|
Read highlights from their conversation here:
Rep. Pfluger on what our pilots are experiencing in the Middle East right now:
"I’m so proud of what these pilots are doing. And many, of whom I know, I trained, and I flew with. We know their families. These are just absolute professionals who have participated in a lot of different activities and major historical events over the past year, including the initial strikes into Iran to destroy their nuclear capability. Then they followed up at the beginning of the year with the Venezuela operation, and now this, and look, these are historic. They're challenging. They're complex. I flew the F-22. There's a mixture of aircraft and joint air power that are being employed, but they've got to have their wits about them. They have to have an understanding of the environment and situational awareness, and, you know, the surface-to-air missiles have to be degraded so that they don't get shot down. They're obviously looking for enemy fighters...very proud of all of those that are willing to give their lives to keep us safe and willing to fight terrorism there so that it doesn't come to our shores, to our borders, or inside our country."
Rep. Pfluger on the objective of Operation Epic Fury:
"I think that President Trump's approach to peace through strength is speed and aggression, where he offers diplomatic off-roads, and they've not been taken. The Iranian Regime had every opportunity to take these pathways to peace, and they chose not to. Instead, they escalated with threats, with more violence, and with the destruction of their own civilian population. That is just brutal. 30 to 40,000 of their own civilians were murdered because they were protesting. So I think when you look at it from that perspective, it is different than a lot of previous things and engagements and conflicts that the United States has been involved in, because there's a clear objective, and that clear objective is to make sure that the Iranian regime can never get a nuclear weapon."
Rep. Pfluger on the impact of the DHS shutdown on everyday Americans:
"We passed this bill in the House, we sent it to the Senate, and once again, they're grandstanding for political reasons on this bill, and at the end of the day, it hurts every single American. It hurts our security for not being able to properly protect our country, even down to things that everyday business travelers and family vacationers feel through TSA and CBP functions at airports. They're hurting every American. We're just tired of it. I'm tired of seeing these political charades being played, and our safety and our security being held hostage for this political type of game that they want to play. Let's be serious, and let's actually think about the security of America for once and stop grandstanding."
Rep. Pfluger on what it will take for Senate Democrats to open DHS:
"That's the question. I mean, is it another crisis like 9/11? The tragedy that happened in Austin with the radicalized person who was here in the United States, who claimed some allegiance to Allah?... Is that not enough to convince them that it's worth protecting our country? So you know, really, it's the Trump derangement syndrome that they have. Trump could literally cure cancer tomorrow, and they would vote against it."
|
