Under Secretary of State John Bass

In Nebraska for the opening of our new Vietnam Veterans Memorial, I take it easy on the diplomat by only asking him to solve SOME of all the world's problems during our short conversation.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Here in Nebraska. After seven orso years ago, a guy named Tom
Brown said, we need to havein Nebraska Vietnam Veterans memorial, and so
he started up a foundation he startedraising money. The project cost an average
of a million dollars a year overthese last seven years, totaling seven million

(00:20):
dollars. Construction started last October andjust finished here recently. They opened it
yesterday to coincide with the eightieth anniversaryof D Day. Nebraska now has a
Vietnam Veterans Memorial. It's just southof Papellion le Vista South High School,
near Sumter Amphitheater, near one hundredeighth than Shram Road. And one of

(00:42):
the individuals who is very interested inthis happens to be your acting Under Secretary
of State, John Bass, whohas served both President Trump and now President
Biden, joins us on news radioeleven ten KFAV. Mister Secretary, Good
morning, great to have you withus here on Nebraska's news, weather and
traffic station. Did you make itto town yesterday for the opening of this

(01:04):
memorial? So unfortunately weather delays meantthat I missed the actual opening ceremony,
but I was able to get tothe memorial a little bit later and see
the remarkable memorial that honors Nebraska's fallenand all who's served in that conflict.
You're a busy guy. You're meetingwith those at Creighton University as well as

(01:26):
the University of Nebraska, and you'vegot a pretty full schedule here in the
area over the next couple of days. Well, I'm just kind of curious
of what it's like to be youas top diplomat. You have to make
that real easy connection between keeping everyonehere in America happy as well as everyone

(01:48):
on foreign soil happy all the time. Is that hard? Well, we're
definitely on the full employment program.But what I'd say is our goal is
not to make everybody overseas happy.It's too advance the interest and values of
our country and our people and makesure that our fellow citizens have the opportunity
to live in freedom and to buildmore prosperous, peaceful lives. We have

(02:13):
the president meeting today. They metjust earlier in Paris with the Ukrainian leader
Voldemir Zelenski. This as Vladimir Putinis in Russia saying, look, we
have nuclear weapons. The West thinkswe wouldn't use them. We would when
you hear statements like that, whatkind of conversations happen here at the Washington

(02:38):
level as to how to go aboutdelicately supporting Ukraine will not getting us into
nuclear war. Well, a fundamentalpiece of our policy where we are trying
to do everything we can to protectthe fundamental idea here and the rights of

(02:59):
the people of Ukraine, who franklyaren't all that different from folks hearing Nebraska.
You know, big big chunk ofUkraine is uh is farm country,
and people are just looking for thesame kinds of opportunities to make their own
choices about how they live, howthey worship, and who they have their
relationships with at a national level.And so what we're trying to do here

(03:22):
is protect their ability to do thatwithout obviously, as you say, putting
us in a position where we're goingup the escalation ladder into a nuclear exchange.
Of Vladimir Putin is a bully,full stop. He says a lot
of things to try to intimidate people, but he is also a very cautious,

(03:43):
calculating leader. He wouldn't still bein power in that that political system
in Russia after thirty years if hewasn't crafty. So we're we're working our
way through that. I think we'vedone a good job so far, but
we have a lot of work todo to make sure we help the Ukrainian
people continue to have the ability tolive in freedom and and and choose their

(04:09):
own futures going forward. Do yousee a realistic way forward where Russia does
not have some territory of Ukraine annexedas part of Russia, kind of like
they did with Crimea about a decadeago. So we don't recognize that that
illegal annexation of Crimea. No othercountry does, just as nobody here in

(04:29):
Nebraska would accept their neighbor waking upone morning and changing the fence lines on
their on their farm. What weare trying to do is help the Ukrainians
put themselves in a position where theycan defend their territory and and and put

(04:50):
themselves in a position to sit downacross the table from the Russians when the
Ukrainians choose to do that and tryto work out it into the conflict.
Talking here for just another minute withyour Acting Under Secretary of State John basswit
us here on news radio eleven tenkfabos, obviously being facetious a moment ago,

(05:11):
and I said, you've got theeasy job of trying to make everyone
in the world happy all the time. I do envy, honestly. One
part of your job. You havea chance to meet all the time with
active duty service members as well asour veterans. When we have an anniversary
like the eightieth commemoration of the DDay, the beginning of the liberation of

(05:35):
Europe for the Allied forces here andyou have a chance to talk with guys
who are in their early one hundreds, who were part of what happened eighty
years ago and in the war thatfollowed. When you have a chance to
meet with those in Nebraska here withthe Nebraska Vietnam Veterans Memorial and those great

(05:56):
Americans, what's that like as partof your job here, to get able
to spend that much time with someof the greatest people who have ever been
created. So it's an enormous privilege. I was honored to join a number
of veterans, including a World WarTwo veteran last evening at a commemoration for
D Day at the Nebraska Garden Museumand Seward and it was a really emotional

(06:20):
event. I'm hearing about their stories. Learning more about the Nebraska Guard's role
in D Day and in the campaignthrough France thereafter, brings back memories of
when I was serving in Belgium inthe early nineties and would go to these
towns in the Ardennes and have Frenchor Belgian citizens of their generation thank me

(06:46):
as an American for having liberated theirsoil, and it renews my sense of
purpose and why I'm in this careerafter thirty seven years. Son and a
stepson us veterans. I do mybest to honor their service by ensuring that
we continue to have the ability tolive in peace and freedom in this country

(07:12):
and to defend the rates of ourallies to do the same overseas. Working
together, we're stronger and we're tryingevery day to deliver for the people in
Nebraska and the United States. It'sgreat to have you here in our area
to be able to meet with moreof these individuals and participating in these conversations
with people of Creighton and at theUniversity of Nebraska. I'll let you go

(07:33):
here this morning and get right backto concocting what I'm sure will be lasting
peace in the Middle East. Youknow how hard can that be. Look,
you've got a tough job. Iappreciate your willingness to do it as
one of America's top diplomats. Thankyou very much for your time here with
us this morning. Well, thanksvery much for having me. Great to
be with you.