this is the weekly on click Orlando
dot-com with Justin warmoth good morning
I'm Justin Morman I guess this week is
congressman elect Michael waltz the
former Green Beret now representing
Florida's sixth congressional district
after winning by 13 points in last
month's midterm election this morning
we'll discuss how his decorated military
career will influence his time in
Congress and what he hopes to accomplish
for Florida first off congratulations on
your midterm victory take us back to
that night what it was like to get those
results 56% of the vote what your way
yeah so we ended up winning by 13 points
but it didn't feel like it at the time
there's there's two ways to run
unopposed and scared and I had a very
tough opponent Nancy Soderbergh she was
Bill Clinton's UN Ambassador and we were
just facing a wave of money people were
talking about the blue way but we were
dealing with the Green Wave Michael
Bloomberg put more into the race the
final week than we spent the entire year
for example we were doing with Nancy
Pelosi super PAC it was a tough race we
just went old fashioned and went to
ground to a grassroots knocked and
called hundreds of thousands of voters
and Floridians and ended up ended up
so you think that was what pushed all I
know for sure absolutely was standing
before a door yeah eyeball to eyeball
presenting Who I am my background what I
want to get done and that's I can't tell
you how many people said the fact that
you're standing on my porch and and
coming to me we have made the difference
Wow
and you guys had some similarities as
far as your backgrounds in military tell
us about your background a former Green
Beret right and still serving it's the
22 years I'm still in the National Guard
and but you know not only the Green
Beret and the combat veteran background
I also worked for Vice President Cheney
as his national has his counterterrorism
advisor in the Pentagon but importantly
to me I also have a business background
and I'm proud to have helped build a
company up from scratch to 400 employees
but that meant I could really have
walked the walk in terms of taking a
firm Obamacare compliant are exploding
health care costs what regulation and
over-regulation was doing
business owners I'm really what it takes
to grow a company to build an economy I
have a tremendous place in my heart for
business owners who take that risk
to try to you know build a product they
believe in and to grow a business it's
tough one of the I've done a lot of
tough things that was one of the
toughest I've ever done
Wow interesting and we're gonna get into
some of the policies and how you feel
about health care and some of the other
things that you'd like to get done and
and see get done while you're a member
of Congress but let's go back to the
Green Beret you know some folks at home
might have a misunderstanding of what
that is they might think it is similar
to a Navy SEAL or maybe an Army Ranger
tell us what what really berate is yeah
so it's Army Special Forces and how
we're different we can do what the SEALs
do very well which is go find a bad guy
in the middle of the night and take care
of business like they did whether sama
bin Laden but we are different in the
sense that we have to undergo years of
language training multiple languages
cultural training we specialize in
certain parts of the world's we're the
ones that you can take a half dozen of
us and embed us in a valley or with a
local tribe or with the local military
and we will train 10,000 of them to
handle their own security so we really
operate as kind of teachers with guns by
with and through one day we'll be taking
care of a you know kill or capture a
local bad guy or and the next day we'll
build a school and build a clinic for
the local populace and win hearts and
minds Wow and that's that's really how
we're unique in the world and how will
that play a role in how you are a member
of Congress and as you serve the people
of Florida's sixth congressional
district how will that shape the way
that background and that mentality is
you know everything's local and and you
have to understand local dynamics and
that's just what we applied to the
district local influencers local leaders
as a small government conservative I
want you know government Authority and
decisions to be pushed down as locally
as possible things will be handled very
differently in Daytona Beach you name
the issue than they will in Montana or
Alaska or or central in the inner city
in downtown LA or for example you know
no doubt let's talk about the veteran
candidates that were right running for
office in the midterm election here are
some numbers more than 150 ran for
office in the midterms one and you are
one of 16 newly elected veterans in
Congress how important is it I think
it's critical yeah we're currently at a
record low around hovering around 15% in
terms of members of the House and the
Senate that are veterans
it's a record low in our nation's
history and peaked around 80% in the 70s
and 80s and I think there's a direct
correlation to that record low and the
frankly the record high amount of
dysfunction because I can tell you it's
just the ethos that we bring in the
foxhole and the ship and the plane
nobody cares about party race religion
creed socio-economic background it's
about mission it's about country it's
about what's best for America I can
disagree with a Democratic colleague
who's a veteran all day long about you
name the policy but at the end of the
day I also know we have that commonality
of service we can sit down and have a
beer at night so to speak find common
ground and move the country forward as
we look towards the the 2020 I know that
there's still a lot of it I get that I
get that um
2020 though you know we dealt with some
not particularly your race but three
statewide races that dealt with a delay
and a recount and and just a mess I
think is the best way to put it to avoid
something like that happening in 2020
when it's the general election and
president Trump is on the ballot what
would be the best practice to avoid
something like that happening again well
I think we have to take a hard look at
the mail-in system both absentee and the
mail-in when those deadlines are when
they need to be you know III like the
fact that we can mail in ballots I think
it increases voter participation
particularly for seniors who may
struggle to get back and forth to the
polls but it also makes it right for
fraud and and and having positive
control others ballots but at the end of
the day I just think you know it takes a
level of of competence that we weren't
seeing down in West Palm and down and
down and Broward so I am you know
encouraged to see new blood coming in
there and in terms of the election
officials but listen this is this is the
heart of our democracy and I think
it's one of those things a lot of people
take for granted until it doesn't work
as a veteran you know we have men and
women all over the world fighting for
our democracy and and it is incredibly
important I I want to take a moment to
salute the election officials from the
counties in my district from st. John's
Flagler Volusia and Lake County where we
didn't have any issues like that and you
know we also need to give credit where
credit's due and not just focus on where
where it's struggled I agree if they
worked they they are they're tired it is
it is a tough job and it's a thankless
job I think until you have issues right
alright so so we also need to give
credit where it's due and all of the
other counties that that didn't have an
issue as a freshman member of Congress
tell us about what your schedules been
like so we spent the last several weeks
and orientation up in DC I call it
Congress school and it's everything from
the mundane of yes you know how do you
staffed important very important ethics
briefings that we need to pay close
attention to to you know a lot of folks
pay attention to the office lottery so
all of the senior members pick the best
offices and leave in this case the 90
worst ones and then you pick a number
one to 90 we picked 20 out of 90 so we
did pretty well which means when you
when you come visit no I'm not in the
attic and I'm not in the basement I
actually delegated that whole thing to
my staff I went and visited wounded
warriors that day up and Walter Reed and
Bethesda but we're in Canon office 216
if you want to come by yeah
come by and see us it's interesting to
hear what it's really like up there and
from obviously someone who is gonna be
living it so that's really interesting
and I think what a lot of things are
gonna be driven by the majority right we
now have a Democratic majority you know
we've all seen the reporting on them
trying to sort themselves out of weather
Nancy Pelosi will be speaker or not but
we can't determine committees or the
size of committees or who's on what
until they sort that out and
congressman-elect waltz has some big
ideas for growing the space industry
here in Central Florida we'll talk about
that as well as immigration and
healthcare after the break stay with us
this is the weekly on click Orlando comm
with Justin warmoth welcome back my
conversation with congressman elect
Michael waltz continues this morning
starting with the future of American
space flight and what it means for
Florida the commercial space flight
Association is estimating to go from a
few launches per month to a few per day
nationwide in the next 10 to 20 years
they're talking about a few dozen launch
sites to over 200 I want the area from
from Brevard County
you know the Space Coast and Titusville
and even down in Melbourne up to Daytona
and over to Melbourne to be a central
excuse me over to Orlando to be a
central part of that embry-riddle should
be front and center in that and in one
of the world's premier Aeronautical
University has I've already had some
conversations with the Space Foundation
about hosting a commercial space flight
conference at embry-riddle they have a
fantastic STEM education program for
middle schools and high schools that
there's a there's the Byrnes Technical
School in in Edgewater and New Smyrna to
connect those folks I am excited about
what we can do in space this is not just
an economic issue this is a national
security issue the Russians and Chinese
have made it very clear they plan to
eclipse us in space in the 21st century
and I think there's some education that
needs to go on to Floridians and
Americans more broadly of how dependent
we are on space technology over the
horizon navigation or real time supply
chain or banking industry you name an
art how it got here today and GPS
absolutely is all dependent on space I
don't want to be dependent on Chinese
and Russian technology for that America
needs to stay preeminent and I am a full
supporter of the space force and where
the president and where the Congress
wants to go with that we are with space
where the you know and where the Air
Force was it used to be part of the army
and and broke off in the 40s and 50s
because it needs unique individuals and
unique equipment I think we're at that
same inflection point I'm a big
supporter so it's fair to say that this
is a 21st century space races is here
absolutely this is it well said well
and we really have our work cut out
mores and all those launches well most
of them a lot of them happening from
right here in our backyard that's right
in the Space Coast which is really cool
now but I want the engineers the people
that the startups all to really be
centered around Emory riddle and expand
from there it's a great school yeah I
went there I didn't I didn't do that the
aeronautical stuff I was businessman
like yourself but yeah I was not smart
enough for that
let's move out now too as we've talked
about a little bit going forward
immigration there's a possible there's a
slight chance that the government could
shut down if the funding is not where
the president wants it's right what do
you make about that whole situation well
look I think the bottom line is we
cannot truly reform the legal side until
we secure our borders border security is
national security and if we gave and I
am NOT for this at all but if for
example you gave amnesty to everybody
that's here illegally tomorrow that
would create this vacuum of people
wanting to come here we'd be in the same
problem in the same place five ten years
from now so we have to secure a border I
think the president's had enough and and
and finds that to be an absolute
imperative that he has to get done but
the legal side you know I sponsored an
Afghan soldier coming over here he's
sworn in as a US citizen his family is
thriving but but his fellow soldiers and
interpreters over 50,000 of them are on
a waiting list to get in we talk about
people who stood with American soldiers
who deserve to be here I know several
that have been executed while on that
waiting list meanwhile we have a random
lottery system and you know this kind of
chain migration program that I think
frankly is unfair and ridiculous for
those who've waited in line we're a
nation of laws follow the rules we're a
nation of immigrants but but we have to
have boundaries around that and I think
that's what he's trying to get after do
you feel like the what's stopping all
this is the wall talk though is that
something that is is preventing some of
the Democratic leaders to kind of hold
back a little bit you know but these are
the same folks that voted for a wall
back in 2006 and they've talked about
securing our border all the way back
into the nine
so listen we as a sovereign nation we
have to have secure borders and I fully
support them and there's also a national
security component to that the terrorist
group Hezbollah has actively worked with
Mexican drug gangs to infiltrate the
border and we've arrested a number of
them in the United States casing
critical infrastructure to attack in
case that we ever have hostilities
between Iran who backs Hezbollah in the
United States so it's a it's a serious
issue it is we have to get after it I
mean now that the the house is is
democratic LED and the Senate is
Republican obviously yeah are we gonna
be able to make something work and avoid
a possible shot I think the deal that
the president offered earlier this year
last year was very reasonable he offered
a million more daca recipients than
President Obama had offered a pathway to
citizenship in exchange for funding for
border security and in exchange for
reforming chain migration and the
lottery system I think that was an
important first step I would encourage
my Democratic colleagues to take him up
on that and at least get that part done
so that we can then get over the hurdle
to broader immigration reform we we're
going to touch on some of the big topics
that that mean the most to our viewers
health care being one of them yeah what
did what's your take on where health
care stands as it is right so we have to
get after the cost of care if people are
paying hundreds if not thousands of
dollars per month which is more than
some people whose mortgage for premiums
and then they have to come out of pocket
six to ten thousand dollars in
deductible before their planned even
kicks in that's not a plan and I think
the fundamental mistake of Obamacare was
it just went after universal coverage
for everyone without addressing the cost
how do you get at that
well there's tort reform the handle the
the you know the kind of out-of-control
lawsuits that lead high insurance costs
and lead to over testing there's
Medicaid and Medicare fraud there's
selling across state lines
there's the portability of coverage you
know you could take your cell phone from
carrier to carrier you take the same
number should you be able to take your
plan from carrier to carrier there's a
lot of I think very practical things we
could get after
that have to we have to lower the cost
of care it it's impacting businesses
like mine it's the highest cost Center
it's impacting people's you know their
personal wallets
it's a fastest-growing actually it's the
fastest growing part of our defense
budget it's exploding our debt so we
really have to get after the cost
drivers and lower those and then that'll
actually make it more Universal so
that's something I'm very focused on
speaking of the being universal a lot of
people have a problem with President
Trump's plan and it doesn't cover
pre-existing conditions yeah
is that something that needs to happen
it does yeah it does need to happen so
there were two pieces of Obamacare that
that Republicans were largely behind not
all but most and I certainly am one is
is having a provision to take care of
pre-existing conditions and two was
leaving minors on their parents plan
until age 26 so they can you know really
kind of get up and running on their own
I'm fine with leaving those in I mean
and we can get down in the details of
how you do that but but let's leave
those pieces but at the end of the day
costs are exploding Obamacare has not
worked and we need to fix it and prove
it move forward as we talk about the
environment and specifically Florida's
dirty water problem bright side blue
blue-green algae it was a real problem
it seems to at this point not officially
gone away but it's it's subside it
subsided a little bit federal dollars is
that how important is that and and what
do you think it would be the best
strategy to get a handle on what's going
on in our well but let me be clear it be
clean water is not just an environmental
issue for Florida it's our way of life
it is it's an economic issue it's a
tourism issue it's critical and you know
but where you draw the line between
federal intervention and state and local
you know I still want to take a hard a
hard look at that as we as we saw during
the election that's right
Senator Bill Nelson said it was a state
issue governor Scott said it was a
federal issue so yeah like to your point
right right yeah where you know I you
know it for me to go to you know say a
fellow member that's from Kansas
Missouri what have you and say I'm going
to pull you
tax dollars to fix septic tank issues
locally you know that's that's tough but
at the same time look we have to fix it
and it is going to be a huge it is going
to be a huge undertaking just where you
draw those lines between private sector
responsibilities local and state
responsibilities and then federal you
know I still want to work with my
colleagues and figure that out but it is
it's a be a priority for every elected
member from Florida and our conversation
did not end there of course being a
former Green Beret congressman elect
waltz has great knowledge in foreign
policy and the war going on in
Afghanistan for that part of the
conversation and much more just head to
click Orlando comm / weekly I'm Justin
warmoth have a great Sunday