Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH) on "Face the Nation" | Mar. 03

Interview

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"Well, this is what I think.

So the FBI director, Director Wray, has himself personally stated that we are at the highest threat since 9/11 for a terrorist attack within the United States.

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And he cites the open border for that.

Now, we know that the – the Biden administration, this didn't just happen to them, that President Biden took a number of executive actions, over 50, that have resulted in the current situation that we have. It represents a national security threat, and it needs to be fixed.

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The law that came out of the Senate…

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The law that came out of the Senate would not have fixed this. In fact, it would have allowed a sig – you know, thousands of people to come across the border illegally.

And I think that's probably where most members in – in Congress fell off, away from this bipartisan deal, is that we would, in fact, be sanctioning what the administration was doing and allowing people to come across the border. The border needs to be – to be closed. We need to get back to legal immigration.

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We need to reform our legal immigration processes. And – and it represents a national security threat, as you said.

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Well, I think it's – I think it's essential that aid get into Gaza.

Now, I was just briefed by the CIA director, Burns, Friday personally. He is the one who is conducting the – the cease-fire negotiations. And he believes that we're close. And I think that's going to – that is very, very important to accomplish, one, because there are – are hostages that are still being held as a result of Hamas and the murderous onslaught of October 7, but also because of the desperate need for aid to get into…

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… to Gaza.

What's unfortunately – is the Palestinians are being held hostage by Hamas. That they're down in bunkers, cowardly not responding to the conflict that they began…

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… while their people are starving, shows exactly that Hamas is really all about Iran, and not about the Palestinians.

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Well, I think, as Director Burns is – is negotiating, we're really close to a cease-fire. That is going to resolve this issue.

It's going to open up the aid corridors. And, certainly, I think, in – in any conflict, both sides need to be held accountable. And I think, certainly, there are going to be questions as to what Israel has done and - - and the manner in which it has operated.

But it doesn't take away from the issue that the Palestinians are in a crisis because of Hamas.

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And the fact that Hamas, in attacking Israel and in the manner in which they have hidden during this conflict, have allowed the – the condition of the Palestinians to be in this state certainly says a lot about Hamas.

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And this – and I have to give Director Burns tremendous amount of credit. He's doing an excellent job. And I think he's going to be successful.

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Right.

And I – I did not do this alone. Let's be clear. My committee 23-1 voted to disclose this information to Congress, because that's kind of our – our responsibilities when we have something that's critical, and as oversight of the administration, when we believe that they're not taking action, to notify Congress of – of this.

And I do think they were sleepwalking into an international crisis. And I do think that, as a result of the fact that we notified the rest of Congress, we did hold the administrate account – administration accountable, and they're taking action.

I – from what I understand, there was conflict with the administration as to what to do. I think Jake Sullivan here needs a tremendous amount of credit for moving on this and recognizing it's important. I can't confirm or deny exactly what this is, because they haven't declassified it all.

But assuming if you take the news reports to be hypothetically accurate…

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… you know, Jim Himes, my ranking member has – has said this.

You know, if this – if this is true, this would be the equivalent to a Cuban Missile Crisis in space. Well, unfortunately, we don't have John F. Kennedy as – as president. And we need an administration that acts, and that understands that that this is a huge national security and international security threat.

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Yes, I – I absolutely do. We have to…

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We have to support Ukraine. The speaker does support Ukraine.

And I do think that that probably the most important development that occurred last week was the minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, came forward and said that the Democrats will not join with the small number of Republicans I frequently refer to as the chaos caucus, who say to the speaker that we will – we will remove the speaker if he moves forward on Ukraine, moves forward on spending bills.

They cannot do that without Democrats' support. He said Democrats will not support that. We're – as long as we're moving forward bipartisan bills that includes funding the government, that includes Ukraine, that includes Israel, I believe, as a result of that step, that Speaker Johnson now has the leeway and the flexibility to work through Congress and the Appropriations Committee.

I think it's going to be moving quickly. We're going to get our appropriations…

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They're not completely out of ammunition.

So, I have been to – I was in Kyiv last month and met with Zelenskyy, also at the Munich Security Conference, and certainly spoke to our military. And they are rationing, but they are not out. This is critical.

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We have to support them now, or they will lose.

And I think, you know, the speaker sees that emergency. Hakeem Jeffries sees that emergency. And I think we're going to see bills hit the floor.

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Thank you."

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