Congressman Eli Crane (83:15)
Well, thanks, Dan. I. I think it. That it's growing. The awareness is growing thanks to, you know, efforts from many of us to beat this drum and sound the alarm. I remember I went to Iraq three times as a. As a seal, and you don't have to be a SEAL to know this. Any Marine or Army guy, you know, that was in country knew that the easiest way for us to get killed was with I. IEDs, improvised explosive devices. And I remember coming back to the States and I would tell anybody that would listen, you know, because I understand terrorists. I understand, you know, that they consider us the Great Satan. They would love to destroy us and install a global caliphate around the world, and they'll. They'll do anything they can to take down the west, the United States. And so I would tell anyone that would listen, Dan, friends, family members, anyone that IEDs were going to be a problem just because I saw overseas how destructive they were and how hard it was, you know, for us to deal with them, even with all the technology and weaponry that we have. And I remember, you know, it wasn't long after that where you had the Boston bombings, you know, where, you know, a couple individuals that were radicalized, you know, used, you know, some little microwave, you know, mini ovens to blow up a bunch of just peaceful folks that wanted to run in a marathon or watch a marathon. And I saw something similar. And it doesn't take rocket science to see this, but I saw what was going on as warfare was advancing overseas, primarily in Ukraine, with the drones. The battlefield has changed forever, and I knew that that was going to come to the states. And so I wanted to do everything that I could to make sure that my colleagues in Congress understood that that was going to be a very real threat in the future. And, you know, I started reaching out to anybody and anybody, everybody that would take a meeting with me. And I'm grateful to you. And Cash, you know, at the FBI, you got guys always were great about letting members come in and talk to you guys. And, you know, I remember telling you that story when I came over the FBI, and it wasn't lost on me that you were very well aware of it. And you had a team of guys that you brought in that was dedicated to this threat. And so we talked through, you know, the. The different threats, you know, tethered drones, you know, our mitigation efforts. You even told me you had somebody from the NFL in the week before to talk about what they're doing about it. So I knew that you were on top of it. But I also know that a lot of times in Congress, Dan, even if somebody's interested in an issue or they're concerned about it, it kind of stays siloed it. And they did. There's not a lot of reach out. There's not a lot of team effort. And so I wanted to do everything in my power to, you know, ask you what I could do to help you guys keep the country safe. And you guys gave me some things that you were struggling with. And unfortunately, like many of the problems that we have in this country, the problem is right here in Congress and members of Congress just not understanding the threats or, you know, getting in little political fights over something or bipartisanship to where we're not focused on these threats that are coming to the United States. And we've seen them already come. You know, you saw a major airport, you Know, have to shut down a couple weeks ago because of, you know, drones. It's just a matter of time. And you brought up, you know, one of the things that I was pushing for, and I brought this up to you, was that, you know, if we're going to have these FIFA World cup games, you know, and we had the committees of jurisdiction come before Homeland Security, let's try and have all these events in a dome. Because if you're in a dome that, you know, that mitigates almost 95% of the drone threat right there. They can't just fly these things into drone, into domes. You know, unfortunately, I found out that probably wasn't a reality because these games had been planned so long in advance. But, you know, do everything you can. That's what the people who sent me to Washington expect me to do. Do everything I can to keep them safe, to put them first. And, you know, that's what it's all about.
