0:00:00.913,0:00:03.501
Anne Milgram: Congressman,[br]I was about to introduce you

0:00:03.525,0:00:04.825
and say a little more --

0:00:04.849,0:00:06.470
Will Hurd: Hey, Anne. How are you?

0:00:06.494,0:00:09.698
AM: Hi, how are you doing?[br]Thank you so much for joining us tonight.

0:00:09.722,0:00:12.068
We're so lucky to have you here with us.

0:00:12.092,0:00:14.810
I've already explained[br]that you're actually in Washington

0:00:14.834,0:00:16.041
because you're working.

0:00:16.065,0:00:17.501
And I was about to tell folks

0:00:17.525,0:00:20.575
that you represent[br]the 23rd district of Texas.

0:00:21.339,0:00:24.809
But maybe you could tell us[br]a little bit about your district

0:00:24.833,0:00:26.367
and describe it for us.

0:00:27.903,0:00:33.482
WH: Sure, my district in Southwest Texas[br]is 29 counties, two time zones,

0:00:33.506,0:00:37.442
820 miles of border[br]from Eagle Pass, Texas

0:00:37.466,0:00:39.268
all the way to El Paso.

0:00:39.292,0:00:43.808
It takes 10 and a half hours to drive[br]across my district at 80 miles an hour,

0:00:43.832,0:00:46.126
which is the speed limit[br]in most of the district.

0:00:46.150,0:00:48.133
And I found out a couple of weekends ago,

0:00:48.158,0:00:50.299
it's not the speed limit[br]in all the district.

0:00:50.324,0:00:51.815
(Laughter)

0:00:51.839,0:00:55.819
It's a 71-percent Latino district,

0:00:55.843,0:00:58.283
and it's the district that[br]I've been representing

0:00:58.307,0:01:01.087
for now my third term in Congress.

0:01:01.111,0:01:04.294
And when you think[br]about the issue of the border,

0:01:04.318,0:01:07.556
I have more border[br]than any other member of Congress.

0:01:07.580,0:01:11.482
I spent nine and a half years[br]as an undercover officer in the CIA,

0:01:11.506,0:01:14.498
chasing bad people all across the country.

0:01:14.522,0:01:16.442
So when it comes to securing our border,

0:01:16.466,0:01:18.688
it's something I know a little bit about.

0:01:19.141,0:01:22.450
AM: One of the things I learned recently[br]which I hadn't known before

0:01:22.474,0:01:25.371
is that your district[br]is actually the size, I think,

0:01:25.395,0:01:27.323
of the state of Georgia?

0:01:28.741,0:01:29.907
WH: That's right.

0:01:29.931,0:01:33.590
It's larger than 26 states,[br]roughly the size of the state of Georgia.

0:01:33.997,0:01:35.479
So it's pretty big.

0:01:36.093,0:01:38.577
AM: So as an expert in national security

0:01:38.601,0:01:39.990
and as a member of Congress,

0:01:40.014,0:01:42.783
you've been called upon[br]to think about issues

0:01:42.807,0:01:44.442
related to immigration,

0:01:44.466,0:01:48.092
and in recent years,[br]particularly about the border wall.

0:01:48.434,0:01:51.221
What is your reaction[br]to President Trump's statement

0:01:51.245,0:01:55.498
that we need a big, beautiful wall[br]that would stretch across our border,

0:01:55.522,0:01:57.955
and at 18 to 30 feet high?

0:01:59.812,0:02:03.193
WH: I've been saying this since I first[br]ran for Congress back in 2009,

0:02:03.217,0:02:04.407
this is not a new topic,

0:02:04.431,0:02:07.019
that building a 30-foot-high[br]concrete structure

0:02:07.043,0:02:08.687
from sea to shining sea

0:02:08.711,0:02:11.545
is the most expensive[br]and least effective way

0:02:11.569,0:02:13.117
to do border security.

0:02:13.467,0:02:15.870
There are parts of the border

0:02:15.894,0:02:19.180
where Border Patrol's[br]response time to a threat

0:02:19.204,0:02:21.831
is measured in hours to days.

0:02:21.855,0:02:25.655
If your response time[br]is measured in hours to days,

0:02:25.679,0:02:28.369
then a wall is not a physical barrier.

0:02:28.671,0:02:30.932
We should be having technology[br]along the border,

0:02:30.956,0:02:34.584
we should have operation[br]control of our border,

0:02:34.608,0:02:38.013
which means we know everything[br]that's going back and forth across it.

0:02:38.037,0:02:39.998
We can do a lot of that with technology.

0:02:40.022,0:02:43.025
We also need more folks[br]within our border patrol.

0:02:43.427,0:02:45.609
But in addition to doing all this,

0:02:45.633,0:02:50.625
one of the things we should be able to do[br]is streamline legal immigration.

0:02:50.649,0:02:53.323
If you're going to be[br]a productive member of our society,

0:02:53.347,0:02:55.371
let's get you here as quickly as possible,

0:02:55.395,0:02:56.561
but let's do it legally.

0:02:56.585,0:02:59.535
And if we're able to streamline that,[br]then you're going to see

0:02:59.559,0:03:02.014
some of the pressures[br]relieved along our border

0:03:02.038,0:03:07.312
and allow men and women in Border Patrol[br]to focus on human trafficking

0:03:07.336,0:03:09.980
and drug-trafficking[br]organizations as well.

0:03:10.479,0:03:13.304
AM: Congressman,

0:03:13.328,0:03:18.305
there's also been a conversation[br]nationally about using emergency funds

0:03:18.329,0:03:19.623
to build the border wall

0:03:19.647,0:03:23.202
and taking those funds[br]from the United States military.

0:03:23.226,0:03:25.652
What has your position been on that issue?

0:03:26.321,0:03:30.841
WH: I'm one of the few Republicans up here[br]that has opposed that effort.

0:03:31.182,0:03:34.575
We are just now rebuilding our military,

0:03:34.599,0:03:36.927
and taking funds away from making sure

0:03:36.951,0:03:40.966
that our brothers and sisters,[br]our wives and our husbands

0:03:40.990,0:03:42.998
have the training and equipment they need

0:03:43.022,0:03:47.172
in order to take care of us[br]in far-flung places --

0:03:47.196,0:03:51.630
taking money away from them[br]is not an efficient use of our resources,

0:03:51.654,0:03:55.041
especially if it's going to build a ...

0:03:55.065,0:03:58.785
you know, I always say[br]it's a fourth-century solution

0:03:58.809,0:04:02.110
to a 21st-century problem.

0:04:02.134,0:04:05.627
And the reality is,[br]what we should be focusing on

0:04:05.651,0:04:08.791
is some of the other root causes[br]of this problem,

0:04:08.815,0:04:11.672
and many of your speakers today[br]have talked about that.

0:04:11.696,0:04:17.553
Some of those key root problems[br]are violence, lack of economic opportunity

0:04:17.577,0:04:19.077
and extreme poverty,

0:04:19.101,0:04:23.609
specifically, in the Northern Triangle:[br]El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

0:04:23.633,0:04:25.166
We should be working --

0:04:26.760,0:04:28.974
AM: I was going to ask[br]what you would recommend

0:04:28.998,0:04:32.029
United States government does[br]to address the underlying,

0:04:32.053,0:04:34.462
what we call push factors, or root causes

0:04:34.486,0:04:37.160
in those three countries[br]in Central America?

0:04:37.914,0:04:41.072
WH: One of the things I learned[br]as an undercover officer in the CIA

0:04:41.096,0:04:43.810
is be nice with nice guys[br]and tough with tough guys.

0:04:43.834,0:04:46.415
And one of the principles[br]of being nice with nice guys

0:04:46.439,0:04:49.946
is to strengthen our alliances.

0:04:49.970,0:04:53.347
We have a number of programs[br]currently in these three countries

0:04:53.371,0:04:58.990
that USAID and the State Department[br]is doing to address this violence issue.

0:04:59.014,0:05:00.688
And we know, in El Salvador,

0:05:00.712,0:05:03.655
one of the problems was[br]that the police were corrupt.

0:05:03.679,0:05:08.059
And so we've worked with the Salvadorians[br]to purge the police,

0:05:08.083,0:05:10.459
rehire new folks,

0:05:10.483,0:05:14.490
use community policing tactics.

0:05:14.514,0:05:19.339
These are tactics the men and women[br]in the United States of America

0:05:19.363,0:05:20.545
and police forces

0:05:20.569,0:05:22.204
use every single day.

0:05:22.228,0:05:24.368
And when we did this[br]in certain communities,

0:05:24.392,0:05:25.552
guess what happened?

0:05:25.576,0:05:29.077
We saw a decrease in the violence[br]that was happening in those communities.

0:05:29.101,0:05:30.265
And then we also saw

0:05:30.289,0:05:33.385
a decrease in the number of people[br]that were leaving those areas

0:05:33.409,0:05:36.059
to try to come[br]to the United States illegally.

0:05:36.083,0:05:40.774
So it's a fraction of the cost[br]to solve a problem there,

0:05:40.798,0:05:43.553
before it ultimately reaches our border.

0:05:43.577,0:05:47.728
And one of the reasons[br]that you have violence and crime

0:05:47.752,0:05:49.307
is political corruption

0:05:49.331,0:05:53.966
and the lack of central governments[br]to protect its citizens.

0:05:53.990,0:05:56.807
And so this is something[br]we should be continuing to work on.

0:05:56.831,0:06:00.009
We shouldn't be decreasing[br]the amount of money that we have

0:06:00.033,0:06:01.863
that we're sending to these countries.

0:06:01.887,0:06:03.974
I actually think[br]we should be increasing it.

0:06:03.998,0:06:07.173
I believe the first thing --[br]we should have done this months ago --

0:06:07.197,0:06:10.643
is select a special representative[br]for the Northern Triangle.

0:06:10.667,0:06:12.459
That's a senior diplomat

0:06:12.483,0:06:17.871
that's going to work to make sure[br]we're using all of our levers of power

0:06:17.895,0:06:20.404
to help these three countries,

0:06:20.428,0:06:22.912
and then that we're doing it[br]in a coordinated effort.

0:06:22.936,0:06:25.849
This is not just a problem[br]for the United States and Mexico,

0:06:25.873,0:06:28.347
this is a problem for the entire[br]western hemisphere.

0:06:28.371,0:06:30.665
So, where is the Organization[br]of American States?

0:06:30.689,0:06:32.807
Where is the International[br]Development Bank?

0:06:32.831,0:06:37.466
We should be having a collective plan[br]to address these root causes.

0:06:37.490,0:06:39.196
And when you talk about violence,

0:06:39.220,0:06:44.077
a lot of times, we talk[br]about these terrible gangs like MS-13.

0:06:44.101,0:06:49.180
But it's also violence like[br]women being beaten by their husbands.

0:06:49.204,0:06:52.514
And they have nobody else to go to,

0:06:52.538,0:06:55.776
and they are unable to deal[br]with this current problem.

0:06:55.800,0:06:58.125
So these are the types of issues

0:06:58.149,0:07:01.434
that we should be increasing[br]our diplomacy,

0:07:01.458,0:07:04.236
increasing our economic development aid.

0:07:04.260,0:07:06.537
AM: Please, I want to take you now

0:07:06.561,0:07:09.839
from thinking about the root causes[br]in Central America

0:07:09.863,0:07:12.936
to thinking about the separation[br]of children and families

0:07:12.960,0:07:14.360
in the United States.

0:07:14.807,0:07:16.752
Starting in April 2018,

0:07:16.776,0:07:20.561
the Trump administration began[br]a no-tolerance policy

0:07:20.585,0:07:24.342
for immigrants, people seeking[br]refugee status, asylum

0:07:24.366,0:07:25.797
in the United States.

0:07:25.821,0:07:29.781
And that led to the separation[br]of 2,700 children

0:07:29.805,0:07:32.656
in the first year[br]that that program was run.

0:07:32.680,0:07:34.450
Now, I want to address this with you,

0:07:34.474,0:07:39.182
and I want to separate it up front[br]into two different conversations.

0:07:39.839,0:07:41.942
One of the things[br]that the administration did

0:07:41.966,0:07:43.345
was file legal court papers,

0:07:43.369,0:07:47.784
saying that one of the primary[br]purposes of the separations

0:07:47.808,0:07:49.941
was to act as a deterrent

0:07:49.965,0:07:52.774
against people coming[br]to the United States.

0:07:53.252,0:07:57.760
And I want to talk for a moment[br]about that from a moral perspective

0:07:57.784,0:07:59.250
and to get your views.

0:08:01.378,0:08:05.085
WH: We shouldn't be doing it,[br]period. It's real simple.

0:08:05.109,0:08:07.491
And guess what, it wasn't a deterrent.

0:08:07.515,0:08:11.164
You only saw an increase[br]in the amount of illegal immigration.

0:08:11.188,0:08:14.918
And when you're sitting,[br]debating a strategy,

0:08:14.942,0:08:18.029
if somebody comes up with the idea

0:08:18.053,0:08:21.609
of snatching a child[br]out of their mother's arms,

0:08:21.633,0:08:24.117
you need to go back to the drawing board.

0:08:24.141,0:08:27.990
This is not what the United States[br]of America stands for,

0:08:28.014,0:08:31.553
this is not a Republican[br]or a Democrat or independent thing.

0:08:31.966,0:08:34.553
This is a human decency thing.

0:08:34.577,0:08:37.116
And so, using that strategy,

0:08:37.140,0:08:39.544
it didn't achieve the ultimate purpose.

0:08:39.568,0:08:44.379
And ultimately, the amount[br]of research that is done

0:08:44.403,0:08:47.299
and the impact that[br]the detention of children has --

0:08:47.323,0:08:49.601
especially if it's over 21 days --

0:08:49.625,0:08:52.608
has on their development and their future

0:08:52.632,0:08:53.785
is disastrous.

0:08:53.809,0:08:57.192
So we shouldn't be trying to detain[br]children for any more than 21 days,

0:08:57.216,0:09:00.473
and we should be getting children,[br]if they're in our custody,

0:09:00.497,0:09:02.663
we should be taking care of them humanely,

0:09:02.687,0:09:04.601
and making sure they're with people

0:09:04.625,0:09:08.703
that can provide them a safe[br]and loving environment.

0:09:08.727,0:09:11.633
AM: I would challenge you[br]even on the 21-day number,

0:09:11.657,0:09:14.283
but for the purposes of this conversation,

0:09:14.307,0:09:16.529
I want to follow up[br]on something you just said,

0:09:16.553,0:09:19.434
which is both that it's wrong[br]to detain children,

0:09:19.458,0:09:21.601
and that it's not effective.

0:09:21.625,0:09:25.547
So the question, then, is why[br]does the administration continue to do it,

0:09:25.571,0:09:29.363
when we've seen 900 additional children[br]separated from their parents

0:09:29.387,0:09:31.672
since the summer of 2018?

0:09:31.696,0:09:33.163
Why is this happening?

0:09:34.163,0:09:37.260
WH: Well, that's something[br]that you'd have to ultimately

0:09:37.284,0:09:38.451
ask the administration.

0:09:38.475,0:09:40.482
These are questions that I've been asking.

0:09:40.506,0:09:43.514
The Tornillo facility is in my district.

0:09:43.538,0:09:50.445
These are buildings that are not[br]designed to hold anybody

0:09:50.469,0:09:51.894
for multiple days,

0:09:51.918,0:09:53.357
let alone children.

0:09:53.679,0:09:57.201
We should be making sure[br]that if they are in our custody --

0:09:57.225,0:10:00.259
a lot of times for[br]the uncompanied children,

0:10:00.283,0:10:02.403
we don't have a ...

0:10:02.427,0:10:07.704
we don't know of a patron or a family[br]member in the United States,

0:10:07.728,0:10:10.388
and we should make sure[br]that they're in facilities

0:10:10.412,0:10:12.053
where they're able to go to school

0:10:12.077,0:10:14.942
and have proper food and health care.

0:10:14.966,0:10:18.138
And if we're able to find[br]a sponsor or family member,

0:10:18.162,0:10:20.416
let's get them into that custody,

0:10:20.440,0:10:24.258
while they're waiting[br]for their immigration court case.

0:10:24.282,0:10:25.882
That's the other issue here.

0:10:25.906,0:10:27.705
When you have a backlog of cases --

0:10:27.729,0:10:32.000
I think it's now 900,000 cases[br]that are backlogged --

0:10:32.024,0:10:34.609
we should be able to do[br]an immigration hearing

0:10:34.633,0:10:35.890
within nine months.

0:10:35.914,0:10:39.344
I think most of the legal community[br]thinks that is enough time

0:10:39.368,0:10:40.783
to do something like this,

0:10:40.807,0:10:46.677
so that we can facilitate[br]whether someone, an individual,

0:10:46.701,0:10:48.441
is able to stay in the United States

0:10:48.465,0:10:51.616
or they're going to have to be returned[br]back to their home country,

0:10:51.640,0:10:53.958
rather than being in this limbo[br]for five years.

0:10:53.982,0:10:56.522
AM: If we think about[br]the asylum system today,

0:10:56.546,0:11:00.069
where people are coming and saying[br]that they have a credible threat,

0:11:00.093,0:11:02.109
that they will be persecuted back home,

0:11:02.133,0:11:04.283
and we think about the fact[br]that on average,

0:11:04.307,0:11:07.410
it's about two years for someone[br]to get an asylum hearing,

0:11:07.434,0:11:11.789
that many people are not represented[br]as they go through that process,

0:11:11.813,0:11:13.400
it makes me think about something

0:11:13.424,0:11:15.856
that they say in the health care[br]space all the time,

0:11:15.880,0:11:18.527
which is that every system[br]is perfectly designed

0:11:18.551,0:11:20.728
to get the results it gets.

0:11:20.752,0:11:22.188
And so as you think about this

0:11:22.212,0:11:26.387
and think about how we would[br]redesign this system

0:11:26.411,0:11:27.853
to not do what we're doing,

0:11:27.877,0:11:33.050
which is years and years[br]of detention and separations and hardship

0:11:33.074,0:11:34.275
for people seeking --

0:11:34.299,0:11:38.761
and again, asylum being a lawful[br]United States government process --

0:11:38.785,0:11:42.285
for people seeking[br]to enter our country lawfully.

0:11:42.309,0:11:43.509
What should we do?

0:11:44.500,0:11:47.230
WH: I tried to increase[br]by four billion dollars

0:11:47.254,0:11:50.457
the amount of resources that HHS has

0:11:50.481,0:11:54.275
in order to specifically deal,[br]ultimately, with children.

0:11:54.299,0:11:59.474
I think we need more immigration judges[br]in order to process these cases,

0:11:59.498,0:12:04.585
and I think we need to ensure[br]that folks can get representation.

0:12:05.009,0:12:09.527
I've been able to work with a number[br]of lawyers up and down the border

0:12:09.551,0:12:13.980
to make sure they are being able[br]to get access to the folks

0:12:14.004,0:12:16.711
that are having these problems.

0:12:16.735,0:12:20.464
And so this is something[br]that we should be able to design.

0:12:20.488,0:12:23.051
And ultimately, when it comes to children,

0:12:23.075,0:12:26.255
we should be doing everything we can[br]when they're in our custody,

0:12:26.279,0:12:28.519
in order to take care of them.

0:12:29.030,0:12:30.958
AM: So I have two more questions for you

0:12:30.982,0:12:33.037
before I'm going to let you[br]go back to work.

0:12:33.061,0:12:37.315
The first is about our focus[br]in the United States

0:12:37.339,0:12:39.188
on the questions of immigration.

0:12:39.212,0:12:41.395
Because if you look[br]at some of the statistics,

0:12:41.419,0:12:44.403
you see that of people[br]who are undocumented

0:12:44.427,0:12:45.736
in the United States,

0:12:45.760,0:12:49.268
the majority of people[br]have overstayed on visas,

0:12:49.292,0:12:51.096
they haven't come through the border.

0:12:51.120,0:12:53.879
If you look at the people[br]who try to enter the country

0:12:53.903,0:12:55.709
who are on the terrorist watch list,

0:12:55.733,0:12:58.704
they enter overwhelmingly[br]through the airports

0:12:58.728,0:13:00.045
and not through the border.

0:13:00.069,0:13:02.410
If we look at drugs[br]coming into the United States,

0:13:02.434,0:13:04.712
which has been a huge part[br]of this conversation,

0:13:04.736,0:13:08.014
the vast majority of those drugs[br]come through our ports

0:13:08.038,0:13:10.220
and through other points of entry,

0:13:10.244,0:13:13.806
not through backpacks[br]on people crossing the border.

0:13:13.830,0:13:15.092
So the thing I always ask

0:13:15.116,0:13:17.242
and I always worry about with government,

0:13:17.266,0:13:20.623
is that we focus so much on one thing,

0:13:20.647,0:13:23.831
and my question for you[br]is whether we are focused

0:13:23.855,0:13:26.158
in this conversation nationally[br]about the border,

0:13:26.182,0:13:28.791
every day and every minute of every day,

0:13:28.815,0:13:32.357
whether we're looking[br]completely in the wrong direction.

0:13:34.021,0:13:36.180
WH: I would agree with your premise.

0:13:36.537,0:13:37.687
When you have --

0:13:37.711,0:13:39.585
let's start with the economic benefits.

0:13:39.609,0:13:41.717
When you have 3.6 percent unemployment,

0:13:41.741,0:13:42.908
what does that mean?

0:13:42.932,0:13:45.067
That means you need folks[br]in every industry,

0:13:45.091,0:13:47.600
whether it's agriculture[br]or artificial intelligence.

0:13:47.624,0:13:50.593
So why aren't we streamlining[br]legal immigration?

0:13:50.617,0:13:53.196
We should be able[br]to make this market based

0:13:53.220,0:13:55.526
in order to have folks come in

0:13:55.550,0:13:58.312
and be productive members of our society.

0:13:58.336,0:14:01.291
When it comes to the drug issue[br]you're talking about,

0:14:01.315,0:14:02.966
yes, it's in our ports of entry,

0:14:02.990,0:14:04.871
but it's also coming in to our shores.

0:14:04.895,0:14:07.032
Coast Guard is only able to action

0:14:07.056,0:14:10.696
25 percent of the known[br]intelligence they have

0:14:10.720,0:14:13.085
on drugs coming into our country.

0:14:13.109,0:14:16.572
The metric that we should[br]be measuring [is]

0:14:16.596,0:14:21.630
are we seeing a decrease of deaths[br]from overdose from drugs overseas,

0:14:21.654,0:14:25.283
are we seeing a decrease[br]in illegal immigration?

0:14:25.307,0:14:30.839
It's not how many miles of fencing[br]that we have ultimately built.

0:14:30.863,0:14:32.927
And so we have benefited

0:14:32.951,0:14:34.966
from the brain drain[br]of every other country

0:14:34.990,0:14:36.497
for the last couple of decades.

0:14:36.521,0:14:37.910
I want to see that continue,

0:14:37.934,0:14:40.759
and I want to see that continue[br]with the hardworking drain.

0:14:40.783,0:14:41.957
And I can sell you this:

0:14:41.981,0:14:46.672
at last Congress, Pete Aguilar,[br]a Democrat from California, and I

0:14:46.696,0:14:49.132
had a piece of legislation[br]called the USA Act:

0:14:49.156,0:14:52.506
strong border security,[br]streamline legal immigration,

0:14:52.530,0:14:57.260
fix DACA -- 1.2 million kids who have[br]only known the United States of America

0:14:57.284,0:14:58.458
as their home --

0:14:58.482,0:15:00.727
these kids, or I should say[br]young men and women,

0:15:00.751,0:15:02.052
they are already Americans,

0:15:02.076,0:15:05.982
let's not have them go through[br]any more uncertainty

0:15:06.006,0:15:08.117
and make that ultimately happen.

0:15:08.141,0:15:12.161
We had 245 people that were willing[br]to sign this bill into law,

0:15:12.185,0:15:16.010
it wasn't allowed to come forward[br]under a Republican speaker,

0:15:16.034,0:15:19.836
and also the current Democratic speaker[br]hasn't brought this bill

0:15:19.860,0:15:22.534
through in something[br]that we would be able to pass.

0:15:22.558,0:15:24.183
AM: So I want to close,

0:15:24.207,0:15:29.067
and you are, perhaps, most famous --[br]I don't know if that's fair --

0:15:29.091,0:15:31.390
but you took a road trip[br]with Beto O'Rourke

0:15:31.414,0:15:34.068
from your district to Washington, DC,

0:15:34.092,0:15:36.576
and you've become known[br]for reaching across the aisle

0:15:36.600,0:15:39.822
and engaging in these[br]bipartisan conversations.

0:15:39.846,0:15:42.760
And one of the things[br]I've seen you say repeatedly

0:15:42.784,0:15:46.156
is to talk about how we are all united.

0:15:46.180,0:15:49.181
And I think, when we think[br]about the language of immigration

0:15:49.205,0:15:53.455
and we start hearing words[br]about enemies and militarization,

0:15:53.479,0:15:58.275
I think the real question is:[br]How do we convince all Americans

0:15:58.299,0:16:03.209
to understand what you say[br]that more unites us than divides us?

0:16:04.274,0:16:07.228
WH: Crisscrossing a district like mine[br]that's truly 50-50 --

0:16:07.252,0:16:09.261
50 percent Democrat,[br]50 percent Republican,

0:16:09.285,0:16:13.187
it's been very clear to me[br]that way more unites us than divides us.

0:16:13.211,0:16:15.529
And if we focus on those things[br]that we agree on,

0:16:15.553,0:16:16.894
we'll all be better off.

0:16:16.918,0:16:19.823
And I'm not going to get[br]a perfect attendance award

0:16:19.847,0:16:21.038
for going to church,

0:16:21.062,0:16:24.272
but I do remember when Jesus[br]was in the Second Temple

0:16:24.296,0:16:27.426
and the Pharisees asked him[br]what's the most important commandment,

0:16:27.450,0:16:30.815
and he said to "Love thy Lord God[br]with all your heart, mind and soul."

0:16:30.839,0:16:33.800
But people forget he also said,[br]"Equally as important,

0:16:33.824,0:16:35.926
is to love thy neighbor like thyself."

0:16:35.950,0:16:40.119
And if we remember that[br]and realize what it would mean,

0:16:40.143,0:16:42.159
and what you would[br]have to be going through

0:16:42.183,0:16:44.508
to be living in a situation

0:16:44.532,0:16:49.498
that you may send your child[br]on a 3,000-mile perilous journey,

0:16:49.522,0:16:53.014
because that's what you think[br]the only thing for their future,

0:16:53.038,0:16:56.188
the only thing that you can do[br]to make sure their future is bright,

0:16:56.212,0:16:58.299
if we all remember that situation,

0:16:58.323,0:17:01.492
and think what we would do[br]in that situation,

0:17:01.516,0:17:03.262
I think we'd also be better off.

0:17:03.905,0:17:07.372
AM: Thank you, Congressman.[br]Thank you so much for joining us tonight.

0:17:07.396,0:17:09.753
(Applause)