Amidst a backdrop of growing discontent and uncertainty, America faces critical challenges that demand urgent attention. In this episode, Fran Racioppi sits down with Congressman Tony Gonzales to discuss the rising frustration felt across America. Dive deep into issues such as the border crisis, community safety, and economic hardships. Congressman Gonzales offers practical solutions that aim to alleviate these pressing concerns. Discover how you can contribute to a better future by actively participating in civic engagement. This episode promises to ignite meaningful discussions and empower you to become part of the solution, shaping a brighter tomorrow for all Americans. Tune in and be part of the change!
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Everyone has a top button item this election cycle. For some it’s the economy. For others its national defense or healthcare. For Congressman Tony Gonzales it’s the US southern border and immigration.
Representative Gonzales is responsible for Texas’s 23rd district, a district that contains over 800 miles of the US-Mexico border, and by many accounts, ground zero for the immigration policy battle.
Representative Gonzales is also a retired Navy Master Chief Petty Officer where he served over 20 years as a cryptologist.
The Congressman and Host Fran Racioppi broke down the border debate from his Texas perspective, including the effects of current policy on both domestic and international security. With the election coming, we discussed the importance of battleground states and why Texas is important from the top of the ticket to the bottom.
Finally we covered leadership, how Veterans are making an impact through the halls of Congress, and why action is critical in a job in which you can do as much or as little as you want.
Check out our conversation then head over to our YouTube channel or your favorite podcast platform to catch all our coverage of the 2024 election cycle.
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Representative Gonzales, welcome to the Jedburgh Podcast.
I’m excited. Thanks for coming to my office.
Thanks for hosting us, because everybody’s back. We were here yesterday talking to Representative McCormick.
Came in and it’s a completely different world. There’s a lot going on. To spend some time with us is much appreciated.
Totally happy to do it.
Today, it’s the eve of 9/11. Congress hosted the thirteen families of the soldiers who were killed at Abbey Gate, the withdrawal out of Afghanistan. Tonight’s the presidential debate. To say that there’s not a lot going on would be an understatement. We’re about 60 days from the election. I would say, you have the district that is the border. It is our Southern border. Texas 23 is about 823 miles from that Southern.
Going into this 2024 election, the presidential election obviously dominates the headlines. It has an effect on the down-ballot. Almost every state has become a swing state. In the last couple of weeks, we’ve seen polls that have come out saying Texas is tightening. Texas, over the last 20-plus years, has historically been pretty heavily Republican. People are saying, “Maybe within the margin of error.” How come Texas is becoming a swing state at this point?
It’s pretty simple. I think across the country, people are mad. They’re mad, and they’re not wrong. That’s what I also worry too, and I’ll get directly to the question, and answer directly your question. Let’s fast forward a little bit. Let’s get to January and the inauguration. It’s going to be a tight race on the presidential level. It’s going to be a tight race at the Senate. It’s going to be a tight race here in the House for who controls the House and the Senate.
Let’s fast forward to January. President Trump wins, half the population is going to go insane, and they’re going to be foaming at the mouth. If Kamala Harris wins, half the population is going to be foaming at the mouth and going insane. These are the dangers. They’re mad for all these different reasons. They’re mad because the cost of goods has gone up. They don’t feel safe in their communities. They’re feeling further and further behind. You’re just like, wait a second, I’m doing all the things I’m supposed to do, but somehow I’m in the back of this line. Not to mention just the technology, the way people are consuming information is way different. It’s not the CBS, NBC, ABC anymore. It’s podcasts. It really is.
Later this month, it’ll be a year ago, I hosted Elon at the border. He’s literally on his phone just going, “Tony, tell me what’s happening at the border.” I gave it to him raw, unfiltered. I think that’s what people are craving for. The reason it’s going to be close is I think more and more people are engaged, and they’re going, “Wait a second. What are you doing to better my life?” It’s the right question we need to have. I think if Republicans are going to be successful, we have to be talking about solutions, not just problems. I know the problems. Don’t tell me about the problems.
Then Afghanistan, I’ll just briefly back out a little bit. The border is certainly an issue, 100%. I have most of the border. I see it nonstop. Families are turned upside down. They’re sick to their stomachs, but also, around the world, it’s dangerous. As I can recall, you got Russia on the march. You got China on the march. You got Iran literally launching against Israel and some of these allies. I just came back from the Congressional Gold Medal ceremony for the thirteen families that had their loved ones killed at Abbey Gate. It sucked. You’re sitting there, you never want your name called. Just those emotions, everyone is just mad. I think that’s what’s going to make it such a close race.
You brought up solutions. When we look at the situation, you brought up China, Iran, Russia is still in Ukraine. That’s almost three years. Then you look at the border, open border policies. I can’t help but think about how the rest of the world sees us. As we go into this election, as you have your race, how do we present ourselves to the rest? What are the solutions where someone’s going to stand up and say, “Look, world, we’re not weak. We have a strong border. We are strong militarily overseas, but most importantly, diplomatically, here’s what we’re going to do.” What do we do?
I think, one, you always have to take care of home base. If home base isn’t taken care of, how can you say, “I’m going to go help your country?” If you’re weak or perceived as weak at home, then that’s when your adversaries are going to take advantage of it, which we’re seeing now. This border crisis is very real. It’s very real mainly because, one, we don’t know who’s coming into our country. There are people from all over the world, and they’re breaking the law. They don’t qualify for asylum. I’ve fought very hard. Look, if you’re fleeing political and religious persecution, we should absolutely be that country.
I fought hard for our Afghan allies who were fighting alongside us to make sure that we didn’t leave them behind to have their heads chopped off by the Taliban. I worked very hard on that. That is not what we’re seeing. It’s pure chaos. It’s just lawlessness, really. We’ve got to get our border under control. The way you do that, it’s pretty simple. If somebody comes over illegally, they immediately get their day in court. Thumbs up or thumbs down, if you qualify for asylum, we’re here to welcome you. If you don’t, which over 90% of them don’t, you immediately get deported. That takes care of home base, and that keeps us safe.
Abroad, I actually traveled to Ukraine a few weeks ago. I met with Zelensky in Ukraine. That conflict is very interesting because it’s a completely different war. I met with some young kids. In Ukraine, the draft, 25 is the number. It’s not 18. They’ve deliberately protected their younger generation. What’s happening is you’ve got older people fighting this war. In many cases, they’re removed from the war. The young kids, they’re fighting these drone wars, basically. They’re playing Call of Duty but for real.
We just have to lead with sensible policies saying, “Our adversaries need to know we’re not going to go around punching people in the face. If they come looking for a fight, they’re going to get a bloody nose.” Our allies need to know we’re always going to have their back. I would say more important than all that, Americans have to know you are important to us. Your life is important to us. Being safe, education, healthcare, just all these different things. Take care of our vets. The list goes on and on. More and more Americans, I think, are feeling as if like, “What about me?” You spent a career in the Navy as a cryptologist. Cool job.
You transitioned and continued your service now in Congress. You learned a tremendous amount of lessons as you rose to the rank of Master Chief, the senior-most rank in the Navy. I know my enlisted ranks.
Maybe ranks are tough.
In the Army, we got it easy. You take an incredible amount of lessons from those. Just when the 118th Congress started a couple of years ago, I had a chance to come down here and sit down with Mike Waltz, your counterpart, fellow Green Beret. We talked a lot about the excitement behind Congress and having veterans serve. What does being in Congress as a veteran bring in terms of perspective to the entire 435 members of the House?
I’ll go even a step further. You guys don’t go from being a Master Chief or Chief Master Sergeant or any of that, they don’t transition to Congress. Usually, that’s not how it goes. I view it through the lens of, “We need bombs and BBs, but what about my people? What about my housing? What about my healthcare? What about my family? I always look through the lens of the family. I’ve got six kids. I remember my oldest daughter when I just left the Michael Murphy, and we were going to Pensacola. She goes, “Dad, can I graduate here?” She was a freshman. She goes, “I’ve been to school in five different states.” I started doing the math. I’m like, “This poor kid had followed me around throughout my career,” and so I think that’s part of it, too.
That is innate with you is like, “How do I take care of my people?” Above all that, as a Master Chief, it’s not my job to be the cheerleader of the organization. It’s my job to check the organization and say, “It’s okay to be wrong.” As a leader, you’re going to get things wrong. You’re going to go, “We’re going down the wrong route. Let’s stop. Let’s reevaluate.” Maybe we got more information, and you reanalyze it, and then you go in a different direction.
The frustrating part is Congress, even though they know they’re going down the wrong route. They keep going down the wrong route. I’d say it’s very unique. I think that’s why we need more veterans who can bring different perspectives. It’s not about getting reelected. It’s not about being popular. It’s not about any of that. It’s really about delivering. The last thing I’d say is what I love about being a member of Congress is there are 435 of us, which is frustrating. We’re all different. We’re all completely different from the next. The best thing about being a member of Congress is you can do as much or as little as you want to, you literally can.
I’ll give you an example. It’s not veteran-related, but the National Organization for Missing and Exploited Children, you remember John Walsh, the guy from America’s Most Wanted? He started this program, and I’m like, “I want to meet with her. I want to meet with the CEO.” That wasn’t on my calendar. You literally can do as much or as little as you want to. We need more people who are not here for a paycheck or for fame. They just love our country.
I spent some time with the Sergeant Major of the Army, Sergeant Major Mike Weimer. He had this phrase, “I’ve been to combat maybe more than most. I’ve never been to war. The next conflict that we have has the potential to be war.” You mentioned Ukraine. What you’re seeing out of there, even people who’ve been to Iraq and Afghanistan are coming out going, “It’s different.” As we look forward to a potential conflict with China, Russia, or Iran, is America ready? Can we mobilize?
I think we will get ready, I would say, but I don’t think we’re ready. I think, one, I would never challenge the United States. We’re just mean, ugly, nasty people. We’re stubborn, and we’re just tough people. Having been around the world and seen other places, you don’t want to mess with us. We will literally go into your country, and topple you. We’ll spin it a different way, but you don’t want to mess with us. We’ve fought a lot of conflicts.
I’d say this, I do firmly believe we’re the greatest. We have the greatest military in the world. No doubt. I go around the country, and I see these young men and women, and you’re way smarter than I was. You got your stuff together. These people, as a member of Congress, I get to give nominations for those that are going to the academies. Some of these folks are just going like, “You are the perfect American.” From that lens, we will get ready.
Whatever gets thrown our way, what I love about this country, we will adapt. We will overcome. We will find a way to get to victory. That’s not fair, to find our way, we should already be there. One of the things, you mentioned I was a cryptologist. I remember when I first went to go enlist. I take my ASVAB score, and they’re going over my options. He goes, “We can offer you cryptology.” I’m like, “That sounds cool. Top secret clearance, national security stuff. What is that?” He had to read from a piece of paper.
I think in this environment, AI is taking things to a new level. Drone warfare is very real. Just look at robots. We’re there. You watch these movies and you read these sci-fi books, and we’re there. We need to win by making sure we’re investing on the forefront. The last thing I’ll say, too, is sometimes you got to get out of the way. Sometimes you have to let innovation take over. That’s what’s working in Ukraine. They’re forced to go, “I don’t have time. I need a drone today. I need something now. I don’t have a 12-month procurement window to go.”
We need to win by making sure we’re investing on the forefront. Sometimes, you have to let innovation take over.
I think back to my time in Afghanistan, we first went into Afghanistan. I’m dating myself a little bit. There was stuff that we needed, that we put requests in for, and then we just said, “If you give me $200, I’ll go to Radio Shack, and I’ll build this shit myself.” It’s just things like that. We just need to be more streamlined to the warfighter. We got to get ready for it.
Last question. I got to get you back to work. Where’s America in 2030?
I think we will always be the leader of the free world. I think we will continue to be the leader of the free world. The reason I say that is I do a lot of travel. As a member of Congress, I’ve probably been to twenty countries, and met with heads of states. Really big, high-level stuff. Everyone looks up to us. They look at what we’re going to do. What are we going to say? They are watching America, what direction we’re going. Our adversaries are, our allies are. I think we’re going to continue to lead the way, but we need good people to do it. It can’t just be people complaining about it, and throwing rocks at the TV. You got to get off the couch, get in the game, whether that’s locally.
I’m a firm believer in the lowest level possible. Get involved, whether it’s your church, your homeowners association, teaching football, or whatever your thing is, just get involved. I think veterans are the secret sauce to that because we offer so much, and we’re resilient. Suck it up, buttercup. You’re just going to find a way to make it work. We need more of that. We certainly need more of that in Congress, because the place could use some infusion of new, young blood.
Let’s see what this election brings. I appreciate your time. Good luck in the election.
Thanks.
