U.S. Sen. Katie Britt joined Politico’s Dasha Burns for “The Conversation” podcast this week, going in depth on her views on the Iran conflict, the state of the economy and the funding lapse for the Department of Homeland Security.
Burns first asked Britt about her thoughts about Iran and whether the administration had communicated a clear objective to her and other members of Congress. Britt expressed condolences for the families of those service members killed so far in the conflict and said said her conversations with the administration had been encouraging.
“I had an opportunity obviously to speak to Secretary Rubio, amongst others, but making sure that Iran’s capabilities have diminished greatly both from a nuclear perspective, which we know there it’s about not being able to reconstitute nuclear weapons and or uranium enrichment … and I am glad, for one, that the Ayatollah is no longer here, Britt said. “What I am grateful for is that we actually have a president who does what he says he’s going to do.”
Burns pressed Britt on that point, saying Trump’s rhetoric on the campaign trail is about avoiding international conflicts.
“It’s tough because you know you mentioned you’re glad there’s a president that’s going to do what he says he’s going to do,” Burns said. “He also did say, and I mean I was on the campaign trail and I heard this multiple times, that he wasn’t going to get the United States involved in any new conflicts. How do you square that?”
“..He gave opportunity for the Iranians to come to the table when they chose not to … give up their desire for [nuclear] enrichment, when they chose to continue to fund this terrorist activities all across the region that are putting our own troops in harm’s way and Americans back here at home. President Trump is going to act. And to me, that is the definition of America first,” Britt responded.
Brit also addressed the current funding lapse at the Department of Homeland Security, an agency she oversees as chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security. Senate Democrats are demanding changes to immigration enforcement procedures before agreeing to allow the spending bill to move forward.
“We need to be vigilant right now and that means every single component of Homeland Security, whether it is the U.S. Coast Guard, whether it’s CBP, whether it is ICE, whether it’s HSI, you know, whether it’s Secret Service, whether it’s CISA… TSA,” Britt said. “These people don’t need to worry about their next paycheck. We don’t need to be asking them to fulfill their mission, which is to keep the American people and our homeland safe while they’re worried about making their wife’s cancer treatment payment or having to sleep in their car… And so, my thought is that elected leaders, people who were sent here by their people of their state, need to get in a room and have a conversation and try to figure out a pathway forward. We owe it to the people we serve and certainly owe it to the country that we love.”
Watch and listen to The Conversation with Dasha Burns here.