:45.327 ago , my , my private email was hacked 19:45.327 --> 19:47.549 by China and it was interesting . I got 19:47.549 --> 19:49.660 a call from the FBI . They go , hey , 19:49.660 --> 19:51.771 Don , we wanna see you , uh , at four 19:51.771 --> 19:54.760 o'clock don't need about lawyers . And 19:54.770 --> 19:56.992 they said , no , you're , you're fine . 19:56.992 --> 19:56.930 I said , yeah , I've heard that before 19:56.939 --> 19:59.939 from others . But anyway , they were , 19:59.949 --> 20:02.005 they were calling to tell me , hey , 20:02.005 --> 20:03.727 you were hacked along with the 20:03.727 --> 20:05.838 Secretary of Commerce , the Secretary 20:05.838 --> 20:08.171 of State and the US ambassador to China . 20:08.171 --> 20:10.171 The four of us pretty crazy . I was 20:10.171 --> 20:12.282 like , why me and the FBI director or 20:12.282 --> 20:14.393 was the attorney general said , Don , 20:14.393 --> 20:13.969 they don't like you . I , I have a 20:13.979 --> 20:15.923 tendency to talk about uighurs and 20:15.923 --> 20:17.979 Tibetans and things like that . So , 20:17.979 --> 20:20.146 but the , the cyber threat is real and 20:20.146 --> 20:22.035 that's why I say again , don't be 20:22.035 --> 20:24.201 overconfident . We need you to be over 20:24.201 --> 20:27.560 zealous and over vigilant . We got huge 20:27.569 --> 20:29.625 concerns with our defense industrial 20:29.625 --> 20:31.625 base . We've learned with Ukraine , 20:31.625 --> 20:33.780 Israel and Taiwan right now that we 20:33.790 --> 20:36.469 can't produce weapons fast enough . So 20:36.479 --> 20:39.790 we , we need to have a plan to ramp up 20:39.800 --> 20:41.967 our defense industrial base , but also 20:41.967 --> 20:43.967 work with our allies like the Czech 20:43.967 --> 20:46.078 Republic , which is , we're very good 20:46.078 --> 20:45.229 at some of these munitions we need . 20:45.329 --> 20:47.551 And others out there . This is , should 20:47.551 --> 20:49.829 not be a US alone thing , but we gotta 20:49.839 --> 20:51.950 be work with our allies and know that 20:51.950 --> 20:55.810 just in time inventory for war , it 20:55.819 --> 20:57.819 don't work . We need , we need , we 20:57.819 --> 21:00.152 need supplies , we need backup supplies . 21:00.910 --> 21:03.243 The all volunteer force is under strain . 21:04.079 --> 21:06.023 You know , we've particularly been 21:06.023 --> 21:08.135 struggling with the army and the navy 21:08.135 --> 21:10.301 side of this . Uh , but we have to ask 21:10.301 --> 21:12.357 ourselves , why is this going on ? I 21:12.357 --> 21:14.579 just saw an article today that a lot of 21:14.579 --> 21:16.635 veterans or people currently serving 21:16.635 --> 21:18.635 are telling their Children that are 21:18.635 --> 21:18.349 nearing of age of 18 that they don't 21:18.359 --> 21:20.810 want to join . It's like a first , many 21:20.819 --> 21:22.708 of our new recruits are those who 21:22.708 --> 21:24.763 served . And so we gotta look at our 21:24.763 --> 21:26.875 ourselves and ask why are we seeing a 21:26.875 --> 21:29.041 reluctance ? And I think there's three 21:29.041 --> 21:31.041 or four different reasons . I think 21:31.041 --> 21:32.986 Afghanistan was a part of it and I 21:32.986 --> 21:35.041 think we're coming out of that . But 21:35.041 --> 21:34.670 for a couple of years , people served 21:34.680 --> 21:36.847 multiple times in Afghanistan and then 21:36.847 --> 21:38.958 saw what we did really affected their 21:38.958 --> 21:41.180 morale . Like we saw a huge increase in 21:41.180 --> 21:43.180 mental health uh issues and in this 21:43.180 --> 21:45.347 area because people lost their friends 21:45.347 --> 21:47.569 there , they served there . And then we 21:47.569 --> 21:47.270 just pulled the plug the way we did it 21:47.280 --> 21:49.447 and it , and it , it created , created 21:49.447 --> 21:51.502 a two or three year ripple effect in 21:51.502 --> 21:53.613 our military . I also think it's very 21:53.613 --> 21:55.780 important that we communicate to our s 21:55.780 --> 21:58.002 our military and to the American people 21:58.079 --> 22:00.190 that our military is there is to kick 22:00.190 --> 22:02.530 anybody's to serve the greatest country 22:02.540 --> 22:05.550 in the world . And no , and no wins or 22:05.560 --> 22:07.671 buts about it . And we gotta be clear 22:07.671 --> 22:09.782 about what that's our mission . And I 22:09.782 --> 22:09.420 think we don't do that clearly enough . 22:09.430 --> 22:11.597 Right now . There's an impression when 22:11.597 --> 22:13.430 you walk around the Midwest that 22:13.430 --> 22:15.430 there's too much social engineering 22:15.430 --> 22:15.140 going on . And I know it's , I think 22:15.150 --> 22:17.250 it's over exaggerated , but that 22:17.260 --> 22:19.427 perceptions out there and we need to , 22:19.427 --> 22:21.427 we need to correct it . I think the 22:21.427 --> 22:23.538 quality of life is a problem when you 22:23.538 --> 22:23.430 have people on food stamps and stamp , 22:23.439 --> 22:25.709 serving the military . It's not right . 22:26.479 --> 22:28.701 We should , that , that's why I propose 22:28.701 --> 22:30.646 a pay pay , a target pay raise for 22:30.646 --> 22:32.757 junior enlisted . We have dwarves are 22:32.757 --> 22:34.923 getting feeling great . Right . It's , 22:34.923 --> 22:37.369 it's , that's if I was a wing commander , 22:37.380 --> 22:39.547 oh , I was at Ramstein and off it . If 22:39.547 --> 22:41.824 I would have had a dor of feeling good , 22:41.824 --> 22:43.769 I would have got fired . Joe Brady 22:43.769 --> 22:43.329 would have fired me on the spot , the 22:43.339 --> 22:45.283 four star and he walked through my 22:45.283 --> 22:47.617 dorms about once or twice a month . And , 22:47.640 --> 22:49.529 but there's so we have , ok , the 22:49.529 --> 22:51.751 number one demographic for unemployment 22:51.751 --> 22:53.869 today are our spouses and a military 22:53.880 --> 22:56.102 spouses . So , you know , they're being 22:56.102 --> 22:58.269 underpaid . We're not , we're not able 22:58.269 --> 23:00.491 to get the spouse's employment . People 23:00.491 --> 23:02.769 are waiting two months for health care . 23:02.769 --> 23:04.991 And I , I would say I sat on this panel 23:04.991 --> 23:07.213 and I was the chairman of it uh for the 23:07.213 --> 23:06.810 Quality of life panel . And we came up 23:06.819 --> 23:08.986 with 31 recommendations to improve the 23:08.986 --> 23:10.930 quality of life about a $5 billion 23:10.930 --> 23:13.041 price tag over time . But that's what 23:13.041 --> 23:14.930 we need if we want to recruit and 23:14.930 --> 23:17.219 retain America's bust . And , but we 23:17.229 --> 23:19.396 have a problem right now . They're all 23:19.396 --> 23:19.209 volunteer force . So we got to 23:19.219 --> 23:21.890 acknowledge it . We have an aging 23:21.900 --> 23:24.011 infrastructure . I found out that the 23:24.011 --> 23:26.939 military services were redirecting 23:26.949 --> 23:29.359 about 10 to 15% of the money for dorms 23:29.369 --> 23:31.829 in barracks to weapon systems . You do 23:31.839 --> 23:34.030 that over 10 years , you have an aging 23:34.040 --> 23:36.262 infrastructure . Now we have a bills at 23:36.262 --> 23:39.619 about 100 and $40 billion to 23:39.630 --> 23:42.510 fix aging infrastructure . And that's 23:42.520 --> 23:44.576 what happens when you redirect money 23:44.576 --> 23:46.464 over time and , and was something 23:46.464 --> 23:48.760 Congress was not aware of and which I 23:48.770 --> 23:50.881 think was wrong . It was a mistake in 23:50.881 --> 23:52.937 leadership . I view this is where we 23:52.937 --> 23:54.937 need these honest discussions where 23:54.937 --> 23:56.937 they told Congress , hey , with the 23:56.937 --> 23:56.800 budget you're giving us . This is what 23:56.810 --> 23:58.754 we can do . This is what we're not 23:58.754 --> 24:00.810 doing , but we were not having these 24:00.810 --> 24:03.660 discussions the way we should have . I 24:03.670 --> 24:05.770 think we're vulnerable to hypersonic 24:05.780 --> 24:09.650 attack . We have hypersonic 24:09.660 --> 24:11.882 weapons though the Chinese Russians who 24:11.882 --> 24:14.049 they can hit us in 15 minutes and even 24:14.049 --> 24:16.271 if they're not nuclear tipped , imagine 24:16.271 --> 24:18.382 a weapon hitting the Pentagon at mach 24:18.382 --> 24:21.180 seven , that's accurate . And so 24:23.959 --> 24:26.126 what I have learned is we don't have a 24:26.126 --> 24:28.680 good detection and tracking system on 24:28.689 --> 24:30.780 hy hypersonics . I think we got to 24:30.790 --> 24:33.540 invest in that . We need to know when 24:33.550 --> 24:35.550 Russia fires one or China fires one 24:35.550 --> 24:37.550 where it's going and what , where , 24:37.550 --> 24:37.410 where it's at . So we know how to 24:37.420 --> 24:39.753 respond , which takes me to more to our , 24:39.753 --> 24:42.579 our nuclear readiness . I , I , we , we 24:42.589 --> 24:44.811 got a plan to spend for all through the 24:44.811 --> 24:47.760 triad . But I'm , I think we need to 24:47.770 --> 24:49.992 take this rule that we can be hit in 15 24:49.992 --> 24:52.069 minutes . And if we wanna have 24:52.079 --> 24:54.310 deterrent , we need to communicate to 24:54.319 --> 24:56.541 the Russia Chinese , no matter what you 24:56.541 --> 24:58.969 do , we can absolutely survive you 24:58.979 --> 25:01.300 trying to decapitate us and we can 25:01.310 --> 25:03.619 strike back and I think we gotta raise 25:03.630 --> 25:05.963 our game here and this is my view . I'm , 25:05.963 --> 25:08.130 I'm , I feel like I'm John the Baptist 25:08.130 --> 25:10.463 on this Seth Moulton is with me on this , 25:10.463 --> 25:12.630 but I think we need to go back to a 24 25:12.630 --> 25:14.569 7 ec 130 or , you know , airborne 25:14.579 --> 25:16.635 command post that's always up in the 25:16.635 --> 25:18.857 air . They could always respond . I was 25:18.857 --> 25:21.079 a a one star on that mission , but we , 25:21.079 --> 25:23.190 we had them on ground alert with a 15 25:23.190 --> 25:25.357 minute reaction time . We need to have 25:25.357 --> 25:24.569 some capability where we , we know 25:24.579 --> 25:27.630 there's always a sur survivable command 25:27.770 --> 25:29.714 outside of the bases that could be 25:29.714 --> 25:32.260 targeted . So I wanna take us to the 25:32.270 --> 25:36.270 30,000 ft level . I've laid 25:36.280 --> 25:38.169 out the threats I've laid out the 25:38.169 --> 25:40.619 problems and I think it's , and it's in 25:40.630 --> 25:42.797 my view , 3.1% GDP doesn't do it . But 25:42.797 --> 25:45.449 what is preventing us from solving 25:45.630 --> 25:47.949 these issues ? Because we're Americans , 25:47.959 --> 25:51.140 we have a can do spirit . We've 25:51.150 --> 25:54.000 overcome worse . But right now there's 25:54.010 --> 25:56.232 two things that are really constraining 25:56.232 --> 25:58.343 us right now . One of it is we have a 25:58.343 --> 26:00.979 $35 trillion debt and this year was 26:00.989 --> 26:04.989 $2.1 trillion deficit and the interest 26:05.000 --> 26:07.000 payments are exceeding our military 26:07.000 --> 26:09.800 budget for the first time ever . That 26:09.810 --> 26:11.921 should alarm us . When you look at uh 26:11.921 --> 26:14.719 when you look at our debt to GDP ratio , 26:14.800 --> 26:18.660 it's a red flag , but we have to have 26:18.670 --> 26:20.726 an honest discussion and , and right 26:20.726 --> 26:23.003 now in this hyper partisan environment , 26:23.003 --> 26:25.114 nobody wants us to put their nose out 26:25.114 --> 26:27.709 there and step out into it . 72% of our 26:27.719 --> 26:29.886 spending today is mandatory spending . 26:30.250 --> 26:32.139 28% is discretion every year that 26:32.139 --> 26:34.250 mandatory spending goes up as a share 26:34.969 --> 26:37.080 that makes it harder to spend more on 26:37.080 --> 26:39.080 defense . Half of our discretionary 26:39.080 --> 26:41.247 budget goes to defense . But with each 26:41.247 --> 26:43.469 year with , with the mandatory spending 26:43.469 --> 26:45.691 creeping up , it's harder and harder to 26:45.691 --> 26:47.858 fund the military to the level that we 26:47.858 --> 26:50.080 need to do . And we said we can to each 26:50.080 --> 26:52.302 other . Why is this ? Well , it used to 26:52.302 --> 26:54.636 be 15 workers for every retiree in 1950 . 26:54.636 --> 26:56.802 We're soon to be two workers for every 26:56.802 --> 26:58.969 retiree and with the withholdings that 26:58.969 --> 27:01.136 we take out , it's not enough , but we 27:01.136 --> 27:03.302 gotta have an honest discussion . It's 27:03.302 --> 27:03.089 gonna have to take Republicans and 27:03.099 --> 27:06.030 Democrats working together to do . Win . 27:06.040 --> 27:08.096 Wins , lose , I mean , wins , losses 27:08.096 --> 27:10.318 together where both sides are gonna win 27:10.318 --> 27:12.151 some and lose some to solve this 27:12.151 --> 27:14.096 problem . That's the only way that 27:14.096 --> 27:16.151 we're gonna be able to do it . If we 27:16.151 --> 27:18.207 don't solve this problem , we're not 27:18.207 --> 27:20.373 gonna be able to get the military that 27:20.373 --> 27:22.484 we need to , to be the world's leader 27:22.484 --> 27:25.040 for freedom . And I already touched on 27:25.050 --> 27:27.217 it . What's underlining all of this is 27:27.217 --> 27:29.383 the hyperpartisanship that our country 27:29.383 --> 27:31.494 has right now . There's no reason why 27:31.494 --> 27:33.606 we should hate Americans more than we 27:33.606 --> 27:35.890 hate the Taliban or that we hate Putin 27:35.900 --> 27:39.810 or that we hate the mullahs in Iran . 27:39.829 --> 27:42.099 They're the real enemies . It's not the 27:42.109 --> 27:43.942 guy across the street that has a 27:43.942 --> 27:46.276 different yard sign . And unfortunately , 27:46.276 --> 27:48.498 but with the social media today and the 27:48.498 --> 27:51.579 various segmented cable , the , the 27:51.589 --> 27:53.700 hate is being directed towards fellow 27:53.700 --> 27:55.700 Americans , but you can't work with 27:55.700 --> 27:58.819 fellow Americans that you hate . And we 27:59.050 --> 28:01.569 must remind ourselves that we still 28:01.579 --> 28:03.579 live in the greatest country in the 28:03.579 --> 28:05.801 world , with the greatest economy , the 28:05.801 --> 28:07.912 greatest freedoms with the , with the 28:07.912 --> 28:09.968 opportunity to climb the ladder , no 28:09.968 --> 28:09.819 matter what kind of family you were 28:09.829 --> 28:11.819 raised in hard work and character 28:11.920 --> 28:14.630 allows you to achieve your dreams . The 28:14.640 --> 28:17.439 American dream is still there . Our 28:17.449 --> 28:19.505 quality of life is still there . But 28:19.505 --> 28:21.727 most Americans don't realize it because 28:21.727 --> 28:23.949 they're living in a world where there's 28:23.949 --> 28:26.116 too much anger and hate towards fellow 28:26.116 --> 28:28.116 Americans . So I wanna close with a 28:28.116 --> 28:31.560 positive thought . Only 5% of mankind 28:31.790 --> 28:35.650 have ever lived in freedom . When 28:35.660 --> 28:37.827 you go back to the original history of 28:37.827 --> 28:40.060 the original known history , only one 28:40.069 --> 28:42.069 in 20 people have ever lived to had 28:42.069 --> 28:43.902 freedoms like we've had , we are 28:43.902 --> 28:45.736 blessed . Freedom is rare . It's 28:45.736 --> 28:49.589 precious . I think it's also you 28:49.599 --> 28:51.543 gotta protect it . Right . It's uh 28:51.543 --> 28:53.877 there's , it's always been under attack . 28:54.430 --> 28:56.486 We can't forget that we , that we're 28:56.489 --> 28:59.790 part of that 5% and that 1% of our 28:59.800 --> 29:03.689 Nation Day serving in uniform to 29:03.699 --> 29:05.810 ensure that we remain at that 5% . So 29:05.810 --> 29:08.088 those who are serving a day in uniform , 29:08.088 --> 29:10.032 I say , thank you . Uh you got the 29:10.032 --> 29:12.255 torch . Uh I handed it off 10 years ago 29:12.439 --> 29:14.606 and I know we got a lot of veterans in 29:14.606 --> 29:16.900 here . You're part of the 6% of our 29:17.250 --> 29:20.760 population who served and have left our 29:20.770 --> 29:22.992 great country to the 1% who are serving 29:22.992 --> 29:25.400 today and have kept us in that 5% of 29:25.410 --> 29:27.619 mankind . They had freedom . So , 29:28.189 --> 29:30.339 ladies and gentlemen , I want to say 29:30.349 --> 29:33.489 thank you again for ensuring that our 29:33.500 --> 29:35.278 commanders get the most current 29:35.278 --> 29:37.278 information as fast as possible and 29:37.278 --> 29:39.500 that you're able to communicate back to 29:39.500 --> 29:41.722 our troops and forces their decisions . 29:42.079 --> 29:44.520 What you do helps us win our nation's 29:44.530 --> 29:47.839 wars . Let's protect this great network , 29:48.550 --> 29:50.606 protect these , this capability from 29:50.606 --> 29:52.772 China , Russia and all these folks who 29:52.772 --> 29:55.609 want to undermine it . And that's , and 29:55.619 --> 29:57.675 that's our mission here . And ladies 29:57.675 --> 29:59.841 and gentlemen , welcome to Omaha Gun . 30:00.000 --> 30:02.056 Thank you for being uh visiting this 30:02.056 --> 30:04.167 place . I love to have you here every 30:04.167 --> 30:06.278 year and so God bless you . Thank you 30:06.278 --> 30:10.060 very much . Thank 30:10.069 --> 30:13.630 you . Give me a 30:13.640 --> 30:14.209 sloop .