[inaudible conversations] okay. Well, welcome everyone. Thanks for o coming out tonight. My name is brett barker and a privilege to be the chairman in story countyco and were excited about tonight event for the dinner. Seph story a tradition our county has started over ten years ago, weve had an awesome list of governors, senators have come in for this event come something really proud of and excited tonight to have senator cotton with us to speak to you and add to the long list of distinguished guests. The reason we do what we do is really to make sure we elect republicans from the top of the ticket all the way to the bottom. And youre going here from some excellent county candidates tonight we are excited about. An we want all you do get to know because our awesome county recorder is all by herself at the county Administration Building and we need to send her some friends. So thats where all of you come in. We need your time, your talents, funding. If you want to volunteer some time to walk in the parade come if you have skills that we can use come if you have some funds we need those. So with that you do have envelopes on the table so before i forgetyo and get in trouble we would love if you throw some donations into. All the moneyey we raise as a county party is used to help the bottom of the ticket to make sure that staff can go out and make sure theres advertising that is done, materials that are done so thats really what our funds are used are believed to focus on this county level races. And those folks that need those resources so we would love your support there. Also want to thank our group that helped tonight so jeff are cochairmen, kathy our treasurer and e mary, our event chairmen were phenomenal. They let me go to florida on vacation with four kids and they handle all the details of this event and did a phenomenal job. We have a fantastic team that does that saw want to give a round of applause to those folks. Ap [applause] and then iis would be remissf i didnt point out the save the date on your table. We do have a date and keynote speaker identified for the fall. Our chili supper which is our Second Annual event that weise have been s doing that for about ten years as well, so if florida congresswoman coming, if you havent heard from her she phenomenal, and excellent speaker, incredible life story andry background and one of the issues she cursed with a strong about our prolife issues are right nowan obviously thats timely with the Supreme Court decision so were looking for to hearing l from her. We would love if you could mark your calendar for that. T. We will put out more information withinor your logistic ticket sales all that the email so if youre not getting her emails from us go to story county gop. Com you can sign up for those. Thats ever get information out to everybody the most. With that we havent in see this evening news a lot more entertaining and humorous that i am some good head over the microphone to state representative rob taken. [applause] robert bacon. You didnt do anything like i wrote the introduction for you. [laughing] its good to see all of you here tonight. Look at each other on the table right now. Look at seriously, look at each other, notice how your all smiling. Its because where republicans and we are a happy people. Now ly god loves you and i do too. God loves you and i do too. Shave that weird. Before we get started, were going to have an indication and then followed by the invocation, the pledge of allegiance led by nico. Where is the flag . Behind me. The committee did a great job tonight, everything is where it is supposed to be. We even have the senator at the head table. If you would bow your heads do you have a question . You are welcome. From here on out, there are no questions. Our father in heaven, tonight we come to you and we are thankful we can live in a country where we are still free to come and worship you. We are free to defend ourselves and say what is on our mind. We thank you for our constitution built upon the scriptures. We thank you for each person here tonight, for the love of freedom they each have, and as we hear our candidates tonight, here what is going on in washington but ask you be with us and be with the people who prepared the food, bless it to our bodies and us to their service, for it is in your name we pray, amen. Good evening. If you could stand for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. [indiscernible conversations] [indiscernible conversations] [indiscernible conversations] [indiscernible conversations] [indiscernible conversations] a combination of oversight and spending power you also see the benefit of having a new Supreme Court majority. I know the Abortion Case made a lot of news but the epa was really big. To stop the epa from trying to regulate and shutdown fossil fuel production, but also a warning shot to all of the bureaucracies in washington that they have the power to regulate sweeping sections of our economy. I think you will see the courts continue to put guardrails [indiscernible conversations] [indiscernible conversations] [indiscernible conversations] [indiscernible conversations] [indiscernible conversations] when we were at the border last year as the border classes crisis was getting really bad, a bunch of senators and uniformed order patrol agents, i just wandered off and spoke to another group of migrants and i asked how did you come here and why did you come here . Not a single one said anything about persecution. Not in fear of their lives. Every one of them said a better job, a better life and joe biden would help them get in. And they know they will get free stuff. Yeah. [indiscernible conversations] the Border Patrol is overwhelmed and they need more people, and this is key, not to stop the migrants but sending the guard and the military to stop them from coming. [indiscernible conversations] theres not enough housing on the order itself to keep 2 million migrants for an 18 month span so theyre doing everything they can to move them as quickly as possible. Everywhere. [indiscernible conversations] you could tell who they were, they were tearing a manila folder like this and written on it were the words please help me, i dont speak english, my number is 1234, my destination is in many cases, they are following on previous waves of migration and they have brothers or sisters or aunts and uncles. [indiscernible conversations] sen. Cotton we are not going to let nancy pelosi she has violated almost every precedent there is. [inaudible conversations]. The point is here only come out because of hurricane or something not because of gas prices. [inaudible conversations] thank you so much. Absolutely. I dont want you interrupt you as youre eating, i recognize you from the church. [inaudible conversations] this is the way it is. How are you . Im doing well. How is it going up there in d. C. . I havent been there in a couple of weeks. Drive you crazy . Anytime the democrats, the last 18 months well get back on monday. [inaudible conversations] you have a good attitude. Stopping bad democratic deals is almost as important as passing good deals. And thats what said its stopping bad deals, as good deals. And americans at the local levels and state levels and the federal government dont just do something. Yeah, i think were headed to a very big election and turning things around and good to be back. Federal government should stay out of the state governments building and [inaudible conversations] way too much and we take back power is trying to stop the federal governments overreach and try to change and you see the benefit of having a constitutional majority in the trump era, the epa case last week was a very, very big case. Not good for the epa and energy production, but all of these bureaucrats and 50, 60 years old. And regulate vast swaths of society. No kidding. Can you explain to me how people can say that the constitution is a fluid, living document and not black and white, a piece of paper that says this is what the role of the federal government . When they say theres a living constitution they mean that the constitution is dead because the point of the constitution is not to change with time, its to keep the time in the constitution. And justices thomas opinion in the gun case, 14 years, legal, he said every court in america is getting it wrong by applying fluid to the Second Amendment and treating the Second Amendment as if its a second class right. I mean, the constitution says what it says, and the founders meant what they meant, and thats that. And i mean, the democrats, because of their living constitution, they intent rights that are in the constitution, like the right to abortion and they want to ignore the rights in the constitution that they doesnt like, the Second Amendment. Right to speak freely or worship god freely. I dont understand how so many people. Republicans have been sitting on the coaches couches and getting out and doing something. We are going to change that. Better. And 2024 actually do something. Thank you all for being here. Thank you for what you do for the party. Appreciate it. Good luck. [inaudible conversations] thank you all. Senator cotton, would you sign something in the house of representatives, solid conservative, hes out with hip surgery. Oh, no. He wanted to come so bad tonight. What do you want me to sign . This card here . Any one of them. Theres three of them, i didnt know how many bionic woman. [inaudible conversations] you can use this one if you want to write a small note. There you go, how is that . Thank you. Thank you so much. Appreciate it. That will make him wall. Did he have a fall . No, just a replacement. You know, shes a goer and she thought she was going to be back up in no time and she ended up with a pinched nerve, i think so she couldnt come tonight and shes disappointed. Tell her i missed her and ill see her on my next trip. So youll be back. Conservative prolife, shes great. Good. And down there thats [inaudible conversations] theres a good friend of mine worked on my 2014 campaign and managed John Boozmans campaign when he was first elected and my counterpart and kind a published figure and to her time we had a good lt. Governor and attorney general, but they had their eye on the Gubernatorial Race for a long time and then they started running early last year, but they entered the race and ended up [inaudible conversations] he was elected lt. Governor in a special election, and which meant our governor and lt. Governor and how democratic it was, mike ran for senate 38 or 39 and lost, 6238. Really. And a Democratic State for the longest time and summer of 1993 he won the special election, only running republican, five democrats thought it was the they beat each other up and mike was on the side and in a, you know, this time of year working out not a high turnout, and mike won by a few Percentage Points and then a landslide, but three quarters democratic majority in the state house and senate and they just lets say they did not take well to losing the Governors Office for the first time in 14 years. Yeah. Now, you know, like a lot of people, like iowa we had a tough time in 2006 and 2008, elections of 2014, and Democratic State and republican state thank you. Thank you. I think that Hershel Walker will win. I think that Raphael Warnock has 200 Million Dollars of the Democratic Party and i think that georgia has got ten a little tougher each cycle, but republican i think that the governor is going to beat Stacey Abrams badly. Again. Again. The governor is going to send Stacey Abrams packing out of the governors mansion. I think were going to win the state again. I hope so. Well, the biggest gun issue is not what passed in the senate the house a few weeks ago, the Supreme Court decision, Clarence Thomas was great on that. He is great. Hes my icon. And he was on tv the other day and my sevenyearold and fiveyearold understands that daddies works, something about voting and they see the capitol, thats daddys office. My fiveyearold, i dont know why, fiveyearold started complaining about joe bidens bad taxes. And joe bidens bad taxes and sevenyearold right. My sevenyearold saw Clarence Thomas on tv, protests at his home or the been decision, daddy, who is Clarence Thomas . Well, we talked about three parts of the government, president , the congress where daddy works and the Supreme Court justices and Clarence Thomas is one of the justices. And then my fiveyearold said, if hes the best on the Supreme Court, did he beat joe biden and stop all of bidens bad taxes. I said he probably could, but we dont and if you want hell stop them, but we dont want to lose him on the court. Oh, i love it. From the mouths of babes, yeah. Theyre listening to everything going their minds are absorbing everything. Such a wonderful story. That is. At my swearing in, my second swearing in, the first swearing in, a lot of hoopla and party, and the second one my reelection in 2020 lets just say was not quite as contentious race so we didnt have anyone except my wife and kids and on the internet voe went viral and my then fouryearold was with my wife and then sixyearold and standing there and i noticed my sixyearold untucked his shirt and my wife and the fouryearold were in the field of vision of camera and theyre on national tv and she turned around to me and i tucked my fouryearolds shirt in and she says daniel, say hello to the vicepresident and he said, hello, mr. Vicepresident. Great and doing a happy dance excited to be there and then after were done and walking off and get back to the office, i dont know what i was thinking, but 49 out of 50 times if i told him to say hello to mr. Somebody, he would have said hello mr. Pants. The one time got it, so hch well thanks to you all for being here. Thank you so much for coming. Thank you. Now i have to introduce one of my great friends and i wanted to get this right, all right, so, im going to read this because its so important. I want you to listen to this great gentleman. Ive gotten to know him over the last years and hes the most authentic person i know and i really mean that, its tom cotton is a principal conservative, an army veteran and an accomplished Harvard Law School graduate who has served the people of arkansas since 2013 in both the u. S. House and senate. Tom grew up with his family on a cattle farm, thank you, in arkansas and shares Christian Conservative values that he holds dear to iowa. This is the most important line, following the terror attack on september 11th, think about this, following september 11th 2001 terror attacks, tom left his private law practice and joined the u. S. Army as an infantry officer for five years, bravely fighting for our country in the fight against terrorism. And i want to say thank you. I look forward to working with him as we advance our strong conservative agenda for our country as we take back the house and senate. Please, lets give a warm welcome to senator tom cotton. [applause] thank you. Thank you, thank you all so much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Randy, thanks for that great introduction. I may have to take you on the road next time in iowa so you can do all of my introduction for me. Thank you all for coming out and thank you for supporting the county g. O. P. , for your leadership in the county and i especially want to thank the dinner committee. I got here a little early today and the room was pretty empty and they worked hard to pull off an excellent dinner and give them a round of applause as well. Thank you. [applause] and i want to thank all of the great legislators you have here, rob, and dave, and jessie, and thanks to all the local and county officials and the candidates as well, cara, nico, its hard to put your name on the ballot sometimes and we need good republicans and im sure youre going to win this fall and inspire more republicans to run in the next election as well. [applause] and you know, most important, i just want to thank all of you who have been loyal, hardworking republicans for many years, many of you in iowa like in arkansas, not too lodge ago, seemingly toiling in the vineyards without producing a lot of fruit, but you sigh see the fruits of your labor by the great representatives you have. The State Capitol and the congress. Youre the backbone of the Republican Party and perform the most Important Mission we have, electing republicans from the city council to the white house because the American People count on us to protect our nation and to protect our way of life. Thats what americans depend on the Republican Party to do and the Republican Party in iowa has done a great job of that. Youve sent two of the very best United States senators to washington. Chuck grassley and joni ernst and i know youre going to send Chuck Grassley back later this year. [applause] and i can tell you, between randy and ashley, and marionette, you all have a great group of freshmen congressmen who have taken the capitol by storm and once and thats sent packing youll have an entirely republican delegation and thats what we need because the path to majority in washington, in the house and the senate runs straight through iowa. We cannot have a majority in the United States house or the United StatesSenate Without all three of your representatives reelected and zack and Chuck Grassley, and lord knows we need them because of the failures of the biden democrats. There are so many failures that we have to have jars at dinner. And joe biden hasnt just caused the nations problems, he has no solutions for them, zero. Maybe i should be fair, he toss have some solutions, i think, he knows that inflation is hurting working families and prices are going up. He cant understand why all of you cant have your son make some finger paintings and sell them to rich democrats for 500,000. [applause] or you know, crime as randy said, crime is rising across america, and unfortunately in democratically run cities in washington d. C. , joe biden did tell me recently he stopped crime on the white house grounds and itself. We took Money Laundering and corruption and drug dealing to zero. How did he do that . I told hunter biden to get out. But laughter thats good. But, seriously, seriously, people, joe biden and the democrats in washington have no solutions because they are the problem and thats why the American People turn to the Republican Party to protect them and protect our country and our way of life. And well talk about what were protecting and what it means and how we to it. We just celebrated the fourth of july and i know a lot of you probably marched in fourth of july parades and you celebrated with your kids and thats what i did with my kids, its a little hard sometimes seven and five, to get nem them focused on the true meaning of fourth of july and hard to get them to concentrate on the true meaning of christmas when the gifts are under the tree. I was reading a book about the declaration on my sevenyearold and french and indian war and the tax acts that came after that and the rebellion and declarations and daddy, when you were in the army did you serve with George Washington . Im not quite that old, son. Hes like, oh, yeah, right, right, you served in vietnam. And i said, no, son, that was grandpa lynn that served in vietnam. He said oh, thats right you were in iraq. And we continued to read about the declaration and the war for independence and what the fight for freedom meant to our Founding Fathers and then he said, daddy, do they celebrate the fourth of july in england . I said, no, son, theyre still pretty sore about that. Well, what are they going to do tomorrow, dad . Theyre going to go to work tomorrow because its just another day, but here, were celebrating our birthday, which is a strange thing for a country to have. How many countries have birthdays, not many great countries have birthdays, but we do because we were born, as Abraham Lincoln said, conceived in liberty, dedicated to that proposition that all men are created equal and im very proud of my sons that the next day the first time six tries from my sevenyearold and the times for my son to sit through the reading of the declaration. It wasnt easy, thank you. Give nem them a round of applause. And daddy whats usurpation and quartering of troops. One word the sevenyearold did understand, when they got to the end and close sentence and it said that with the Firm Reliance on Divine Providence we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor, and he turned and looked at me and he said, the last word is honor. And i said, yeah. Thats pretty cool, isnt it son . Yeah, it is. I said son, 56 men signed that document. Think about what they were doing. They were rebelling against the mightiest nation on earth. And some of them lost their lives, and a lot of of them lost their fortunes, not a single one of them betrayed their honor or their country. And we owe it to them and every generation since then to hand down to you and the generations after you the same blessings of liberty that they gave to us because they were willing to stand up and fight for it. Thats what this holiday is about, thats what this country is about. Thats what our Founding Fathers did and were having a dinner tonight in honor of one of our great Founding Fathers, who brought great honor and credit to this country. Its pretty cool to have a county named over joseph story. I think you may be the only one in the country. In arkansas, weve got a washington, a jefferson, we have a jackson, we even have a lincoln and grant, two great republican president s, but you may be the only story county in america, but joseph story was a great man and a great jurist. He wrote those three volumes, he said, out of his refer reverential place. And a lot of the democrats havent read the constitution if you look at their ideas. And joseph story, maybe the finest case was the amyy amistead case, with the movie, and spain was a mighty empire that threatened the United States still and john quincy adams, after he had been a great diplomate, after hed been a secretary of state, a president and lost and after he went back up to the house of representatives took up the case, the humble africans who had no connection to our country and argued that up to the Supreme Court and joseph story sat on the bench and heard the case and wrote the opinion and said we will respect their rights just as much as we respect the rights of all mankind. Thats the promise of america here at home and thats what weve always promised all of mankind, is to be that beacon of freedom. To protect the rights of all mankind and the rule of law, whether you are an emperor across the seas. Whether you are someone who has been in slavery. Its a great moment for joseph story and a great moment for our country. You ought to be proud to live in a county named after such a great founding father. Im proud to be with you here tonight. [applause] and im also proud to continue joseph storys work because protecting our rights and preserving our freedom for our kids and their kids is not just the work of judges, its the work of every american. Not just the work of elected officials like me or randy or state legislators, its the work of all of you, of tens of millions of hardworking americans who love this country and who are willing to take the time to plan the dinners, to organize the committees to knock on the doors, to make the phone calls, to sacrifice and give money to people who need it to run races. You can see the fruits of those labors as well and not just see them in electing republicans to the congress or to your legislature or to county government, the same kind of work and energy that randy described is why we have a constitutional majority on our Supreme Court that just a couple of weeks ago reversed the historic tragedy of roe v. Wade after 49 years of misguided jurisprudence. [applause] and in the same way that joseph story took a stand for those rights, donald trump with very much the help of Chuck Grassley, leading the Judiciary Committee and republican senators helped confirm three of those six justices. Who believed that the constitution means what it says and the constitution should be understood as our Founding Fathers wrote it not what a bunch of liberals wish it said. Thats what it means to protect our rights. But again, lord knows, theres a lot more that we have to protect. Just look around you and you see the harms that joe bidens Democratic Party is inflicting on america. Youre all living with it every single day with the cost of gas and groceries and Everything Else you buy. Theres not an accident. It didnt just happen, not bad luck that joe biden came to the office in the wrong time. They did this, this was part of their plan. This was their design, this is what they said they would do. Joe biden said when he campaigned for office that he was going to end fossil fuels. Barack obamas Energy Secretary said we need gas to cost as much as europe, 8 to 10. Theyre not there yet, but theyre going for it. Bernie sanders and alexandria ocasiocortez want to eliminate all fossil fuels, every bit of it for cars and trucks and tractors, and electricity, in just 10 years. Ne first said that two years ago so now maybe its eight years. Think about how bad they made things already and who had bad if they stayed in power. I heard from a grocer a few days ago that sales of hot dog buns and hamburger buns were down in his store. Sales of white bread was up. Why is that . Because so many families are stretched so thin at the end of the month, that when they think about the cookout for the fourth of july, they dont pay 3 for eight hot dog buns, they make do with white bread. Families have to make those decisions every single day because the democrats intentionally inflicted this Energy Crisis on ussen the inflation you see is not just at the pump, its everywhere because of this Energy Crisis because everything youre eating and wearing and kids are playing with, it was made with energy, it got to you with energy and it was maintained with energy. And they have intentionally waged a war on Americas Energy sector. They did this on purpose and theyll keep doing it. Just look what their solution it when you see this inflation. Is it to say we got it wrong, we made a mistake, did they go to north dakota and texas hey, could you pump more oil to help us . No, joe biden goes begging to venezuela and looks down his nose at americas rough necks and coal miners and he and his liberal buddies ignore the chinese slave labor used to make solar panels or minerals into the solar panels. Joe biden will not protect this country from the devastation he has wrought on familys budget. Hes the reason were paying 5 a gallon for gas and hes the reason that people cant buy groceries. He wont take responsibility for it. He blames Donald Trumps tariffs on china. We had tariffs long or earlier than we had inflation though. And he blames putins price hike. We had inflation much, much earlier than we had Vladimir Putins war of aggression on ukraine though. Joe biden is to blame for this. No, what is he going to do to try to solve his political problems . There have been reports recently hes going to lift tariffs on china, even though they didnt cause the inflation, even though we didnt have inflation for years with those tariffs in place. Why . Because he doesnt have any other answers and hes panicked and desperate. Those tariffs were designed to give us leverage over china and pressure them to buy more of the commodities you make here in iowa or that we make in arkansas. And more fundamentally, they were designed to force china to stop cheating and lying and stealing as they have been for 30 years. But joe biden is going to give it all away for nothing in return because he wants a political lifeline. What he should be doing is standing up to china and acknowledging what he refuses to say what china is waging a cold war against the United States. He explicitly says were not in a cold war. What he doesnt get, its not our decision. If another country is waging a cold war against you, you dont have a choice whether its happening or not, you only have a chase whether we win it or lose it and joe biden will lose to china because he is not tough enough to stand up to the chinese communists. Joe biden doesnt think theyre a real threat. He spent years, decades, decades as a senator and vicepresident celebrating chinas rise saying that a rising china was good for china and good for america. Toasting xi jinping, the communist dictator of china whenever hed go to beijing or xi would go to washington. Just on the campaign trail for president , when everybody knew what china had been doing, he said that chinas not a competitor of ours. He said theyre not bad folks. Whenever china unleashed a plague on the world that devastated our economy and killed thousands of americans, he still wont take the steps necessary to hold them accountable. Joe biden will not protect america from communist china. Republicans have to otherwise we will lose the cold war that were in against china. Joe biden isnt tough enough to protect us against any threats we face. I mean, look at our southern border. Again, its a crisis thats caused by the biden democrats. Its not an accident, not a mishap, its not an unintended consequence. This is what they promised in the campaign. Joe biden, Kamala Harris both said they would decriminalize illegal immigration, they havent quite taken that step because congress wouldnt do that, theyve done that in effect. Two million illegals have come here in 18 months. Adding to those already here. And Jeb Joe Biden claims its central america, and cant be that bad there. Ive been to the border, im seen hundreds of migrants huddled under the bridges and talked to them and asked them why, how did you get here, why did you come. Not one of them said theyre facing persecution because theyre a woman or because theyre a christian or because theyre in the political Opposition Party back home. Every one of them said because i could get in. Because joe biden, and i wanted a job. Why do you think those caravan wear shirts that say biden, let me in . Because thats the message that ne broadcasts throughout the campaign and the policies they pursued for the first 18 months of their administration. Its not just a matter of border security, its National Security. Weve lost more than 100,000 of our fellow citizens each of the last few years to overdoses and almost all of those comes from cartels in mexico. Our communities have faced terrible illegal immigrant crimes and it happened to molly tibets here in iowa. The cartels are responsible for thousands and thousands of deaths every year in america. Cartels are responsible for more deaths, in fact, each year in america than we lost in the entire vietnam war over 20 years. And joe biden has no plan to protect america from the drugs and the violence of those cartels. Ask yourselves, what would we do if alqaeda or isis set up shop in monterey, or juarez, or tijuana . And whatever you think that is, thats exactly what we should do to cartels until they are destroyed, until our border is closed, and we have protected the American People from the crime, the drugs, coming across that border. [applause] and you know, finally, and most fundamentally, americans expect us to protect their rights and to protect their freedom. The purpose of our free government, after all, is the freedom of our people. Its not the power and the authority of petty little bureaucrats like tony fauci, its the freedom of our people, the freedom to worship your god and speak your mind, and raise your kids, and earn your living, without the government. Only republicans will protect those freedoms. Look what the democrats do, invent rights found nowhere in the constitution, like the right to abortion. Yet, they refuse to defend rights that are explicitly protected in the constitution like your right to keep and bear arms. Thank goodness that we have that constitutional majority on the Supreme Court which just struck down new yorks gun grabbing law a couple of weeks ago, saying that you as an american citizen have a right to carry a firearm to protect yourself and protect your families and you dont need a special reason or a special permission from the government. The reason you get to do that is because youre a free american. [applause] and the American People expect republicans to protect those rights and not just from government, frankly, they expect us to protect their rights from all of these left wing corporations and big tech companies, that are being used as in effect an adjunct arm of the government to suppress your speech or to police your conduct outside are the workplace. Or to interfere with our elections, to condemn our legislators for reflecting the conservative views of our people, the American People expect and need us to protect their freedom. I know these things are a lot to ask, i know its a tall order and i know it seems like things are going in the wrong direction right now in america and they are, but you know, things were going in a pretty bad direction in the carter era as well. I dont see Anyone Around here old enough to have been there. [laughter] maybe one or two. But look what all it took to turn it around is one big election with Ronald Reagan and a new republican senate. Now, maybe were in a deeper hole than they were in 19791980. And joe biden ran around talking about he would be the next fdr. And many of you would be happy if he could claw back to be only as bad as jimmy carter. But the American People expect us to protect them and to do that we need to win here in iowa and across the country. One final story, but a question i get a lot about my time in the army. And really, when i was in the army as well from my civilian friends, theyd ask, why does the flag fly in reverse on the soldiers uniform on the right soldier and it does, it flies with the blue field forward and i said the answer is very simple. In the old days, when cavalry was horse mounted and theyd mount the cavalry charges, and colors would go with the soldiers, if you were on the flight side of the formation the flag would appear in reverse, and long since after almost all of the horses are gone from the army, the flag flies in reverse of the soldiers uniform, a reminder to all of our enemies and reassurance to our friends, that our army never retreats, it always advances. And at a time when america is under assault and our way of life is under attack, i think thats a pretty good lesson for all of us republicans, we will never retreat. Never surrender, well never back down in the defense and protection of this great nation. Thank you all. God bless you, and god bless the United States of america. [applause] [inaudible conversations] ask of senator cotton. If you have questions shoot your hands up and jeff will bring you a microphone to kind of get started i can ask a couple and you can think of some and get moving on it. Senator with your military background and armed or National Security intelligence experience in the senate, you know, obviously we hear you mention putins price hike and whats going on in europe. For people who say lets take care of things at home, why does ukraine worry in the u. S. And id like to say how we got into the mess with ukraine that were in in no small part because of joe bidens weak ness and lack of leadership. And from the people he got in office, he gave them concessions on arms control treaty with russia, nothing in return. Gave him concessions on the pipeline we sanctioned in the Trump Administration and fancy summit in europe with nothing in return and of course the debacle in afghanistan last august and it was only a few weeks after, he amassed troops on ukraines border when he saw what joe biden was made much. It continues, he kept telling Vladimir Putin and does it in some ways what he wouldnt do as opposed to letting putin worry about what we might do, which was always Ronald Reagans approach in afghanistan, nicaragua, grenada and so forth. Once putin invaded, he was nervous like a cat in a room full of rocking chairs and then what weapons we would go to ukraine. And if russia invaded, and every weapon is defensive. Because of the bravery and skill of the ukrainian people, and volodymyr zelenskyy, and they stopped the quick, and its grinding, but ukraine is getting the mobile artillery and long range into the country. I think we need to back ukraine to the hilt in part because its right in the heart of europe where we have a lot of interests and also in part because the chinese commune communists are watching us. If he sees the United States or europe flag here, hell think that he can do with taiwan. And invade taiwan, that would be huge disaster for america, much worse than europe right now. Taiwan has been a beachhead of freedom on chinese soil, a direct rebuke to the chinese communists and gee graphically the first island chains from the aleutians, and the philippines and keeps the chinese navy somewhat behind instead of friendly territory. Recently theres a Company TaiwanManufacturing Company ne make the most advanced semiconductors in the world in taiwan. Our economy is dependent on those chips. And if youve had troubles in the last couple years getting, you know, a tractor or a truck, or advanced piece of equipment because of chip shortages, imagine what it would be like if chinese controlled the most advanced supply. And ukraine itself, but also the lesson we may be teaching other enemies around the world. Much like in the 1930s when germany, italy and japan continued to invade smaller countries and weaker countries and no one drew a line, despite people like Winston Churchill saying we had to and inevitably got to the point they were invading countries were allied with and invading our own country in pearl harbor. Another question would be obviously roe versus wade and that with the decision of the Supreme Court prolife audience here and randy hit on it and you go on social media, and they act like abortion is over and obviously its not. And what you see for the Prolife Movement and where we go from here. Again, roe v. Wade was a historic mistake for 190 years the American People had debated this question among themselves and settled it through their elected representatives. Thats where were back to now. And that means that states like yours, and states like mine, a lot of other states will be able to protect unborn life. I think a lot of states are still finding their footing how theyre going to approach that. I think in washington, its best we let that process play out. And i also dont think as a practical matter that either period of time will have 60 votes soon to pass significant abortion legislation so i think youll see this debate occurring in our state houses. Sometimes there are inevitable issues that touch in washington. The democrats to repeal the socalled Hyde Amendment going back 40 years. Prohibited your tax dollars to fund abortion. Democrats tried to repeal it twice. Weve stopped them and well stop them again this year. Democrats talked about allowing department of defense or va hospitals to perform abortions and especially in states that restrict abortion, were not going to do that. And you heard some on the far left, to use federal land, as if youll have that since this debate was traditional to the state as a practical matter as i dont see 60 votes either time soon on either side of the question, i think youll see most of the legislation happening in our State Capitols as youve heard in yours and mine. Questions from the audience now that theyve had time to think. I have a question. I dont know if this is fake news or real news, but theyre saying chinas buying up a lot of our land. Real. Real news. It is real . Real news and it should stop. Because not just in china either or in the United States either. China has been buying up millions and millions of acres of fertile farm land across the world to include in places like ukraine. And thats because china cannot feed itself. This is another point i would say that weve had leaders in washington, sometimes theyve been republicans as well, mo have not appreciated the fact that china has been waging a cold war against us for decades. China cannot feed itself, cannot process its own food. We by the contrast are the bread basket. Why would we give up that advantage, give up that huge advantage in one of the most basic staples of life. China should not be buying our farm land or Food Processors or companies. So biden continues to shoot us in our own feet. Can you talk about the Strategic Petroleum reserve . Is it true that hes obviously hes selling it off and were down way low, and some of it has gone to china. If thats correct, how critical of a mistake is that . Its true, and its a terrible mistake. So the reports youve seen this week are true that the United States and some of the recent releases from the Strategic Petroleum reserve has sold that oil to other nations, to include china, which, as with food, cannot fuel itself. Its heavily dependent on oil and gas imports, why would we ever allow them to buy our oil . For that matter why we we ever try to abandon our own Oil Production and buy solar panels and socalled green energy from china since theyve cornered the market on that in many respects to their economic theft and espionage and stealing. To get back to the strategy oil reserve, and its not a political reserve. He should reverse his own dumb policies that made gas prices so high. [applause] so, when we created that Strategic Reserve in the aftermath of some of the Oil Embargoes in the 1970s, we had that in mind. Thankfully were not nearly as dependent on foreign oil as we once were, although if the democrats had their way we would be again. There are other reasons as well. If for instance, you had a major hurricane that hit some of our refineries and processing facilities in the gulf coast, if you had a war that broke out, that he is why we have that reserve of oil and its going to be costly to replenish it as well. A lot of that oil, most of that oil went into the reserve at times when oil was nowhere near 100 a barrel like it has been for many months because of joe bidens dumb policies. Its true, but reflects a deeper mistake done solely to protect joe bidens political interests not to defend our national interest. And we have time for another question . Senator, what do we do about the epa and usda taking off and making their own laws for us to follow and just doing it independently without you guys making the law . Id say most immediately next time you see Chuck Grassley give him a hug and thank him for the three new Supreme Court justices. This is the way our system is supposed to work in part if the American People want something and they want it long enough and deeply enough, theyll get it. Thats the way our constitution works. You know, we dont have a popular system where you conduct Public Policy by polls and the fact that the American People wanted to drag the needle across the record, so to speak, in 2016 by elected donald trump, the fact that they twice sent a republican majority to the senate in 2016 and 2018, knowing, knowing in 2016 that one of those seats was at stake suggests they were tired of liberal judges in washington and across our country telling us what to do. So, i know the gun case and the dobbs case got a lot of attention in the last two weeks, theyre important cases. Epa case from a couple of weeks ago may be as important, a case in which the Supreme Court told epa, who want today regulate all of Americans Energy source ins a sweeping regulation, not just come in and say that plant has a little bit too many emissions, this plant is a little old and it needs upgrades. No, they want today regulate all energy. You cant go find in the dusty corners of laws 50, 60 years old with vast sweeping powers. If congress intended to give you that power, congressional would have said you have that power. That case and other cases along i think are going to clip the wings of some of these bureaucrats in washington, but once we take charge a couple more things we can do, is one, use our oversight power to shine some sunlight on whats happening in the usda or f. D. A. Or merrick garland, sticking those on americans who dont want to have kindergarteners wear masks, and so there will ab lot of oversight coming in january and second, use our spending power also know limit what the bureaucrats can do. We did it effectively once i was elected and joni ernst were in office and we were limiting what they can do with the money they get each year. Senator, i had this idea that these alphabet agencies, the power goes to their head and i think one of the things that congress ought to seriously consider is lopping off the tops of these agencies, every single one of them, the fbi, the doj, f. D. A. , all of these agencies, lop off the managers, get rid of them and then, a warning shot to the ones that are left, no, this is the way we wrote it, follow what we said. What are your thoughts, please . I think there are a lot of these career permanent bureaucrats who have let power go to their head. Tony fauci is the best example. Nobody elected him to do anything. He can give advice, an expert i guess in epidemiology, that means hes not an expert in Childhood Development or Small Business management, or supply chains, or anything else. No one elected tony fauci or elected the bureaucrats at some of the agencies we discussed. They elected me and randy and the best of your senators and congressmen to make those decisions. Another thing we could do, maybe, we started this a little in the Trump Administration, is to send these bureaucrats away from washington, and out closer to the people that theyre trying to regulate. Maybe some of these usda agencies would see things differently if they lived in iowa and arkansas. We did that some in the Trump Administration, moved some of the public lands agencies out west into states where they own 80, 90 of the land and presumed to dictate to people how they can use the lands. Maybe some ideas for these bureaucrats. Senator cotton, im a baby boomer and to reach those, what are they called the gen thing with the 20yearolds, how are we getting them to realize that the social climate that were in a wrong and get those principles back instilled in them . Well, joe bidens doing a pretty good job much that with the effect of his governance. I would say that, i mean, in part, life is conservative, right . I bet a lot of you were probably a little more to the left of where you are now when were you in your teens, 20s or 30s. You get out of school, get a job, you start a family, you have kids, you get a mortgage, and those are all inherently conservative actions. You know, Winston Churchill, who himself shifted a few times on the political spectrum, but that was only because the party shifted around him. He said, if youre not a liberal when youre young, you have no heart. If youre not a conservative when youre old, you have no head. And i think, as some of the people who probably voted for joe biden in 2020 see the results of this disastrous first year and a half of the biden administration, theyre having second thoughts and buyers remorse, and theyre going to vote for republicans this fall, and its our job to keep on persuading them and working to get them to the polls and make sure they do. One last question. Both of my parents came from a socialist country so theres nothing i fear more than socialism, but i think it would be ease easy to reduce the trend in our country. Privatizing Social Security or eliminating income tax with a fair tax and replaced with a fair tax, what are your thoughts on that. Well, socialism is the goal of a lot of the democrats, an open goal. Alexandria ocasiocortez and the rest of the socalled squad and far left democrats, they actually believe that america should be a socialist nation. Thats one reason why weve succeeded over the last couple of elections with winning a greater percentage of latino voters, a lot of those voters parents immigrated from countries that were socialists like venezuela, like cuba, or that had much more economies unlike the United States. I support Social Security, people have worked hard for a lifetime for Social Security and should have those available for retirement. Our income taxes, frankly, all of our taxes are too high. I support reducing taxes where we can, especially taxes on working families struggling with rising costs in america to make ends meet to get their kids in school and put food on the table and find someone to watch them while working, there are things we can do to return more money and therefore more freedom to working families, but what we can never do is allow our nation to become a socialist nation. So, thank you all, god bless you, god bless the United States. I appreciate you coming out tonight. [applause] President Biden has renominated david pekosski to ser he have as administer the transportation. And watch that on cspan 3 and also on our free video app, cspan now or online at cspan. Org. We need back up. The january 6th committee returns to prime time as they investigate former president trumps response following the initial breach at the capitol. Live coverage begins tonight at 8 p. M. Eastern on cspan. Cspan now or online at cspan. Org. You can also visit our website, cspan. Org january 6th to watch previous hearings and other videos related to that day. Cspan, your unfiltered view of government. The senate today continues working on legislation providing grants for u. S. Computer chip manufacturing to better compete with china. At 11 30 a. M. Eastern theyre expected to have a confirmation vote for the u. S. Ambassador to south africa. Well take you live now to the senate floor here on cspan2. The presiding officer the senate will come to order. The chaplain let us pray. Almighty god, we would rest in you for you alone can bring order to our world. Reveal yourself to our senators, guiding them on the path of peace. May they place behind them disappointed hopes,