Congressman Ami Bera... on governing, campaigning, and American patriotism

Hi, I'm Congressman Ami Barrett, and you're listening to Trust Me. I know what I'm doing. Yeah. My name is Abhivandika, and I share conversations with talented and interesting individuals linked to the global Indian and South Asian community. It's informal and informative, adding insights to our evolving cultural expressions, where each person can proudly say, trust me. I know what I'm doing. Hi, everyone. On this episode of Trust Me, I know what I'm doing. We share a conversation with U.S. Congressman Ami Barrett. Stay tuned. So I've mentioned this before many times, but it deserves repeating that one of our biggest demonstrations of trust in a free society is with our vote. It's also the ultimate patriotism, as it's every citizen's most basic act of courage and personal expression. And speaking of courage and personal expression, thank you all once again for listening to and watching Trust Me, I know what I'm doing, and for sharing this with your friends and family. Your support reminds everyone that conversation is the antidote to apathy, and if you're enjoying these, please share a kind rating and review, and follow along on social media, and subscribe to the channel and podcast, as I'm really quite grateful. Now in this grand American experiment that's lasted for over 250 years, patriotism is always painted with a variety of brushes, and may mean different things to each individual. Yet the sentiment of pride and duty and devotion and attachment all flow from this idea of patriotism. So it was really terrific to share a conversation with the longest ever serving Indian American in the U.S. Congress, representative Ami Barrett. Ami is a native Californian whose parents emigrated in the late 1950s from India. And after attending public schools from kindergarten all the way to medical school, Ami's professional career as a physician spanned over 20 years, working as a clinician, an academic educator, and an administrator, and then a county chief medical officer. Skills as an astute and empathic listener, an effective team builder, and a cultivator of trusting relationships made Dr. Barrett's transition to politics a successful one, winning his first election in 2012 to serve as a U.S. congressional representative in the district just north of Sacramento, California. Since then, he's been reelected five more times, winning races that were incredibly close and even in newly redistricted areas, and navigating his constituents through local, national, and global issues. During his time in Congress, he's been a beacon of compromise and coalition, leading bipartisan efforts on everything from health care to job creation, to infrastructure, while also serving as a member of the new Democratic Coalition, a group of over 100 forward thinking Democrats were committed to pro-economic growth, innovation, and fiscally responsible policies. He's currently a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, where he serves as ranking member of the subcommittee on the Indo-Pacific. He's also a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Nami's running again this election year, so I was grateful to spend some time with him recently to catch up about his experiences as a congressional leader, about patriotism, especially as an Indian American, of course, and about relating global and national priorities back to kitchen table discussions. But I'm not going to lie, and especially since we've hosted every other Indian American member of Congress, it was really great to host a fellow physician, and we have something in common since we've both served as chief resident doctors. So I wanted to ask if he had any particular superstitions or quirks or habits that may have carried over since his medical training days. I don't know if there are any superstitions, but I think there are habits that I learned when I was a resident that serve me well right now. I think my staffs always amaze, even if we're in a half-hour car ride from point A to point B, how quickly I can fall asleep and refresh myself, which is back in those days, we would do sometimes 36-hour shifts where we're working a lot, and you'd grab 30 minutes here, grab 30 minutes there, so that is a skill set that I've retained, and it served me well today. Yeah, I have to say mine was I could never fall asleep quickly, post-call, so I felt like it was always up, and I unfortunately developed a very mild addiction to watching general hospital always post-call. So I can't say I'm very proud of that, or maybe I should be, I don't know. But yeah, there's those crossover moments, right? I mean, being able to be flexible and adaptable and kind of shift in a hurry for you, those kind of habits are really good lessons that carried over. Have those sparked a little bit more resilience even, especially in the kind of sometimes mud pit that can be the Congress? Certainly it has, and again, I think my training as a physician, which is listen, ask questions, gather information, but you don't have the luxury of not making a decision. And yeah, that is core to what we do as doctors, and I think that's something that I've brought with me to Congress is, look, try things, let's make decisions, let's keep learning, and we may not get it right the first time, but if we don't have this fear to put ourselves out there, I think that has served me well. Also, the listening and not judging, because again, as doctors, we're not there to judge our patients, we're there to learn from our patients and try to help them. Yeah, I tend to be a pretty bipartisan number of Congress. I respect that my constituents have elected and reelected me, so I'm a reflection of Sacramento County. Yeah, that said, Marjorie Taylor Green's constituents have elected and reelected her. So I have to assume she's a reflection of her part of Georgia. We're very different and have very different perspectives on the world, but I should try to understand what are those folks in Georgia saying in that they're electing and reelecting her. I think if we take that approach to trying to understand one another, you might see more civility as opposed to, I see a lot of members of Congress judging one another, and that probably isn't a good thing. You speak to effective listening, and you're right, as physicians, we kind of have to be agnostic and not judge our patients. If you think about constituencies, and if you think about voters, and if you think about the people who you serve and the people who are leading with you in that sort of contrast, in blending that training, that background, that skill set, you basically have to, I imagine, be empathic at all times, and really like lead with empathy, whether it's with patients or families, or with your constituents, and really work to having to build and cultivate trust. Were there any, you know, when there are these natural crossovers that help you, does that help you to in fact lead with compromise, especially in an era where that word just seems to be so foreign to what we do. It does, right, I mean, my most important job as a member of Congress are my constituents, right, the 750,000 folks that I represent, and that's where I can have immediate impact, where, you know, whether it's just helping someone with a passport issue or a visa issue or a veteran getting their, their veterans benefits, and you know, that's the stuff I take the most pride in, because again, as a doctor, when you run into one of your patients, and they're really thankful. It's the same thing as a member of Congress, and someone who I probably never interacted with, that my staff helped get their visa or passport, and they come up to me in the grocery store and say, hey, Congressman, you know, thank you, you guys were great, you helped me with this or that or the other thing. That's what it's all about. I think that's something that the public doesn't always see that constituent services component of it. And then on the bigger scale that you talked about compromise, we are this incredibly diverse country that I'm a lifelong California and what we see in California is we'll stick with Georgia, you know, maybe very different. But we're all there still to serve this country so again, you know, it can't be the California way or the Georgia way, it should be, you know, what's best to serve this country and that requires compromise. Yeah, and when you think about what's not the California way, what's the Georgia way, but what rather is the American way forward, as you're building those conversations and thinking about both the grocery store conversation and the conversation you're having in the congressional chambers. Are there dots that are being connected there because that there are like-minded individuals on the other side of the aisle or even differences that you have within, you know, your own party. How do you develop those relationships and build that trust even further, especially when, you know, the turnover and the cycles, they just keep changing. Yeah, and I think that's some of the challenges. Look, I don't feel like I've been in Congress that long, but it is now my sixth term and probably after this Congress will be one of the most senior members, which just talks about tremendous turnover. I think that is one of the things that we're seeing. You have this generation that kind of came of age in the 60s or 70s that are now in their early 70s, early 80s that are retiring. And then you have a younger generation of millennials and post millennials that grew up in a very different world, right, with the internet, with social media. And then I'm 59, so I feel like I'm kind of in between the boomers and the millennials, and how do we bridge the gap. And I think those are some of the frictions that are playing out in Congress. I look at someone like AOC with admiration. She can do things that I'm never going to- I'm not a social media guy, but she knows exactly how to use those tools to communicate in a different way. It's very smart, very connected, maybe uses different tools than I would use to get stuff done, but I think she's a reflection of the generation that's rising. That's neither good nor bad, but it is a very different generation than, say, the baby boomer generation. And I think those are some frictions that are playing out. And whether they're members of Congress or those who are in different generations, I mean, I'm in my 50s as well, and thinking a little bit about how I have to connect. And I certainly am a pediatrician, so I'm certainly a little more savvy to the generation that's behind us. And yet in that way, when you think about it, when you're first entering Congress, we're always sort of like thinking forward. And now we're in an election year. So it seems like there's always this specter of urgency that you have to accomplish so much. And we should have done it yesterday. And here we are today. But particularly as the summer and the fall hit in the sea of issues. And now being someone who's gone through six terms and really a more senior legislator in the congressional body, how do you help not only just your peers but voters to prioritize? And especially around your own vision now with some experience and with some vision as an elected leader. Yes, so I think about it. What can I do and have immediate impact at home? And now being kind of a more senior leader, I see all these young city counselors, young supervisors and new electeds that kind of came of age watching some of my very hard fought early elections. So I'd never call myself an elder statesman, but let's just call me the old guy now. And being the old guy, how can I work with them? Use the blow pulp that I have to effectively work together. And what I mean by that is, I don't see this through the lens of my district or your district, but as a region. So the greater Sacramento County region, how do we all work together to think about one, two, three areas where we can prioritize things? So I as a member of Congress may be able to appropriate funds. The person as a state assembly member or a state senator can try to get those funds quickly to the counties in the cities, but we ought to have that conversation. So every two years or so, we can find one or two areas where we can all row in the same direction together and try to get something accomplished for the good of our community, our region. That stuff is the stuff that I get really excited about because you can do that in two years. The bigger policy stuff, whether that's reproductive rights or access to healthcare, securing Medicare and Social Security and making sure that it's not just there for our parents and grandparents, but when we retire and our kids retire, we'd like it to be there for them as well. That stuff takes a lot longer and does require multiple congresses and the like. You're listening to Trust Me, I know what I'm doing. After a quick break, we'll come back to our conversation with Congressman Ami Barra. Stay tuned. Conversation. It's the antidote to apathy and the catalyst for relationships. I'm Abhidandikur and I share conversations with global Indians and South Asians so everyone can say Trust Me, I know what I'm doing. New episodes weekly, wherever you listen to your podcasts. Hi, I'm congresswoman Pramila Jayapal and you are listening to Trust Me, I know what I'm doing. Hi, I am congressman Shri Thanedar. Hi, I'm congressman Rokana. Hi, I'm congressman Rajak Krishnamurthy. You're listening to Trust Me, I know what I'm doing with Abhidandika. Welcome back to Trust Me, I know what I'm doing. Let's come back to our conversation with US Congressman Ami Barra. I've heard this said before where your first day as an elected official is exactly also your first day running your next campaign. So I mean, is it this constant battle between governing and fundraising and campaigning where you have to have those lanes running all at the same time. And does it also become, I wouldn't say a struggle, but a fine needle to thread of staying authentic to what you who you've been. And yet every two years having to in a way kind of rethink and reimagine and reinvent yourself so that you can be a part of that next cycle. Yeah, so certainly when you first got elected to this like that, one piece of advice I give candidates and newly elected folks is stay authentic to why you ran stay authentic to your values. Because it's easy to lose yourself if you just try to play to what you think the electorate wants. Believe what you believe, but be open to other perspectives. That said, now that I'm in my sixth term, it probably was the first two or three terms where I had really tough real elections. Now the easiest way to get reelected is just to do your job and be there for your constituents. And I think that does get easier as they get to know you and now they see you as their congressman. Do you feel more comfortable in the role and by comfortable, I mean allowing yourself a little more grace, being able to take slightly more risks. Simply because you know that you have that relationship already developed and you can think a little more boldly or is it always a constant calculation. Now I think it is, it allows you more latitude to engage in more difficult conversations. And clearly there are a lot of difficult conversations out there. But we see, you know, I'm, I'm a senior member on the Foreign Affairs Committee. So, you know, right now we're trying to end a war in Europe. We're trying to contain a war in the Middle East and figure out a way to bring that war to an end, but potentially create a better future for that entire region. And then, you know, my focus area is Asian, the Pacific. And we're trying to prevent a war in Asia. But back to the Middle East, that is a hot initially today. And I don't think we should shy away from that you see a generation that's engaged, but it's incredibly complicated. So I don't shy away from those difficult conversations. I'll talk to my Palestinian American constituents, because I certainly see the tragedy of loss of innocent life. And what does that look like? And how can we avert a humanitarian crisis that's averting that's really evolving right in front of us right now in terms of starvation, lack of food, lack of water, lack of medicines. At the same time, I understand the trauma that the Israeli population went through for seventh, you know, how can we help get the Israeli population to a place where they feel safe and secure as well. Again, super complicated. And I'd say I'm better able to navigate these different conversations today. Some of that is I just have a lot more knowledge base now that and a lot more experience, but it probably is I'm what I'm also more comfortable in my role as a member of Congress. I'm curious because, of course, having served six terms and, you know, being a more senior statesman, if you will, means that you've won a lot of elections. And yet a lot of these conversations are so deeply complex. There are no quick fixes and solutions. And so it's hard to necessarily gather wins when you have complex issues or even stagnancy in motion. And so unlike the role, perhaps of being a physician where you make a decision, you execute it and you rapidly learn, what if you had to perhaps unlearn in being a Congress, Congress member. Probably that they're like, again, let's just stick to this difficult conversation in the Middle East. There's no winner here in necessarily write the what happened on October 7th was tragic. The innocent loss of life after October 7th is equally tragic. So then now it's negotiating. I don't have the ability to end this war. But can I use my influence and dialogue and think about, you know, when this war ends, what does the day after look like? So, you know, sticking to that UC Davis is my home institution. And we've done a lot in the telehealth telemedicine space. And I've been having ongoing conversations going back to December to say, soon as there is a ceasefire. And Gaza, this is a generation that's been traumatized. And we ought to think about how we could do telehealth telemedicine, particularly in the mental health space where we've seen it to be a very effective tool. Because I've also seen how engaged the medical profession has been around this conflict in the Middle East. And is there a way for us to contribute in a positive way. Now, we started those conversations back in December because I was hoping we'd have a ceasefire. Right. The difference is we haven't been able to implement any of that because we don't know hard to do any of this until after there's a ceasefire. And you know what that day after looks like is still an unstable situation. So I think that's the frustrating part because again, as a doctor, we come up with a plan and say, okay, let's execute it. And then let's see what work here. It's like, we've got a plan sitting there. I have my colleagues at Davis constantly saying, hey, any movement here, anything. And again, it's no, we've got to wait until we see what the contours of the ceasefire is. And I think that's the frustrating part. And I imagine that, you know, it's a scale of patience that certainly you learn and unlearn all the time through these conversations. It is. You know, for many Californians, for many Americans, of course, you know, we recognize the needs of the future and the imperatives related to everything. Right. Whether it's climate, whether it's health care, whether it's water and energy conservation, innovations for financial and tech efficiencies. And yet there are those grocery store problems, there are those stark challenges and struggles that are facing voters now. So how do you kind of navigate through this balance of tomorrow's imperatives and the stuff that's affecting the dining table conversation right now. How do you harmonize that, especially as someone who's trying to govern effectively? Yeah, so 80% of the electorate really is just worried about, you know, getting their kids to soccer practice, taking care of mom and dad, paying their bills, being able to retire one day. And I think you've got to speak to that electorate, those bread and butter issues of daily life. And then there's the talking heads on cable news, social media and all of that. I think if you lose sight of the 80% of folks that are just trying to get through daily life, that's how you lose election. So a lot of what we do really is focus on just those daily bread and butter issues. How can we make sure we're listening to those issues? We can't always solve those issues. And I don't think our electorate, my constituents, expect me to solve every challenge. I think they just want to make sure we understand those issues. And Bill Clinton used to talk about it in the context of, I feel your pain. I can't solve inflation by myself or gas prices by myself, but I certainly should be empathetic to what that person who's living paycheck to paycheck might be going through. So I think that that's super important. Do you sometimes have to make sure that you connect the dots though and like make those links between what are that with that 80% of what's facing someone as a challenge today. And the specter of that imperative, especially related to something like climate or conservation later. And then does that also make you want to ensure that those voices that are not at the table when developing policy or when governing, they really should be there then. Yeah. And so very much so. Let's, if we're talking about climate, putting in a context to where that 80% that can understand how that affects their daily lives. So obviously in California, we've seen horrendous wildfires. That's climate change. We've seen, we've gone through a pretty bad droughts in recent years. That impacts folks and folks can get that and understand. Okay, here's why we have to address these issues. You know, part of food insecurity, water insecurity. And then there are those folks that really are not represented, right? And I think again, for me, part of it is giving voice to those folks that really don't have a voice and making sure we're not losing side of those individuals. Does it make it that much harder to broker change if, you know, the tables constantly getting bigger and bigger? It does it at times. It also, I mean, so let's talk about climate change because I've also been a member, you know, for much of my congressional career on the science based on technology committee where, you know, for at least the first half of my time in Congress. There's a lot of climate denial, but the climate's not changing or this is just cyclical. And I would look at folks, you know, let's say folks in Florida or Texas where you see horrific storms, hurricanes, tornadoes on a regular basis. I hear less of that today, but there's still a hesitancy in saying, hey, can we start to reduce the carbon impact? Can we start moving in a different direction? So it is, you know, it requires a lot of patience at times because I do think there's an urgency of now that, you know, I was just in India last week. And it was 120 degrees. We had a chance to go up and visit the Vali Lama, which is another story, but that, you know, that's certainly a highlight visit to meet his holiness. But you see it firsthand. I mean, 120 degrees, you know, I have the good fortune to be able to get into a hotel where there's air conditioning. But what if you're living on the street? Like, I don't know how you survive. Yeah, it just seems like those, you know, the stark contrasts again are like, you know, we, we have to bring people to the table. We have to have these like small band-aids. And yet there has to be both a patient and an urgency and certainly not a small, small feat. You're listening to trust me. I know what I'm doing after a quick break. We'll come back to our conversation with Congressman Ami Barra. Stay tuned. Every story told is a lesson learned, and every lesson learned is a story waiting to be told. I'm Abhidhandikad, and I share conversations with global Indians and South Asians, so everyone can say, trust me. I know what I'm doing. New episodes weekly, wherever you listen to your podcasts. Hi, I'm Virginia State Senators, Suhas, Supermanium, and you're listening to trust me. I know what I'm doing. Hi, guys, I'm Indra Nui. I'm Shaken Arsuman. I founded the API Victory Fund. Hi, I'm Regina Kosolu, National Policy Expert and former Deputy Assistant of the President, Domestic Policy Advisor to the Vice President, and you're listening to trust me. I know what I'm doing. Hi there. I'm Abhidhandikad, and you're listening to trust me. I know what I'm doing. Let's rejoin our conversation now with Congressman Ami Barra. You mentioned that, of course, the foreign implications, and you serve, of course, on the foreign affairs and select committee on intelligence as well. I'm curious how you particularly help citizens and your constituents connect those experiences, and connect the dots of your work back to that day-to-day challenge, and make it so that things are relevant both for you and for them. The dialogue doesn't just simply get siloed, as a, well, that's way far off someplace, and it's not really relevant to us. Yeah, it's not always the easiest thing, and how I would describe it to folks is, as a Congressman, I've really got two job titles. So I'm telling one is representative. I'm your representative, so I'm there to fight on behalf of your needs and your day-to-day lives. The second job description is, I'm a delegate. I'm one of the 435 folks that are sent to Congress to deal with the issues that affect us as a nation, and in that delegate role, I think it is really important. Again, we're seeing the world out of crossroads, the 75 years post-World War II, in many ways, was a American-led 75 years where you saw the rise of democracy, you saw tens of millions of people being lifted out of poverty, you really didn't see big country war. That's all changed with the pandemic, with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with the rise of autocracy. We don't know what the next 75 years looks like, and so in my role as a delegate, I'm there to then help represent our country as one of 435 folks or as a senior member on the Foreign Affairs Committee. How do we create and shape a different future that looks closer to the peace and prosperity that we've benefited from so our kids can have that same peace and prosperity? Yeah, I imagine that it links so much. It hits home, of course, when we talk about things like security and being connected globally and opening new markets and all kinds of things that stay relevant. You mentioned your trip to India and meeting Prime Minister Modi and Jay Shankar Ji and his holiness, the Dalai Lama, as an Indian-American, and when you're having those dialogues and conversations both abroad and at home, why is a healthy relationship with these leaders and these partners actually important for every American? I think it's really important. One, as a son of immigrants from India who came in the 1950s when the South Asian Indian-American community in America was incredibly small. We're a nation of immigrants, and when you travel around the world, even with our adversaries, they may not agree with the policy of the United States of America, but there's never any hesitancy with what the people and the values of the United States. The values of the United States of America represent. I think it's important because when you talk to the public in some of these countries, they very much are fond of the United States and what we represent. The governments are not always reflective of that. In a place like India, India is a real strong geopolitical strategic ally that I think will be an incredibly important partner in the world. I do think about how do we tap into the Indian-American diaspora, folks here, which we're still a relatively young community, but you're starting to see us, we've been successful in technology and healthcare. Civic engagement. Yes, civic engagement in so many ways, but you're starting to see elected officials now as well. When I first got elected, I was the only Indian-American member of Congress. Today, there's five of us, and we just had a successful primary in Virginia's 10th district where I think there'll be a six, the most aghaka number. Suhas was a guest on the program. Yes, and I talked to Suhas yesterday. I would not take that race for granted. He's going to run hard, but I think he should be joining us in Congress. Yeah, I hope so. And I think it'll be a great member of Congress too. You know, we talk a lot on this program, and I'm sure conversations among immigrant communities and ethnic communities around the country, but about mirrors and windows of culture. And I'm curious how being the longest serving Indian-American member of Congress has both taught you about yourself. And also what that's shown to others, both the mirror that you're looking at and perhaps the window into what the Indian-American experiences for those around you. The old guy now, as I said earlier, so I think there's a recognition I didn't get here by myself, so how do I pay it forward? You know, it does give me pleasure to see some of my Suhas come out of this really competitive primary successfully. And you know, others like Roger Krishnamurti or Pramila Jayapala or Rokhana or more recently Shree Thanadar. I might add all former guests on the program as well. Excellent. I'm the last one then. We saved the best for the last. That's for sure. I think from my perspective, I do feel, you know, again, I would never call myself a role model, but how can I be a resource? How can I be helpful? How can I answer questions? And that really is what Suhas and I were talking about having run and won some really competitive races. How can I be of assistance in making sure Suhas gets across the finish line? I think that's incredibly important. You know, I was an intern on Capitol Hill in 1985 when I was in college. I didn't see anyone who looked like me working on the Hill. You know, fast forward today. It's great to see chiefs of staff, folks in the administration, you know, high level, you know, a vice president. Right. A vice president Harris is a friend and you know, fellow Californian and Indian American. Yeah. I just think that that is the story of America. It's not unique to the South Asian Indian American story. That is America and we should constantly remind folks of that. Yeah. And one sort of like side note on that other than your name. Are there elements of your daily practice or the stuff that you do on a daily basis that remind you of being an Indian American? So, you know, I only in the sense that, you know, I work on US-India relations and a lot knowing that I've got a bully pulpit. And, you know, I get a lot of coverage in India. I love Indian food. So I tend to cook a lot. And, you know, from that perspective, you know, we're both doctors. So we took all these chemistry classes. Yeah, I don't use any of that for any practical purpose. So I've applied it to cooking, which is a way for me to relax and just kind of break, break away. Yeah. And I tend to cook a lot of Indian food. And then just, you know, I do think being a member of Congress has allowed me to reconnect with my ancestry a lot more in the sense that, again, you know, I grew up at a time. You know, it was probably that first generation that was born and raised in the States in 1965 when there really wasn't much of a community. So I just grew up as an American kid. And then in the 70s and early 80s, when my aunts and uncles, cousins started immigrating, then I had a chance to get exposed to the community. But, you know, it was different than, you know, I think a lot of my younger cousins that grew up now with a vibrant community. Yeah. And now I think you have a generation that was also born and raised here that clearly see themselves as part of the fabric, but also have the benefit of, you know, a vibrant community that they could grow up in. Yeah, such a different space to have more faces that look like you, but yet at the same time be reminded of a pretty deep and rich heritage and links that are that are not just here in America, but global. You know, as nearly 250 years now into the American experience as an Indian American, as a physician, as a dad, as a husband, as a member of Congress. I'm curious and reflecting now for you, what does American patriotism look like for you in 2024? Yeah, I think American patriotism is rooted in freedom of speech, the ability to say what's on your mind. You know, you see those tensions playing out, not just in the Republican Party, you see it on the Democratic Party, and I think it's important for us not to lose those values. I think it's important for us to hold on to what binds us together as Americans, and that's not a single religion or a single tradition or anything. We're this real fabric that's woven together of one generation of immigrants after another, and maybe we're just the next part in that chapter, but what allows America to continually grow and reinvent itself has been those immigrants. And I think of patriotism as being that welcoming country that, you know, give me your tired, give me your lust, but giving folks a chance, and sometimes I do see the debate in Congress and in politics of shifting towards losing that identity of a welcoming nation. And I don't want to see us lose that because I think when we lose that, we lose what really has allowed America to be this great melting pot. It makes a much harder country to govern. You know, I travel a lot, so if I'm in Japan or Korea, they're much more homogeneous in their population. Whereas go to any community in California, and you're going to see this mix of folks, you know, we've just Sacramento County now has the largest population of Afghan refugees. We're integrating them, but it's great. I learned from them, and they learned from us, and I don't want us to lose that. Well, it sounds like patriotism is a lifelong learning process, just like it is for just about any other, you know, endeavor that we do as Americans, and whether it's serving or leading your constituents or mentoring, hopefully new members of Congress as someone with some deep experiences, we're all very appreciative. Congressman Barrett, what a treat to have you join us. I hope we can revisit with you again, and thank you so much for all you do. Great. Absolutely. Thank you for having me on. Be well. Thanks so much, Congressman Barrett, and more than ever, if you really want to get patriotic, please make it a point to get active with your voice and register to vote. And a big thanks for reading and reviewing and passing the word along to your friends and family about, trust me, I know what I'm doing. Till next time, I'm Abhaidarnikud. Thank you.