#159: America Is Vulnerable - Representative August Pfluger (TX-11)

Threats to America are at an all time high. Our national security and law enforcement professionals have warned us. Our military leaders are preparing for anything and everything.  

Representative August Pfluger is the chairman of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence. He is now a 3-term Congressman representing Texas’s 11th District. He is also an Air Force Academy graduate and an F-22 fighter pilot with over 300 combat hours. As a member of the bi-partisan military Veterans alliance, the For Country Caucus, one of his biggest efforts is to build coalitions across the aisle. 

With Homeland Security, terror threats and nation-state brinksmanship front and center, Fran Racioppi sat down with the Congressman to ask him what exactly the biggest threats to America are. They dug into the theory of an imminent terror attack, what the battlefield with China really looks like, and why preventing denial of service attacks and the cyber-security risks against America’s critical infrastructure should be at the top of the priority list.

They also discussed the future of SOF on an undefined battlefield, how the reduction of fraud, waste and abuse will open up funds for discretionary spending, and why disagreement should be encouraged; but when the decision is made, everyone needs to get in line and execute. 

Watch, listen or read our conversation from Congressman Pfluger’s office. Don’t miss our full coverage from Capitol Hill. Special thanks to For Country Caucus for setting up this series. 

HIGHLIGHTS

• 00:00 Introduction
• 02:55 Veterans in Congress
• 02:35 Terror Threat To America
• 04:45 Cyber Threats
• 10:01 Future role of Special Operations
• 11:47 Lessons from Service in Congress

QUOTES

• “There’s a level of trust when you know that somebody else has served.”
• “It starts with just transparency. We live in a dangerous world. It’s not just a terrorism threat.”
• “These non-nation state actors and even nation state sponsored cyber activities lie in that grey zone.”  
• “That’s where we’re really vulnerable is some of the smaller communities, some of the smaller banks, some of the smaller entities that provide these services. Denial of services. That’s what we’re worried about.” 
• “Every dollar of improper payment that is going somewhere else is a dollar we’re not spending on security.”
• “SOF plays a huge role in deterrence. That to me is worth its weight in gold.” 

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