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What Is It Like? U.S. Rep Jimmy Patronis (R-FL 1) Talks Being In Congress · Conversations: Special Guests with Preston Scott

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: And here we go the third and final hour at
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: least for the day of the morning show with Preston's Guy.
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: That's osay. I'm Preston Show five and sixty nine, not
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: wasting a moment of his time. He is newly minted
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: US congressman from Florida's first congressional district. Jimmy patronis, Hello, Congressman,
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: how are.
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: You hey, buddy? Thanks for having me.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, let's start here. Was this ever on your radar
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: of something you wanted, you felt like you were to
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  Speaker 1: do to run for Congress or was this just circumstances
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  Speaker 1: led to it.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I never dreamed about being in Washington, DC a
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  Speaker 2: living Really. I figure I've finished my career in tellahassee.
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  Speaker 2: But back in November of twenty four, you know, Matt
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  Speaker 2: leaves the congressional seat to go be Attorney General and
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: my phone started ringing And the next thing, you know,
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: President calls me in November, the day before my anniversary
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  Speaker 2: and says, look, he says, if you'll run on Doorshof,
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: we want you in DC. And so I mean, one,
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  Speaker 2: how can you say no? But two, I mean my
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  Speaker 2: boys are going to get an experience because they're still
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  Speaker 2: young enough to want to be under the roof with us.
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  Speaker 2: They're going to get an experience on life that they
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  Speaker 2: never would have ever been able to have access to.
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  Speaker 2: So you know, it's if the family wasn't so supportive,
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  Speaker 2: I wouldn't be doing this. But this is this is
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  Speaker 2: an opportunity to save our country at the same time
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  Speaker 2: do something right for my kids.
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  Speaker 1: Congressman, I know that we will have the opportunity to
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  Speaker 1: talk fairly frequently because I just know you to be
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  Speaker 1: that type of person. You're going to make yourself available.
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  Speaker 1: But for those that may not know what the demand
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  Speaker 1: demands are, give us just a quick snapshot of what
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  Speaker 1: your general broad schedule is. Not so much day to day,
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  Speaker 1: but how much time up there, how much uch time
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  Speaker 1: back in district and back and forth.
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  Speaker 2: So we are in d C at a minimum of
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  Speaker 2: three weeks of every month. So what this week the
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  Speaker 2: plan was. I got I got out of home early
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  Speaker 2: Monday morning, got up here. We we start with meetings
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  Speaker 2: and briefings. Yesterday was was really one of my first
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  Speaker 2: committee meetings since I've been up here. Uh, and then
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  Speaker 2: and then last time, you got to think about everybody
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  Speaker 2: similar to talent assid during the legislaation. Everybody wants to
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  Speaker 2: come to d C. Their issues are important to them.
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  Speaker 2: So it's a lot of folks that come from all
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  Speaker 2: over the country, and we like in my case and
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  Speaker 2: the other number two, we prioritize those folks that come
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  Speaker 2: from the district. When you come from the district in
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  Speaker 2: my case, and you come from from the state of
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  Speaker 2: Florida for that matter, because I've got a lot of
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  Speaker 2: a lot of people that I love. You know, we're
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  Speaker 2: we're going to move having and earth to sit down
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  Speaker 2: and hear what your concerns are. I got to bed
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: last night about midnight. I'll wrap up sometime Thursday afternoon evening,
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  Speaker 2: and then I'm going to be in Fort Walton on
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  Speaker 2: Friday morning at seven am for Walton Chamber Breakfast, make
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  Speaker 2: the rounds, visit with people, and and just continue to
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  Speaker 2: hear what's important to them. As we're debating the big
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  Speaker 2: beautiful bill. As Congress is in session, we need to
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  Speaker 2: hear input from from our constituents.
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  Speaker 1: What specifically do you want to hear from them about?
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  Speaker 2: You know, I think you know, we I don't want
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  Speaker 2: to stir the pot too much. I know there was
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  Speaker 2: a story that popped on Politico last night. As we're
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  Speaker 2: trying to bring some of this stuff in for landing,
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  Speaker 2: there was a there was potentially of things that could
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  Speaker 2: be interpreted as attacks, and so a number of us
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  Speaker 2: started really digging in our heels, you know, because we
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  Speaker 2: didn't we didn't go to Congress to do things like that,
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  Speaker 2: and so you start to work those issues. And even
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  Speaker 2: though in this case, the members did our job as
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  Speaker 2: we started engaging the process, but it's just a matter
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  Speaker 2: of time before we would have heard about it from
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  Speaker 2: our constituents as stories start breaking about potential ways to
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  Speaker 2: try to fill you know, budget needs. I mean, and
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  Speaker 2: here's kind of at the challenge. The President wants no
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  Speaker 2: tax on tests, no tax on Social Security, no tax
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  Speaker 2: on overtime, and all those costs. Something the Congress, especially
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  Speaker 2: the House of Representatives, we want one point five trillion
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  Speaker 2: dollars in new cuts. So those issues end up draining
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  Speaker 2: reserves and draining dollars that we're having. So I mean,
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  Speaker 2: it's about bringing this thing in for landing. And Trump
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  Speaker 2: has got everything he's negotiating globally with tariffs and other
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  Speaker 2: ways to try to onboard cash to our country. So
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  Speaker 2: it's it's a full day.
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  Speaker 1: What is the best thing that you've experienced in terms
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  Speaker 1: of that surprised you in a good way? And what's
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  Speaker 1: been the worst?
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  Speaker 2: You know, I think the best thing was just being
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  Speaker 2: an all I get to walk to work. Okay, so
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  Speaker 2: my wife found me a basement apartment and I get
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  Speaker 2: to walk to work. As soon as I step out
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  Speaker 2: in front of my place I'm living, the United States
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  Speaker 2: Capital hits me in the face and it's just, you know,
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  Speaker 2: it's an awe. I mean, it's the single greatest capital
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  Speaker 2: in the world, and we've got to work to keep
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  Speaker 2: it that way. So that's the best thing. But you know,
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  Speaker 2: probably the worst thing is how nasty some of the
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  Speaker 2: partisanship can be. You know, I've been to the restaurant
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  Speaker 2: business for thirty years. Everybody's a customer, you know. I'm
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  Speaker 2: always a big believer in taking care of the customer.
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  Speaker 2: I Mean, there's some just people that are just just
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  Speaker 2: damn right disagreeable, you know, and and the hateful things
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  Speaker 2: that they say, and the and the things that they do.
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  Speaker 2: You know, it's just, you know, everybody needs to just
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  Speaker 2: used to go take a reality check. People did send
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  Speaker 2: us up here to be nasty, okay, And so that's
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  Speaker 2: that's something that will will you know, hopefully change at
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  Speaker 2: some point. For right now, it is the status quo.
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  Speaker 1: Is it too soon for you to render a verdict
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  Speaker 1: on whether or not the Republicans in the House and
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  Speaker 1: the Senate will get the job done and deliver some
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  Speaker 1: of the things that President Trump is done by executive
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  Speaker 1: order and codify those into law.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't think. I don't think we have a choice. So,
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  Speaker 2: you know, a lot of people say, why aren't you
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  Speaker 2: condifying the executive orders? Here's the deal. There is so
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  Speaker 2: much bandwidth being spent on the financial side of things
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  Speaker 2: right now. And if there was any problems that Hunger
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: has had, because we have both chambers, if there was
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  Speaker 2: any problems that Congress had on what the President was doing,
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  Speaker 2: we would go and convenient working with specific issues. Okay,
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  Speaker 2: But right now President's doing what he's doing. We like
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  Speaker 2: what he's doing. President, continue to do what you're doing.
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  Speaker 2: We're going to focus on bringing in your campaign promises
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  Speaker 2: every single day when we meet those campaign issues, those
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  Speaker 2: things that he campaigned on, as we had a breakfast
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  Speaker 2: meeting yesterday, is reinforced to the members. So again, those
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  Speaker 2: are well and strong, and there's a lot of communications.
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  Speaker 2: The Speaker talks to the President multiple times a day,
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  Speaker 2: so we're all on the same page. And I feel
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  Speaker 2: like all those issues will get you brought in for
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  Speaker 2: our landing in due time. Because we do have the
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  Speaker 2: debt ceiling and continue resolution that it's got to take
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  Speaker 2: the priority.
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  Speaker 1: When you say all on the same page. You know,
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  Speaker 1: we read about some infighting, some things between the House
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  Speaker 1: Speaker and Presentative Elise Stephanic of New York, who may
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  Speaker 1: be a candidate for governor. I mean, I don't I
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  Speaker 1: don't want to hear names or anything, but I'm just
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  Speaker 1: curious how much division exists in the party.
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  Speaker 2: Now. Look, here's the deal with the lease. Elise is
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  Speaker 2: an amazing member of Congress, but she's also somewhat of
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  Speaker 2: a unicorn. That particular seat in New York. It is
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  Speaker 2: it is a It is a Republican seat. Is it
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  Speaker 2: a strong Republican seat? No, but Elise can win that
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  Speaker 2: seat all day long. Okay, So we have got some
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  Speaker 2: issues that we've got to get across. The finish one
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  Speaker 2: right now, the Save Act, that that that creates voter integrity.
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  Speaker 2: The only reason why it passed is because Raindy Fine
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  Speaker 2: and I got elected. That's how tight the margins are here.
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  Speaker 2: So the plan was that the lease was going to leave
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  Speaker 2: when Raindy Fine and I got the Congress. Well, we
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  Speaker 2: can't afford for her to leave. And plus, you know,
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  Speaker 2: you've got a Democratic governor who is not our friend
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  Speaker 2: in New York State, so she's gonna do everything possible
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  Speaker 2: to flip that seat, to allow the Democrats to create
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  Speaker 2: chaos in Congress and derail everything that November was about.
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  Speaker 1: Jimmy, I would say that unless someone was elected, from
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  Speaker 1: the world of being a certified public accountant, you were
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  Speaker 1: as prepared to look at the financial issues of this
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  Speaker 1: country as anybody ever by virtue of being the CFO
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  Speaker 1: in the state of Florida. How prepared were you, if
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  Speaker 1: for no other reason, because of that experience.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean the acronym, the money, the cash flows.
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  Speaker 2: I did not think I would pick up on it
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  Speaker 2: as quick as I could, So that has been a plus.
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  Speaker 2: And you know, and then it's kind of funny. You know,
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  Speaker 2: we watched the news, but now when I try on
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  Speaker 2: the news and saying, hell, they're talking about us all
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  Speaker 2: day long. So it's kind of interesting how many different
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  Speaker 2: ways were consuming our news in order to hear what
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  Speaker 2: the public's seeing in order to just stay on top
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  Speaker 2: of it. So, I mean, it's constantly information on board
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  Speaker 2: from all over the place in order to make sure
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  Speaker 2: we can do our job. But yeah, the experience in
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  Speaker 2: Florida was a game changer.
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  Speaker 1: You and I've known each other a little while, and
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  Speaker 1: you know that I call things as I see them.
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  Speaker 1: I see right now Republicans inside the state of Florida
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  Speaker 1: destroying themselves, which will eventually kill them and their super majority,
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  Speaker 1: and eventually majority, it will hurt them not getting certain
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  Speaker 1: things across the finish line, not addressing certain issues. One
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  Speaker 1: of the issues I've raised is the issue of employing
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  Speaker 1: illegal immigrants. It's the dirty little secret, Jimmy, that Republicans
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  Speaker 1: talk tough on immigration, but they don't want to deal
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  Speaker 1: with the employment of them. And Florida Republicans are no different.
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  Speaker 1: Can you tell me of federally this focus on immigration
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  Speaker 1: and dealing with illegal immigration specifically? Are we going to
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  Speaker 1: eventually deal with the employment of illegal immigrants?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, you know what, we we we We looked some
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  Speaker 2: numbers yesterday and this one thing that is that has
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  Speaker 2: started to grow is sentiment across the board, Democrats, Independence, Republicans.
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  Speaker 2: They want illegals out of this country. I mean overwhelmingly,
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  Speaker 2: that is something that everybody wants. So this is why
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  Speaker 2: you know, the programs at the two fifty seven program,
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: all these different things in order to empower the states
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  Speaker 2: to do their job. Okay, and and because this issue
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  Speaker 2: polls so well, you know, our our state legislators, our governor,
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: our sheriffs, all these elected Now they're hearing more and more.
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: I mean, they would do the job, but now they
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: have got an administration that wants them to do the job.
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  Speaker 2: With the Biden administration, uh, you know, it was like,
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: you know, hands off. With the Obama administration, it was
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: hands off, you know. And I know they talk about,
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  Speaker 2: oh there was more uh uh illegals sent back under
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  Speaker 2: the Obama administration. The Trump administration, well, whether they're not
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  Speaker 2: telling you is the Obama administration was turning them away
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: at the border. Okay, So this is exactly what's happened
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: now with Trump Trumps. This stuff has come to a
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  Speaker 2: grinding hault at the border, which I think is important
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  Speaker 2: that happens. But now we've got to start going there
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  Speaker 2: and leveraging those tools like e Verify, and you know,
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  Speaker 2: and we got to get the bad guys out here.
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: And but Trump deporting all those guys El Salvador, that
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: sends shock waves through the organized crime industry and gain
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: grain elements of our country because those guys don't want
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: to go they know what else Salvador's like, They don't
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: want to go there. So I mean, you know, I
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: just and it drives me crazy. Where we have a
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: lot of weaponized court system just to screw with the
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: president at every turn.
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  Speaker 1: But we're watching big sugar and big agriculture and the
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: trades donate huge sums of money to Republicans, so they
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: kind of water things down and look the other way.
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  Speaker 1: And the reality is the people that are committing these crimes,
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: they are not all just running people and running drugs.
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  Speaker 1: They they're working jobs to support themselves while they commit
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: these crimes.
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: Sure, I mean, look, there's I was talking to a
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: fellow member of Congress last night. She said she there
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: was a constituent her she was talking to who's who, Well,
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: I guess constituent. They weren't here legally, but self deported
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: themselves to to Columbia. They had they had had a
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: traffic infraction. They felt like, I'm here illegally. I'm gonna
• 13:33
  Speaker 2: get out here. I don't know what this means now
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: that I've got traffic tickets. They took off one back
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  Speaker 2: to Columbia. So, I mean, you've got those that are
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  Speaker 2: here that you know, they have blended into society. You know,
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  Speaker 2: they've landed a job that they're paying taxes. I don't
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: know whose Social Security number they're using. It's an amazing
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: amount of solid security dollars that are being collected from
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: people that give us false numbers.
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  Speaker 1: Yep.
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  Speaker 2: So I mean there's just all types of games that
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: are out up there, and that's why I hated that.
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: You know, Elon just got really is his teeth kicked
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: in from just society when the guy was trying to
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: just bring some damn transparency to a place that has none.
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: Yeah, fair enough, Congressman, thanks for the time this morning.
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  Speaker 1: I appreciate it, and we're here for you anytime we
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: can help.
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  Speaker 2: Thanks Preston. Hey, and this wean't give a shout out
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: to Susan Miller. I know she's listening.
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: Take care, thank you, sir. Congressman. Jimmy patronis with us
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: this morning. Florida's first congressional district. Newly elected, he's the
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: best expression of a good old boy, and he understands
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: what he's fighting, what he's got to do. Glad he's
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: on our side. Twenty seven past the hour