U.S. Rep. Dr. Mark Green (R-TN-07) appeared on “Fox News Sunday” as one of two “Power Players of the Week.”
Fox News’ Chris Wallace hosted Green and U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI-08), both freshmen. The discussion ranged from bipartisanship to military service to border security. (Slotkin served with the CIA in Iraq, and Green was on the special operations team that captured Saddam Hussein.)
A summary of the interview follows. The full video is available here.
On compromise and gridlock, Slotkin mentioned the shutdown and said, “Start having a real negotiation about border security, border forces, more technology at the border, fencing if we need it in some areas – it doesn’t just have to be a wall.”
Wallace pressed for commentary on the attitude in Washington, to which Green replied, “She’s prior military and I’m prior military and we want solutions. And we’re sick and tired of it not happening.”
Slotkin said that military and CIA experience helps one focus on mission, which is missing in Congress.
“People have treated it as if they don’t have a mission, that they’re for themselves, they’re show horses, whatever,” Slotkin said.
Green said that with the wall, both sides of the aisle can find common ground by defining border security.
“And the president has looked at this and has said this is what we need to do, you know, I’m supporting him in this, in this effort,” Green said of the wall.
Slotkin said President Donald Trump’s tone is “unbecoming of the country that I love.” However, she said the Democrats cannot be only anti-Trump – they have to legislate.
Green praised the president’s actions, which included tax cuts that created “massive growth” in Tennessee. Wallace pressed Green to discuss the president’s “tone.”
Green said, “I think maybe in some cases there are better ways to say things, but again, I one-hundred percent support the actions that have been taken.”
Wallace asked both how they can change Washington without being changed themselves.
Slotkin said that with more than 100 new members of Congress, the culture is already changing, and representatives must “push back” against people that try to get them to put party over the country.
Green said his friends and veterans he served with will ensure he stays the same. He mentioned how former Democratic U.S. House Speaker Tip O’Neill and President Ronald Reagan fought for their ideas but would go out for a Scotch afterwards.
That led to the panelists joking about their bipartisan beverage of choice – for Slotkin, it was Michigan beer; for Green, it was Tennessee whiskey.
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Jason M. Reynolds has more than 20 years’ experience as a journalist at outlets of all sizes.
[…] flight surgeon and veteran who did tours in both the Iraq and Afghanistan. The freshman congressman appeared on “Fox News Sunday” this past weekend and said he would support Trump on improving border […]
Mark Green is a true statesman and a gentleman! What we need in Congress.