WEBVTT

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All right congressman , tell me where

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you have just been and what you've just

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been doing , if you could , we have

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spent the day in Iraq with 100 and

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first and very in Tikrit and uh pink

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recoup and now we're back at camp Erik

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Jan in kuwait city

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and today , yeah , we've had a

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great day spending the day with the

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troops talking with them . You know ,

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there are things that we've been doing

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through transformation and it's good

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when you can get out with the troops

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and then talk with them a little bit ,

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find out how that transformation is

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going , what's working . Uh some of the

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things they feel like we need to

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continue working on what you're hearing

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from back home , how the media that

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they're hearing affects them . The

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feedback you're getting from your

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families and what those of us who are

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at home can do to help support those

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families . And that's primarily been

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the focus of our day . Tell me about

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some of those things . If you can ,

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first of all , tell me about the morale

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of the troops , the people you supposed

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to do . The morale of the troops is

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spectacular . It is , it is so good .

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You know , the good thing about our

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troops is they understand our mission ,

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they know why we're here , They know

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that we have seen a lot of success ,

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but they know that this is going to be

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a long process to have to help Iraq

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stand up on their own two ft . So our

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men and women in uniform , I I think

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are absolutely brilliant and are doing

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a brilliant job . A a

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commendable job . And they're very

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realistic about that . We will take a

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couple of steps forward , then we may

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be taking a step backward . And uh

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we've worked through some of these

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hurdles over the past year , we've seen

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successful elections take place and now

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we're very hopeful that the Iraqis are

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going to move forward and installing

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this government and do so in an orderly

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process and do so quickly . Uh as you

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know , congressman , this could

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potentially be a very significant year

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in Iraq as more and more of the

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security operations are transferred

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over to Iraqi forces . Um do the U . S .

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Soldiers who you spoke to ? Are they

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optimistic about that occurring in a

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fairly orderly way ? And and that this

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drawdown that Secretary Rumsfeld and

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others have talked about , you know ,

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might be happening soon ? Yeah . You

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know , I think that they bring a

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different focus to this than uh those

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of us that are stateside bring to this .

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Uh I I was reviewing some notes a

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couple of weeks back and came back

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across something that the President had

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said . And that Secretary Rumsfeld has

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said back in 03 , but this was a seven

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step process going through stabilizing

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Iraq having them put a temporary

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government in place , getting their

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constitutional writing committee

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together , writing that constitution ,

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going through the ratification ,

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holding their elections , electing

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their parliament and installing their

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government . And that is step number

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six where we are right now . Step

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number seven is beginning to dissolve

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the coalition and that is what we are

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hopeful of seeing M 06 as Iraq is

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stable enough and you know , I think

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our men and women in uniform having

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worked through this process from day

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one and followed it so closely from day

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one . They know that just like with our

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own country and establishing the

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government , just like with the old

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eastern bloc and establishing their

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government as the Cold War ended , that

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we're going to see some successes and

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we're going to see some challenges as

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we move forward through this year .

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They are committed to standing with the

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Iraqis and helping them get on their

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own feet , helping these forces get to

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the point that whether it is the civil

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defense angle or if it's the military

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angle that they have the ability , they

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need to do a credible job to do a

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forward moving job in protecting and

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securing Iraq . Well , of course ,

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congresswoman , one of the reasons why

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you're there besides just kind of lend

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support from back home , which of

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course is crucial . But you're you're

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there to listen and to hear what they

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have to say about what they're

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concerned and what the challenges are

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and what did you hear from them

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regarding those challenges ? Where

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where what areas Yeah , needs need to

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be improved upon in the eyes of the

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people you spoke to . Yeah . And I'm

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glad that you asked that because one of

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the , one of the men in uniform today

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when I said , tell me , tell me what

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you think we need to hear and uh where

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we need to be doing a better job . One

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of the things that he brought up was

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communicating what they are doing to

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help train these troops and as they are

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working to help mentor and teach and

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train the Iraqi troops . They know that

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this is not easy and I think we have to ,

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we have to bring perspective to this

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and getting that message out is

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something that may be elected officials

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like me haven't done as good a job .

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Maybe the media , the national media

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like you has not been telling those

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success stories of uh some of the

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things that are taking place . But you

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know , we have to , we have to remember

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that we have a group of people that

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first of all had their help readiness

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and their educational readiness wasn't

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there to be able to move into fighting

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and training and learning and doing ,

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there was a readiness level that had to

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be applied . And the truth be told , I

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think that our troops have done a great

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job in helping see that applied and

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applied very quickly . Another thing

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that we have to realize is that in the

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Iraqi culture , there is not even a

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word for mentoring and this came up

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today when I was meeting uh once again

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with some women and it was a standing

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to me the first time in 03 we realized

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that there was not a word in the Iraqi

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language for mentoring . That is a

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concept that is not really applied in

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this culture . So you've got a cultural

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difference . So our men and women in

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uniform have had to go in and help the

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Iraqi people learn how to build that

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faith , build that trust , established

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that relationship . So they understand

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that the person who is helping to teach

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them and to train them and to work with

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them and to guide them and to help them

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begin to develop these skills is

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investing in them and has faith

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that they are going to move forward and

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do good things with those skills . And

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so there is that cultural difference

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that that is there . Now we have to

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realize that and understand that that's

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the challenge for our troops and at the

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same time it is something that we

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should do a better job of helping

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everyone uh in the coalition . Everyone

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that loves the free world understand

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that those are some basic curdles that

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have to be crossed first before they

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get to the point that they're going to

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be ready to uh to move forward

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sort of representing all of the U . S .

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And your visit today . You're of course

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specifically looking for people for

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back home who you might be able to run

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into . Did you find some people to

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bring in heavy messages to deliver ?

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You know , we we did . We have just had

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some of some tremendous visits and I do

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say thank you to general Oats and

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general Turner who are commanding the

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101st for the excellent jobs that they

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have done and the opportunity they've

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given me to visit with those

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constituents . We also had uh , here in

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kuwait some of the folks from the 2/30

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in the eight 44th , our Garden Reserve

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folks that are working here and had the

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opportunity to visit with them in

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general kelly tonight , uh , for dinner .

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And people are just happy with the new

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year . They wish the University of

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Tennessee would have had a bowl game .

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They wish that the Tennessee titans

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would have had a better day yesterday .

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Those are things we can't remedy . But

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what we can remedy is being certain

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that these folks now , we wish them all

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a happy New Year and that were

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incredibly appreciative for the great

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job that they're doing . And

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Congresswoman , I thank you very much

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for talking to us and forgetting that

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work . Thank you for your interest . We

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appreciate it . All right , take care .

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Thank you