REP. LUNA SAYS GOP DEBATE AND NEGOTIATIONS WERE NEVER PERSONAL, ALL ABOUT CONGRESSIONAL REFORMS, TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY
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Summary
Rep. Ana Paulina Luna (R-Florida) joins Lou Dobbs on The Great America Show to talk about her election to Congress, her experience in the Air Force, and what it means to be a member of the 115th Congress.
Transcript
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Hello, everybody. I'm Lou Dobbs. Welcome to The Great America Show. And yes, the 118th Congress
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is now open for business. And it looks as though we won't have to wait long before the Marxist
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dims erupt at the new management of the House of Representatives. Their hair is already on fire,
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and they're already throwing fits because the Republican reforms mean members and the public
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will have 72 hours to read proposed legislation before the bill can be voted on.
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The days of the Democrats ramming bills through that members didn't have a chance to read,
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let alone offer an amendment, are ended. The Republican Congress will be transparent.
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The representatives will be accountable. All of the reforms, the result of hard bargaining led by
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Congressman Andy Biggs and his band of reformers, made up of Freedom Caucus members and new Speaker
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Kevin McCarthy. And the Marxist dims are screaming like stuck pigs because now they're
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accountable. Power and responsibility has been distributed through the committees,
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and the Speaker of the House is more limited in his ability to make decisions. His power diminished.
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The power of the members enlarged. All of this because 21 Republicans wanted to change the status
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quo and roll back the swamp. One of those members is our guest today. She's Representative Anna Paulina Luna
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from the 13th Congressional District of Florida, also an Air Force veteran. And welcome to the Great
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America Show, Representative Luna. Congratulations on your election, and how does it feel to have your
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name attached to the Congress of the United States? It is pretty surreal and also, too, very exciting,
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especially after what we accomplished this past week. Well, let's turn to that because that was a
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moment for the history books, and I am being quite literal. It is what you all accomplished, the Freedom
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Caucus under the leadership of Congressman Andy Biggs. You guys stood tall. You bargained for the right
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things for the American people, for the institution, and you prevailed. I just want to say congratulations.
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I want to say thank you for what you've done for the Republic, because I truly believe that week and
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what you all stood up for and achieved will help save this Republic without question.
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Absolutely. You know, at the time when we were going through it, you know, even in leading up to
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really January 3rd, you know, there was a list of things that we really wanted to see change within
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this institution, and we realized that for far too long, I think especially after what happened
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recently with COVID, you know, a lot of people, instead of having these conversations, they just
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weren't doing it, and so these negotiations had been in place well before January. In fact, I think that
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they began actually in summertime, and then when I won my election in November, when I came up here for
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orientation, these were still being discussed, and what I want the American people to know
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is that regardless of what the mainstream media tried to say initially, that these discussions,
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this debate, it wasn't done in an effort to be personal with anyone. It was done on behalf of the
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American people. If we don't change it now, when are we going to change it, right? And so some of the
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things that are in play that we were able to actually get concessions on from now Speaker McCarthy,
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for example, the Jeffersonian motion to vacate the chair, that allows us as a member and as a
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conference to hold the speaker accountable. It's something that existed for over 200 years was put
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in place by Thomas Jefferson and ultimately was removed by Nancy Pelosi, but that's a huge accountability
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mechanism. We're going to be voting on term limits. We have single subject bills, meaning that they can't
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load all this irrelevant nonsense into some of these bills that the Democrats love doing.
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These are just a few items of this massive negotiation we engaged in. And I really hope that
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people understand that we were fighting for the American people. We had them on their mind the
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entire time. And I also know that the entire Republican conference, now that they see the rules,
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are actually from what I'm hearing very supportive. Well, I would think they would be because
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the fact of the matter is you all have made it possible for Kevin McCarthy to be one of the most
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effective speakers of the House in modern history. You really have. I mean, the rules will create
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transparency. They create accountability. They create at least an atmosphere of honesty that has
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certainly not been in place in the Congress for at least, I'm going to say at least a couple of
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decades, honestly, going back to about 1994. The Congress has been in deep need of reform and 21
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reformers stood up and got the job done. And again, I think the American people need to understand fully
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how courageous it was of Congressman Andy Biggs of Arizona to stand up as almost a solitary figure.
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He had three or four people at the outset who would stand with him, maybe six or seven by the time this
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was underway that grew to 21. He did this in the quietest, most unpretentious and selfless way that
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one can imagine on issues that are so important. You've mentioned the motion to vacate. You've mentioned
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single subject bills. And importantly, I think the people of this country learned something about
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their Congress. There has been indolence prevailing within that conference because Congress people
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couldn't even begin to know what they were voting on because bills would be dropped. Massive,
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omnibus bills like the $1.7 trillion bill at the beginning of the year. It is at the end of the
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year. It is just remarkable what you all achieved. What has been the feedback from your from your
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district? So initially, I think people were just really wondering what was happening because when we
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first stood up and said, you know, no, we had a lot of people that that didn't quite understand. And so
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the spin against us really, I think by more mainstream media, it was it was a lot to go
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through initially, right? So it was a pressure cooker. But then as people heard more and more
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about the negotiations taking place, and then the American people started tuning in and watching what
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was actually happening on the floor on C-SPAN, they saw these discussions taking place and going down.
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And then they realized what we were negotiating for. I mean, I on my way flying up here this morning,
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Lou, I actually got stopped twice by people. And they just said, I just wanted to thank you for
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what you did. You've made a difference. We were very frustrated right now with with Congress and
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what's happening in the federal government. And we just want to let you know that you kind of gave us
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some hope back. But more importantly, I will say this. I did happen to have a private conversation
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and actually wrote now Speaker McCarthy a letter back in November. And one thing that I shared with him is
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I said, you know, Abraham Lincoln had so many people that had differing opinions and they even
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worked against him. But when he became president, he brought all those people on board and had one of
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the most effective governments in US history and really did something incredible. He abolished slavery.
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And I was like the speaker that embraces the motion to vacate the chair, the Jeffersonian motion,
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and that can do that by bringing on conservatives to have a voice at the table, especially in regards to
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the legislation that's hitting the House floor. That is the speaker that will earn my vote. And to his
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credit, you know, when negotiations, he embraced that. And so I obviously am looking forward to what
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we will be able to collect what collectively do as a conference. That's great news. And I and I really
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have the sense that what you all did get accomplished, including, by the way, and importantly,
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it's all important. But to move that that subcommittee to investigate ongoing criminal
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investigations by the federal government is so critically important because the American people
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need to know what has what has happened to their government. The weaponization of the Department
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of Justice, the FBI, we know the intelligence agencies, nearly all of them have been weaponized in some
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fashion or other. These are critical, critical issues. Your thoughts?
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Oh, yes, absolutely. So what you're referencing is the church style committee. And I think for far
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too long, especially with what's happened recently, the FBI is and has been caught on a number of
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occasions. We're even seeing it right now being exposed to the American people with Elon Musk Twitter file
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dumps. Whether it is suppressing information about COVID or what was happening with election integrity,
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these are all things that the FBI should not be doing, right? They are a taxpayer funded organization.
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They should be going after people that are trying to hurt American citizens, not mothers who are showing
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up to school board meetings, not Americans that are simply having a differing opinion than the woke
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ideologies of the left. And so that is incredibly important. The FBI is an institution that we
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should have faith in. We shouldn't fear them. And in no way, shape or form is it ever publicly
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acceptable for them to be weaponized against the American people. So this committee is very special.
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From what I'm hearing, it's actually going to be placed under House Judiciary. And if anything is
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found to be bad, we are going to elevate those issues and I believe take punitive action as we should.
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Uh, absolutely. And as I understand it, at least at this point, uh, not only will it be under
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judiciary, but Jim Jordan, the chairman of the, to be of the judiciary committee will be directly
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chairing the subcommittee, which I, I personally, I think is a grand idea. He is one of the most
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effective and I believe, uh, patriotic Americans in the entire Congress. And it's, that is going to be a
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place for the, uh, I think that will be well served by having, uh, Congressman Jordan's personal
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engagement and involvement. Uh, your thoughts. I, I mean, I, as you saw on the floor, I voted for Jim
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a few times, so I have the exact same opinion. Representative Jordan, as you know, was a founding
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member of the Freedom Caucus of which now I'm a part of, and I do have the utmost respect. I think not
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only has he been able to show through, through the impeachment trials against President Trump,
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that he really does have a titanium spine. But right now, I think the American people need to know
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that although we might have had, you know, our disagreements on the floor, uh, but that we are,
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there's a group of people now that are willing to hold even our fellow colleagues. Um, we, we want
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to hold them to be accountable. And I think representative Jordan has shown the American people that he's the
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the right man for the job, right place, right time. And I do think that we will see that there will be
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people brought to justice. Just because someone is a part of the FBI doesn't mean that they shouldn't
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be subject to the same justice that you and I would face if we broke the law. And so I am interested in
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finding out what is going to happen with that. I have requested, uh, if I can, to be a member of the
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church committee so that I can help run some of those investigations and really bring faith back to the
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American people that we can fix the broken system. And as you saw over the last couple of days,
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you know, the 20 of us working together now working with our colleagues are going to do some great
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things for the American people. Uh, we just got word, uh, that, uh, House Freedom Caucus member, uh, Congressman
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Mark Green has won, uh, the race to be chair of the Homeland Security Committee, defeating, uh, Congressman
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Dan Crenshaw. Uh, also Mike Rogers, the man who lunged, uh, at Congressman Matt Gates in the heat
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of the evening Friday has announced that he is stepping down from the, uh, from the steering
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committee. Uh, do you know what the, uh, situation is there? Um, I can't tell you firsthand because I
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just flew in this, uh, this afternoon, but what I will tell you is the one thing that I've appreciated
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that both representative Rogers and also representative Crenshaw has done is they both
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issued public apologies to us. And I will say that with everything that kind of happened, obviously
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there were, there were tempers that were high, but I've accepted Dan's apology. I know representative
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Gates has accepted, um, representative Rogers apology. And I think moving forward, you know,
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these individuals, um, I don't think that they fully understood what was happening in the back end
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negotiations of this entire thing, but moving forward, I hope that we can kind of aim our,
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our metaphorical cannons at the left and really stop some of the corruption as well as some of
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the woke ideologies we're seeing out of the left. And I think that you're going to see that,
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you know, when you have Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell attacking us because of the, um, the rules
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package that we got or that we will get passed, you know, that you're on the right side of history.
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Absolutely. Uh, I, I, those are two of the most embarrassing people in Congress. I, I, I'm not,
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I'm not given, uh, uh, uh, represent representative to, uh, to, uh, to nuance and subtlety here. Uh, I,
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I, I find them absolutely, uh, an embarrassment for the American people to have them even in the,
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uh, represented the house of representatives. It's just, uh, to me, an obscenity. Uh, let's turn to
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further your personal, uh, uh, ambitions, if I can put it that way, what you want to accomplish,
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uh, in your first term, uh, in the house of representatives, uh, give us a sense of what
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is most important to you on the, on the Republican agenda. Well, actually interesting that you brought
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that up because I was just meeting with my, my legislative director and I was going over with
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her on some of the existing legislation that's out there on what happened to the service members
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that were kicked out of the military due to not taking the COVID-19 vaccine. And so, as you know,
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I'm a veteran and my husband was actually also one of those service members that in December of last
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year, for religious reasons, did not want to take the vaccine. And so he was discharged after 12 years
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in service. And what I'm finding is, although we're moving forward with the Republican majority,
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we cannot forget those service members that really sacrificed a lot for our country. And ultimately,
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because of the Biden's agenda, we're really kicked, kicked out into the cold. And so I would like to
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co-sponsor legislation to take care of those service members after their fact, make sure that
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their service record is corrected so that they're not receiving anything other than an honorable
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discharge and potentially giving them the opportunity to either rejoin the military and or
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receive sometimes their retirements if they were kicked out prematurely.
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You mean to tell me they didn't receive honorable discharges?
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From what I was hearing initially early on, there are some members that were discharged with other
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than honorable discharges, which means that it's not considered a dishonorable discharge, but it's coded
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differently. And sometimes that coding can have an effect on employment. Sometimes it can have an effect
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on benefits. And either way, any service member that was kicked out because of that, it's not right,
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right? We see now that there has been a lift on the COVID-19 mandates. And the one thing that always
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frustrated me is why is it that service members were kicked out, but some of the same congressmen and
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women that were fighting for this mandatory vaccine, they were actually exempt because of the way that
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Congress taught the rules. And so that to me is infuriating. A lot of these service members, you know,
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sometimes the military is the only thing that they had. And so we took that from them and we need to
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make sure that we're taking care of them after the fact. So I will be actively engaged in that.
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And then also focusing on fighting right now, what's happening with the rise of China.
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I think that we are in the biggest economic warfare with them that we're going to see in my lifetime.
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And so I'm hoping to really do everything that we can to get back to American energy independence and
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also decoupling from China in every way, shape or form.
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Well, good for you. And going back to those service members who were separated with other
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than an honorable discharge because of their reasons, whatever those reasons were to not
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be vaccinated is an outrage. First of all, the Biden administration itself had to accede to the
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fact that it was a very stupid move. Our service members, we can't recruit enough service members
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right now for any branch of our military. And to have the temerity to do that without a vote of
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the Congress, without a vote of the Senate, the representation of the people's will is just
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ignorant. And I just want to congratulate you for taking that on. And we will be following you and
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your efforts to make that happen. It's just too important to those patriots who are serving this
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country in uniform. It's outrageous. Thank you very much. And I can tell you that there's been
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a lot of people that have reached out that have asked specifically that we do remember them and
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that we continue that fight. So if they are listening, don't worry. I want to let you know
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that there are good people. We're going to be fighting for you and we're going to get it done
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because right now, especially, I think the American people realize if there's one thing that this
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administration has shown us is that, you know, they're going to make a lot of mistakes,
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but we can help kind of fix it as best as we can. And so I hope to do that with my Republican
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colleagues of the 118th Congress. Great. I want to turn to one last question here. The House is
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expected to vote soon on a $70 billion cut in the Internal Revenue Service budget to fulfill the
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Speaker McCarthy's promise when he won the gavel to make sure that those 87,000 new IRS
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agents don't have the money to carry out new audits on American citizens. We just found out,
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by the way, that the most aggressive audits were against those people who are at the lowest pay
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levels. This IRS, this administration is an affront to American values, to the American people,
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and everything that you all can do in the 118th Congress to roll back these totalitarians who call
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themselves Democrats, will be much appreciated, and the Republic depended on the outcome. I just want
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to ask you here, as we conclude, what your thoughts are on that legislation and all of the promises made
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in the first week, first order of business here. Do you think it's all going to move forward
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successfully? Absolutely. I can tell you that I am looking forward to voting yes on that repeal of
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those 87,000 IRS agents and the funding going along with it. But more importantly, I think that you will
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also see the Republican Conference adopting that rules package that we fought so hard for. And I'd be
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really interested to see what members of Congress vote to keep the IRS agents. I think that'll be an
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interesting vote. I think you're exactly right. We always give our guests here, Representative Luna,
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we always give our guests the last word. And if you will, your concluding thoughts.
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Yeah, just keep faith. Thank you for all your support. And if you want to follow us on the trail and see
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what we're doing up here in Washington, you can always head over to my official Twitter account
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at Rep Luna or follow me on my personal at Real Anna Paulina. Okay. And we'll put that out as well
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on our social media. We appreciate you being with us, Representative Luna. Again, good talking with
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you. I wish you all the very best. Thanks so much. And God bless you. Thank you. God bless you.
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Representative Anna Luna, our guests coming up on The Great America Show include Congressman James
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Comer, Chairman of the House Oversight Committee, Brent Bozell, conservative activist and head of the Media
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Research Center, Congressman Matt Rosendale, one of the Freedom Caucus members who stood tall in the
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congressional reform negotiations, and Scott Perry, chair of the Freedom Caucus, and of course,
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a stalwart in the reform talks as well. Please be sure to be with us all week. Thanks. God bless you.