State of the Union: Interview With Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH)
Interview
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Thank you, Pamela.
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Well, remember, the balloon was an escalation.
And it was not thwarted from its mission. It flew over our missile defense sites, our nuclear weapons sites. And then it wasn't taken out of the game until the game was over in the Atlantic. The reality is, is that the administration admitted then, after it had shot down the balloon, that it should have been more proactive in the three subsequent shoot-downs that it did have of what appears to be harmless objects over North America.
So, the administration does have a shift that it needs to take in taking all of this a lot more serious, being more forward also with the American public and with China as to what we're facing and what their espionage plans were.
But, here, I do think that there is an opportunity to get back to a normal dialogue with China. No one, of course, wants a cold war, but that isn't the issue. What we want is a China that is not going to be an aggressor state, that's not going to be building up its military and threatening the United States, and certainly not making the negative comments that it's making, instead of just openly apologizing for sending a spy balloon over our most sensitive military sites.
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Statements like that Pamela are not helpful.
And we're at an international conference. You mentioned Republicans. There are 20 Democrats that sent a letter to Biden saying that we should have immediate negotiations and bring an end to this war. Putin hears that. He also hears statements like this.
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Pamela, you can't retract a letter from Putin hearing it.
So, it doesn't affect -- have any effect.
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When 20 members recklessly write a letter who are Democrats who write -- who are Democrats and write a letter to the president -- by the way, Pamela, none of the conversations that we're having here are the kind that you're asking us questions of.
No one here is having the debate on Democrats and Republicans.
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Only when we're in this interview -- only when in this interview has people talked about Republicans and Democrats.
What they have asked is, is there bipartisan support? In fact, I just did a panel with the Director Burns, indicating our full bipartisan support on the intelligence side, on the Armed Services side, for full support for Ukraine.
You have a handful on both sides, both sides, Pamela, who have been cautious or who have said that they don't support or they want support to come to an end. That's not the over 400 -- there are 435 members of Congress. There are probably 400 that are for continuing this direction and this path.
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Thanks, Pamela.
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