Morgan McGarvey on anti-Semitism, border security, and Holiday Cards for Heroes

Congressman Morgan McGarvey on why he voted "present" on a resolution to denounce anti-Semitism, avoiding the poison pill in legislation concerning border security, Ukraine, and other efforts around the world, the Holiday Cards for Heroesprogram, and the White House Holiday Ball...

Episode Transcript

(00:01):
Later today, former Kentucky Governor PaulPatton joins me. As a book it
might make for an interesting stocking stuffer. We had a nice chat on the
phone a few days ago. He'sdoing fun. He's like in his mid
eighties. We'll have a chat inabout an hour here on news radio eight
forty whs now someone more than halfhis age who is an elected official representing

(00:22):
the third district in the House ofRepresentatives. His name is Morgan McGarvey.
Welcome back, Morgan. Hey,Terry, great to be he yeah,
I was just thinking when you mentionedGovernor Paul Patton. I think I was
a freshman in high school when hegot elected governor. So it's been a
minute, it has been. Hewas very spry. I spoke with him
a couple of days ago, sohe's rare to go, oh that's that's

(00:46):
great, that's great. How arethe things with you? Everything's great here
we you know, obviously the CityLight Up Louisville event was nice. The
other night. He really packed downtown. There were a lot of people protesting
and right in front of the Statewhere I was with a microphone. And
you know where I'm going with this. This has to do with free speech
and so forth. A little whileago, the House, your House representatives

(01:08):
voted to strongly condemn and denounce thedrastic rise of anti Semitism in the United
States and around the world, threehundred and eleven to fourteen. You voted
presence please. I did, andyou know I wholly condemn anti semitism period
I've made several votes in Congress condemninganti semitism, condemning anti semitism on college

(01:33):
campuses, recognizing the right of Israelto exist and defend itself. This is
one of those resolutions that I'll justbe honest. It was a political gotcha
type of bill. First of all, let's think about I don't love these
resolutions that don't have the force oflaw and come in and say whether you

(01:55):
condemn something when there is no thereis no parallel, there is no We're
not going to have any type ofresolution that praises this. So we all
condemn anti semitism. But the languagewas worded in such a way that I
wasn't going to vote against the billbecause I do condemn anti semitism, but

(02:17):
I didn't want to vote for thebill and acknowledge sort of the politics they
were playing and some of the wordsthey use in the legislation where they did
not consult any members of the Democraticcaucus. There are only two Jewish Republican
members of Congress. There are severalJewish Democratic members of Congress. Jamie Raskin,

(02:38):
Jerry Nadler, Dan Goldman, allin my caucus, Jane Shaikowski all
stood up and said this resolution shouldnot be considered as serious. In fact,
it even attacks certain sects of Jewsin districts across this country. And
so for that reason, you know, we voted present and hope we can

(02:58):
get back to really collaborate. Itis serious law making, recognizing the rise
of anti Semitism that it is terribleand it shouldn't exist. Recognizing there's a
rise in Islamophobia that is terrible,it shouldn't exist. There's even been a
rise in racist incidents in the lastfew years. Let's call all of this
out for what it is. Let'scondemn it in the strongest possible terms.

(03:20):
Let's do it in a way wherewe're not playing politics and we're really trying
to make things better. There werea lot of Democrats that did vote yes
on this issue, YEP, andI think probably just for mostly political reasons,
right, because already we've been onthe phone and we're having to explain
it, and there's an adage inpolitics when you're explaining, you're losing.

(03:42):
But you know, I think thatthe words matter, the text matters,
the collaboration and the spirit behind thelegislation matters too. And I don't think
this was offered in good faith byour colleagues as a way to actually combat
anti Semitism. I have signed onto a resolution that does work to not
just condemn anti semitism, but todo something about it, for better funding

(04:05):
for Title six, to actually investin efforts that go into combating anti Semitism,
which is on the rise and shouldn'tbe. And we've got to speak
out against the discussions though with thecollege presidents today, we're kind of eye
opening to be sure, here isat least aphonic speaking to the president of

(04:27):
Harvard. Harvard student calling for themass murder of African Americans is not protected
free speech at Harvard. Correct,our commitment to y Aswer, no question
is that. Correct? It isthat And you know where she's going with
that, you know, Like,so she's pointing about the optics of certain
speech that's allowed on campus. Yeah, and you know this is a good

(04:48):
example of what we're talking about.A couple of weeks ago, we had
a resolution that condemned the rise ofanti Semitism on college campuses. I've voted
for that resolution. It was drafteda little bit better, better than the
one they introduced today, and soyou know, that's what we're we're going
with, and we've got to makesure. Look, anti semitism is on

(05:11):
the rise, it shouldn't be.I condemn anti semitism. We do have
to look out for free speech.And as someone who does believe in the
right of free speech, even asyou mentioned at Light Up Louisville, there
were protesters last week. They're exercisingtheir First Amendment rights. It's not the
speech you agree with that needs tobe protected, it's the speech you don't

(05:31):
agree with that needs to be protected. I do believe in in people's right
to peacefully protest, and so youknow, we've got to make sure that
we get that balance right when we'reconsidering legislation here in Washington. Speaking with
Congressman Morgan McGarvey represents Kentucky's third district. Okay, so, Mike Johnson the
news speaker. He says, let'sslow the roll on money to Ukraine until

(05:55):
we work on the border. Whatsay you about this, Morgan McGarvey,
Yeah, I was in a briefingtoday where we went on We had a
briefing with a lot of the seniorstate officials, including the Secretary of State,
the Secretary of Defense, on what'sgoing on. And we've got to
try and make sure that we aredoing what I think the American public wants

(06:17):
us to do, that is protectingAmerica's interests at home and abroad. Yes,
we need to make sure we areprotecting America's borders. Yes, we
need to make sure that we arejoining with our allies around the world and
beating back Vladimir Putin in the warthat he is waging against Ukraine. Yes,

(06:38):
we need to protect our allies inthe Middle East. We need to
offer humanitarian assistance, and we needto make sure that the people in Gods
are getting the humanitarian aid that theyneed and continuing to push and get an
end too the violence that's going onover there. We need to look out
for what's going on in the FarEastern part of the world. All of

(07:00):
these things are true. When youstart putting a bill together, if you're
going to build a coalition, you'vegot to make sure you're not putting what
we call poison pills in there.And so when you have a divided government.
I was in a divided government myfirst four years in Frankfort, and
it works pretty well. When you'rein a divided government and you have big
needs like this, you've got torefrain from putting poison pills. And when

(07:24):
I mean a poison pill is somethingthat you just know a lot on the
other side can't cross. I'll uselike the Granddaddy of political issues to make
this point. If we're talking aboutUkraine or border or Israel, don't put
an abortion thing in there either side, right, you know that's a line
that certain people can't cross. Somy hope and when we're figuring out this

(07:46):
legislation is that if it's all puttogether, it is put together in a
way that is meant to garner abroad coalition of support, not to score
political points for the twenty twenty fourelections. Again, Morgan mcgarvey's on the
line with us. You went tothe White House holiday ball last night and
said this is a nice bi partisanevent, and then today we go right

(08:09):
back into a partisanship. But sowhat does the Holiday ball provide? Yeah,
I would say maybe some people didn'thave enough eggnog, and I guess
not. Yeah, it's a youknow, it's a work party. It's
at the boss's house. They decoratedpretty nicely. And I'll tell you what,

(08:30):
it was really cool. And Iknow what I tell you when you
act like when you when you goto these things, you need to act
like you've been there before. Ihave never been there before. And I
had my cell phone out. I'mtaking videos to show the kids when I
come home. We're taking pictures.The White House is beautifully decorated for the
holidays. It was a nice bipartisangroup there. Most people, every member

(08:56):
of Congress and every Senator who goesis allowed to bring a guest. Most
people bring their spouses. A lotof other people maybe bring a family member
or close friend. And it's alsoa nice time to get to know your
colleagues and get to know their spouses, their partners in a in a social
setting. And you know, Ithink it's a great way that maybe we

(09:18):
can actually when you get to knowpeople, maybe you can work with them
a little bit better. So yeah, today it was still a little rough
on Capitol Hill, but I thoughtit was a really cool, cool,
cool event and something I know we'llcertainly remember the rest of our lives.
All Right, We're going to talkalso about the Holiday Cards for Heroes program,
and please tell me more. Yeah, Holiday Cards for Heroes is a

(09:41):
great initiative where, you know,we have so many veterans who served us
willing to put everything on the lineto serve us. You know what,
maybe they're in a VA hospital,maybe they're just in a hospital over the
holidays. Maybe they're they're suffering,aren't able to be with their family or
going through some stuff. Let's showthem some appreciation and love for their service.

(10:01):
And it's a great way to sendholiday cards to our veterans over the
holidays. I think we're going tobe sending some cards to active duty service
members as well. I mean,clearly, people know that our active duty
men and women in the military arenot able to be home over the holidays.
My brother, for one, isstill stationed in the Middle East right
now. We missed him over Thanksgiving, so that you know, that's something

(10:24):
that I certainly have a personal connectionto and you know, for our veterans,
for active duty men and women inservice, the holidays are a time
when most people get to enjoy beingtogether with their families. Not everybody does.
Let's just take a brief minute andget your cards in to remember those
who are willing to serve us.Just go to your website for the address.
Go to the website for the address, and we've got all the information

(10:48):
there where people can help out.We'll be pushing in the next couple of
weeks too and trying to you know, look, if you've got kids at
home, I've got young kids,and you're looking for a craft to get
channels some of that holiday energy whichwe all know exists this time of year.
You know, five or ten minutes, this would be something that I
know, our truths and our veteranswould really appreciate. All Right, last
thing, what should be accomplished byCongress before the winter break for everybody runs

(11:13):
off for the holidays. Do yousee anything that can get consensus and pass?
Well, I hope we can getconsensus. We have a divided government
that is actually an environment right forconsensus. So we still have not authorized
the National Defense Authorization Act we callit the NDAA up here. That needs
to happen. If we're talking abouta supplemental from border funding to Israel to

(11:35):
Palas on to Ukraine to what's goingon over in your Taiwan, that needs
I think in an ideal, wellthat that happens before we go home for
the holidays. Also, you know, it's not getting a ton of attention
right now, but there is.There's a FIZA program. It's a national
security initiative that has to be reauthorizedand we really need to look at it

(11:58):
has some problems with it, andso what too much too much intelligence gathering?
Well, it's making sure that people'scivil liberties are protected in that intelligence
gathering. And the five of theprogram is supposed to target foreign operatives.
A lot of good intelligences come fromthere, but we need to make sure
it's not targeting Americans unnecessarily as well. So make sure we get again,

(12:20):
get that right. This is somethingwhere we should come together and agree on
how do we protect Americans, bothprotect Americans from foreign threats and protect Americans
and their civil liberties. Okay,give me thirty more seconds. This thing,
this notion of cameras and neighborhoods.Some people are upset about that,
but they say it's recording license plates, which alerts the police to carjackers,

(12:41):
stolen cars, that sort of thing. Is that too much? Is that
too much, big brother, withcameras in neighborhoods, recording license plate numbers?
Yeah, you know, I thinkthat as we move, as we
continue to move into this technological anddigital age, it's going to a balance.
And it's a balance, right.We have to protect our rights and
protect our liberties and also utilize technologyto its best end. And so fortunately

(13:03):
that is more of a state andlocal issue, and Congress hasn't really weighed
on that sort of neighborhood or statelevel. But I know even in Kentucky
right now, they're having a debateon simple traffic cams. Right A lot
of states have traffic cams where theycan see whether you've run a red light?
Is that too much or is thatsomething that we should have in Kentucky
because it would keep motorists safe.So I think these are You're going to

(13:26):
see a lot more of these discussionsin the coming month. You bet there's
a lot of arguing. All right, good talk to you again, Morgan
thanks so much, absolutely, Jarry, Thanks to Kentucky Congressman Morgan McGarvey from
Washington, and we're back in afew on news radio AD forty whas