Navigating Leadership and Legislative Challenges

The job of America’s elected leaders is to get things done. The democratic process isn’t always pretty and almost never leaves everyone happy; but the effectiveness of our government and America’s stature as the world’s dominant superpower rest on Congress’s ability to find common ground on the issues. 

Representative Jason Crow served in the United States Army 75th Ranger Regiment. He is now the Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Intelligence and Special Operations.

In his 4th term representing Colorado’s 6th district he’s looking to return power to the hands of Congress and has found himself at the center of many of America’s most controversial and important Congressional matters; an area he has learned to navigate through his previous leadership of the For Country Caucus, a bipartisan alliance of military veterans serving in the House of Representatives. 

Congressman Crow joined Fran Racioppi to share just how he balances the most polarizing issues facing both sides of the aisle; including the investigation into the withdrawal from Afghanistan, the impeachment of President Donald Trump and the inquiry into the pre-election assassination attempts. 

We discussed the impact of budget and personnel cuts to Special Operations and why it’s more important now than ever to invest in our SOF capability to prevent the next major conflict. We also covered border security, the use of active duty military in the enforcement of the border and how countering the cartels and the drug trade aren’t a new mission for Special Operations.

Watch, listen or read our conversation from Congressman Crow’s office. Don’t miss our full coverage from Capitol Hill. Special thanks to For Country Caucus for setting up this series. 

The Jedburgh Podcast is brought to you by University of Health and Performance, developing the next generation of fitness entrepreneurs from our Veterans. The Jedburgh Podcast is an official program of The Green Beret Foundation.

HIGHLIGHTS

• 00:00 Introduction
• 02:07 Jumping into D-Day
• 03:00 Rangers Lead The Way
• 04:35 Colorado 6th District
• 06:05 Veterans lead the 119th Congress
• 11:28 Role of SOF moving forward 
• 13:10 Cutting SOF funding
• 16:30 Defending critical infrastructure
• 18:40 The Immigration Challenge
• 23:35 Special Forces on the border
• 25:45 Working across the aisle

QUOTES

• “If everyone digs in and takes an all or nothing mentality…everybody gets nothing.”
• “Congress has given away its authority for decades.” 
• “The CT threat is not gone.” 
• “We are building systems now…that will be completely ineffective on the battlefield of the future.” 
• “You build political will by leading. That’s in part our job.” 
• “If someone is committing violent crime in our community, they have no place in our community.” 
• “There has to be a pathway to citizenship for folks who are living peacefully in our community.” 

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The opinions presented on the The Jedburgh Podcast and the Jedburgh Media Channel are the opinions of my guests and myself. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Green Beret Foundation and the Green Beret Foundation assumes no liability for their accuracy, nor does Green Beret Foundation endorse any political candidate or any political party.