I am also interested, very interested, with my colleague Mr. Brown in the Guard and Reserve and the role that they can play, and I would be very interested in seeing that report.
Michael Waltz
The Public Record
Michael George Glen Waltz is an American politician and member of the Republican Party who has served as the U.S. Representative for Florida's 6th congressional district since January 3, 2019. A former Green Beret, Waltz has a strong background in national security and has focused on issues related to defense and veterans during his time in office. He has been an advocate for military families and has worked on legislation to support their needs.
I truly applaud the groundbreaking, ceiling-breaking work that both of you have done.
I mean, it seemed, you know, that the challenge is with recruiting, the challenge is with keeping up with the civilian sector and the pace of technology and who bridges those two worlds.
I feel like I am getting transported back to 2009 with President Obama announcing withdrawal timelines.
I think incentivizing women to have interest, and pursue careers in STEM is critical to fully utilizing our talent base, and competing long term.
U.S. modernization, or anticipated modernization, is not kicking off a renewed arms race.
I'm very concerned as a veteran as well about the national security implications of global warming.
I think we need to be very careful about crossing the line from aspirational to outlandish goals.
I think that we need to let these negotiations continue and I hope we do.
My position is, let's let the current committee that is negotiating that finish its work, come to a compromise, keep the government open and let's move onto a lot of other business that the country needs.
I believe America is less safe and the world is more dangerous with the release of those individuals.
The only scenario that comes to mind, sir, is that this was part of a broader policy initiative to open up talks with the Taliban.
But if we knew where he was and we were confident, and the risks were evaluated, absolutely we have the capability to get him.
We deploy knowing the high likelihood of being captured, and it comes with that understanding that ransoms will not be paid, and there will not be swaps for us.
There was a real fear, me included in those first 24 hours that there would be, you know, 'ticker tape parades,' and Rose Garden ceremonies, and that this whole effort would get politicized, and that the truth, frankly, would be buried.
I believe we've set a dangerous precedent, and I'd encourage this body to look closely at future efforts toward release and calls to close Guantanamo.
No, Congressman, I wouldn't. And just a follow-on to the previous Congressman's question. I think there are a lot of other policy options open that weren't fully explored, more pressure on Pakistan, for one.
Why did the Taliban pick those five? Out of all of the spectrum of folks they could have chosen out of Guantanamo, why did we give them essentially their top five draft picks?





