live on the c-span networks. vice president kamala harris faces off against donaldrump. at 9:00 abc news debate simulcast depends. following the detee take calls and get your reaction. watch live debate coverage on the c-span networks. announcer: c-span's washington journal, our live form involving you to discuss the latest issues and government, politics, and public policy from washington and across the country pretty thursday morning we talk about tax proposals from vice president harris and former president trump with tax foundation senior economist erica york, and principal research scientist at the associated press national opinion research center discusses public opinion polling encampment 2024. washington journal, live at 7:00 eastern thursday morning on

c-span, c-span now, and online at c-span.org. ntinues. host: welcome back. we are joined by rye barcott, the cofounder and ceo with honor action, and he also wrote about called "it happened on the way toward." thank you. tell us about the organization. guest: so better representation in congress used to be 70% and now it is 20%. seven years ago, i cofounded with honor action with a former marine, and the goal is to increase the number of veterans who served with each other across already lines, so they take a pledge to serve with courage and to participate in the congressional caucus and that group of veterans is now

50/50 in the house, and they have helped passed over 150 laws over six years, mostly focused and national security within increasing service opportunity. host: do you endorse candidates? guest: we are nonpartisan as an organization, but are political action committees are very active, especially during the primary seasons, but this primary season, we have been behind a total of 65 veterans, running from a pool of 500. we have also supported state and local representatives, as well. host: how did you get involved? i know you are a former marine. guest: i started the business after the marine corps, and my business partner decided to run for office. he was motivated to serve, and at that point in time, we saw

military veterans, mostly who served in iraq or afghanistan, and they wanted to enter this arena, which is a hardship poster deployment, and naked exact but to do so in a way that is focused on getting things done as opposed to picking a culture war battle and using the office as a communications means. host: our lines are going to be veterans and nonveterans. if you are a veteran, your line will be (202)-748-8000. if you are not, then it is (202)-748-8001. you can send text messages, (202)-748-8003. you can also reach us on facebook and on . what do you think the edge is that veterans have when it comes to public service? guest: the key piece to having said in the military, less than

7% now serve in the military or the marine corps, so it is a small number, but everybody who has served has assigned the documents and you will give up to two in your life, and when you serve, user with americans from all walks of life, so working with people who think differently than you, is a bedrock for service, and that is the key ingredient, we think, in helping to turn around the environment right now in congress. host: you said you recruit all kinds of veterans, mostly a lot of the issues around national security. are there issues that unite all of them? with a all like to increase literary spending or the like to have a stronger military posture overseas? guest: there are a number of issues that the veterans have an to come together on, ranging

from our afghan allies support, now on the third anniversary of the withdrawal, and this group has passed over five laws to support those who have worked alongside our military forces overseas. a lot of focus in making it more efficient and better to use with technology to combat our current threats we face, and then a lot of ethicists on what are the emerging threats and strengthening those alliances overseas, we are going to take a delegation to ukraine next month, and stay strong with our support for fighting russian aggression. host: i would like to ask about john kelly, the former chief of staff and former president trump reported that he said about veterans, "our suckers and

losers" about world war i veterans. your reaction. guest: i know we know many who served in iraq and respected his service. i hope that that statement was taken out of context or not accurate. i don't know. one thing i do know is that were veterans are our most treasured veterans as a country, and every memorial day one of the things we do is we help to clean one of the war memorials, democrats and republicans, coming together. this year, we had three last surviving vietnam veterans who are still in congress, came out with democrats and republicans, and we cleaned the memorial show respect. host: there have been criticisms of tim walz, the vice president candidate on the democratic ticket, former national guard member, retiring before his unit

deployed for iraq. what do you make of the criticisms? guest: we are a nonpartisan position that works with democrats and republicans. one of the only functional platforms in d.c. still left with it. for the first time in over 28 years, we have two veterans at the top of the ticket, two vice presidential candidates, so we honor that service, and we recognize that service, and he rose up the ranks as an enlisted man, and we appreciate that. host: caller let's talk to callers, james, veteran, new york. caller: good morning. semper fi. the question i have, and i asked this in the past, you see the commercials for the dogs, and right after those commercials,

it is always the former veterans who need money and whatnot. is the major star act going to be doing something or is it simply label use for years to hold over our heads and whatnot? guest: thank you for the question. the richest star act is a large piece of legislation that has followed pact act, a historic piece of legislation that passed bipartisan support that would endorse all the veterans in the car. many of them lead on it, and our estimation is that it is unlikely to pass this year. it has good material but perhaps can continue to get negotiated out. we think at the core, the mission to serve our veterans and to serve them with better services than they have received in the past is important. host: andrew, virginia.

caller: good morning. i would like to ask your guest, why would any self-respecting patriotic army veteran or someone who is choosing to run for congress or the senate, why would they want to support the republican party and specifically donald trump, who said on a national radio show after getting five deferments to vietnam, that his personal battle or rewards during the vietnam war was to evade sexually transmitted diseases? this was a guy who disparaged john mccain, a sickly called him a loser and not a hero because he was shot down and held prisoner. the fact that this guy, called american veterans "suckers and

losers" if they lost their lives or an arm and a leg, why would anyone, a patriotic american, support this clown when he is constantly disparaging our american or dead veterans? guest: thank you for asking me. i'm not the best person to ask that for. if you think about what happened in the united states, we are frozen with our electorates. millions of americans are going to pull the lever on each way, and what i think is important is the breakdown in overall conversations. think about it with your neighbors, etc., people -- maybe ask somebody you know who is planning to vote that might and try to have a real conversation with them. that is where it needs to start, and that is what is happening with what we support in congress, 30 military veterans who were going against the

grain, and even in the time of insane rhetoric, that is where it starts. they actually focus on things getting done. host: you participated in, your organization, do americans trust those to be best elected officials? this was shows that americans believe that legal or law enforcement experience makes the best elected officials, and they are confident that people with military, legal or law enforcement activities would make good decisions as elected officials, and those have success in academia and policy, and have also been seen as capable. by the way, at the bottom of the list is people with experience in entertainment or the news media. guest: i don't plan to run anytime soon.

host: talk about that pole and what you learned. guest: they have been a great partner with this and this is an annual poll. we actually do an annual unity index, where we look at individuals, ideas, concepts, and when you look at this, there was a high favorability and positive feeling across party lines with historical figures, particularly many of those who have served in the military, 31 previous presidents. this pole points to the fact we have seen over the last years which is the degradation of almost every institution, including the military. one of the only groups that has not been impacted by that significantly across party lines are veterans. there is still a bond and recognition that these are individuals who have served up with the country above them themselves. that is part of the reason we

focus on this group as a way to be a bridge to have some adult conversations and get these things done. host: let's talk to a vietnam vet, orion, maryland. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. ok, i am a vietnam veteran, and andrew earlier stole my thunder and said much of what one to say, so i'm going to change my question, these service organizations, can they endorse? guest: thank you and i

appreciate your service in vietnam. i lost my father who served in 1965 a couple of years ago, and it is my mother's 80th birthday, happy birthday, mom, and i learned so much from both of them. of course, thousands served in many significant ways. might understanding for almost every veteran service and is asian is that they are nonprofits who do not get involved with political activities. we are different. we are a political organization with packs and it works in this bipartisan space, and greet are one of the only groups that in the nation that does bipartisan work. it is not easy for the faint of heart. host: rick, vietnam vet, michigan. caller: good morning. i was a vietnam veteran, served in the forced entry division. one representatives are elected,

they have the honor of nominating young men and women to the military academies and they oftentimes take that to their political advantage and what i would like to see is that people who are elected to office would honor the same honor codes that these young men and women have when they go to the military academies, specifically like west point, their honor code is not to lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do, and i think we would be better off if these congressmen and senators would be able to take that honor code and hold to

themselves if they are expecting 18-year-olds coming out of high school, that code. thank you. guest: i strongly agree, i think every member of the caucus, which you can see with honor.org agrees violently with you, and many of the veterans, i'm with all of them that i worked with in congress, have said that their work and duty to appoint young americans to the service academies is one of the most gratifying pieces of the job for them. i would like to call out congressman steve womack, a republican, congressman was -- received the principles before honor last year and is the chairman of the west point visitors committee, the outside court for the organization, and i encourage you to reach out for

him. in addition to pat ryan, a member of congress in the first-ever member of congress to represent west point as a constituent and is a west point alum. thank you for that comment in question. host: mike, cleveland, ohio, a veteran. caller: good morning. firstly, i would like to say, i'm a former marine. anyway, as i understand, there is a bill going through the united states senate concerning pain pills and the use of opioids. as it stands right now, any veteran with chronic injuries cannot receive any pain medication, and it actually had someone at the v.a. look at me and say, if you are not dying, we cannot help you get no pills,

ok? as i understand it, there is a bill going to the senate to correct that. do you know the bill? guest: we will certainly look into it. we are actively involved and help pass over 150 laws, and about five have focused on mental health and strengthening our mental health opportunities, not only for veterans but americans. we are facing a mental health crisis, suicide rates have spiked the last 15 years and other indicators of it. one bill led by a marine who i served with i went to school with and is a member of the caucus help pass the national suicide hotline and also prostate bill that helps create more access for veterans to say, i need help and that is usually the first step.

we will look into it, and please announcer: thursday morning, we will talk about tax proposals for vice president harris and former president trump with tax foundation senior economist erica york. and principal research scientist at the associated press national opinion research center discusses public opinion polling and campaign 2024. washington journal, live at 7:00 eastern thursday morning on c-span, c-span now, and online at c-span.org. announcer: saturdays, american history tv features