Advancing Principled Veteran Leadership to Reduce Polarization with David Mccormick, Chief Executive Officer, Bridgewater Associates. Rye Barcott, Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer, With Honor. Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District. Dan Streetman, Chief Executive Officer, TIBCO.
Moderated by Anthony Scaramucci, Founder & Managing Partner, SkyBridge.
SPEAKERS
David Mccormick
Chief Executive Officer
Bridgewater Associates
Rye Barcott
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer
With Honor
Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill
NJ-11
Dan Streetman
Chief Executive Officer
TIBCO Software
MODERATOR
Anthony Scaramucci
Founder & Managing Partner
SkyBridge
TIMESTAMPS
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Anthony Scaramucci: (00:07)
Well, let's start with you for a second, your organization, With Honor, what are the qualities and characteristics of veterans that make great elected leaders beyond the obvious? What's the X factor? I want you to channel Simon Cowell and tell us what it is.
Rye Barcott: (00:28)
Well, I'm going to do my best on that. I obviously dressed a little bit differently than Simon Cowell, but I think about this question, I think about when I first signed up for the Marine Corps. You sign an oath and a pledge that is to every marine will be a rifleman. So what does that really mean? What it means is that you are going into the military. And if your country calls on it, you may give up to and including your life for your country. There are very few professions, of course, that have that calling for it. And what that is, at its essence, is true service.
Rye Barcott: (01:05)
What our organization does, With Honor, is we help support veterans who take a pledge to serve with integrity, civility, and courage, and to work across party lines in the Congress to try and help fix that very dysfunctional and polarized institution that actually matters a great deal for the country. So to your question, the bedrock has to be in service. It's a very unforgiving environment, politics. If you have the attitude that I'm going in to serve, this is going to be a hardship post. This is not for myself aggrandizement.
Rye Barcott: (01:41)
I may lose an election, but I will stand for principles that I believe in. That's hard to find. But it's what our organization works and strives to not only help identify, but help get them across the goal line because, of course, the cost in our elections are outrageous these days. And then once, in Congress, support that group, which ends up meeting every two weeks and put the country before yourself.
Anthony Scaramucci: (02:08)
So, let me go to you for a second, Congresswoman Sherrill. For the people out here that don't know you and your bio, tell us a little bit about your bio, who you are, where you grew up, what you did before you entered the Congress, why. Give us your philosophy about public service
Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill: (02:30)
So I am Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill. I currently represent the 11th District of New Jersey. I usually get a little Jersey love, and I thank you.
Anthony Scaramucci: (02:39)
There you go.
Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill: (02:44)
Thank you. Alright, alright, a little better. I appreciate that, especially with that kind of hometown crowd. So I'm in Montclair. The district stretches west from there Morristown out to Lake Hopatcong. And I grew up up and down the East Coast, and ended up going to high school in Northern Virginia, and then went to the Naval Academy, served for almost 10 years as a helicopter pilot. Got out, went back to law school, ended up at the US Attorney's Office in service once again, and then decided to run for Congress.
Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill: (03:15)
And I think what's interesting about that is I think about people who've served and what they bring to Congress. There are a couple things. So if I had gotten into the Naval Academy, I was going to go to UVA. And I envisioned my life a little bit like this. I would have gone to high school in Northern Virginia. I would have gone to UVA with a bunch of people from Northern Virginia. I probably would have gotten some job in the DC metropolitan area with a bunch of people, college educated people from Northern Virginia. And that would have been my world.
Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill: (03:48)
Instead, I went to the Naval Academy with people from all over the country, some of whom had been living overseas with their parents. I then served with people, not just from all over the country, but also with people from all different economic backgrounds. We recruit people, not just from some of the nicer areas of the country, but also from struggling areas of the country. So people have very different backgrounds than myself. And at a very young age, I was leading them.
Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill: (04:14)
I was helping them navigate bad divorces and bad purchasing decisions like motorcycles that they crashed immediately and financial burdens. And I was doing that very young and really helping them. And then I served overseas, in countries that were very unlike our own so I could see firsthand why our ideals and our democracy is important. And I think that's a perspective that veterans bring. And then Dan and I were talking before about how optimistic veterans are.
Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill: (04:47)
And many of you might not realize that because some of you have met some veterans and think that's not really my impression. But we're very optimistic in a sense that we are given a mission and we have to accomplish it. And you hear failure is not an option. Well, when you're in the military, failure really isn't an option because that could result in your death or the death of other members of your team. So failure really isn't an option. So you look at a mission no matter how hard it is and you've got to figure out a path for it. And I think with what's going on right now in our country, that's a very important viewpoint.
Anthony Scaramucci: (05:19)
I want to ask the same question with you, Dan. Tell us about your background, people that don't know you.
Dan Streetman: (05:25)
Sure.
Anthony Scaramucci: (05:26)
And we've got a nice crowd here. We also have about 15,000 people streaming.
Dan Streetman: (05:30)
Great.
Anthony Scaramucci: (05:31)
And there's a lot of young people, so provide perspective.
Dan Streetman: (05:34)
Well, I don't want to really start with this as the way you would think of me, but like Congressman Sherrill said, I was one of those young people that wrecked the motorcycle right after I graduated from West Point. We weren't allowed to have them at West Point. I bought one. Four weeks later, it totaled.
Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill: (05:47)
I did too, so do my husband. We all have motorcycles.
Dan Streetman: (05:50)
But fortunately, I'm married because of that. I actually used the extra six weeks to heal a broken collarbone. The insurance money from a totaled bicycle to buy a ring and ask my lovely bride who's out here to marry me. But it was also a third factor, which was to desperately throw my mom off the trail that I owned a motorcycle the first time. She was super happy, and it all worked out. I grew up in a little town in Florida, went to the States Military Academy.
Dan Streetman: (06:16)
And I want to echo what Congresswoman Sherrill said around your early opportunity to be exposed to a lot of people from a lot of diverse backgrounds. There is a person at West Point from every single congressional district. There's someone at West Point when I was there from 41 different countries. And we have a very active recruiting team, which makes sure that we bring in cadets from diverse backgrounds and underserved backgrounds. And that route gives you this understanding that everybody brings something to the team and everybody is different in their perspective.
Dan Streetman: (06:51)
And bringing that together was one of those key things you learn. You combine that with that this idea that you could call it a feature. Sometimes you might call it a bug. We're relentlessly optimistic. Every day in your military career, you spend your time thinking about how you are going to put yourself in harm's way as well as others that you care about. And if you can't be relentlessly optimistic about that, you need to find a different career path. And I love that aspect. I enjoyed military very much.
Dan Streetman: (07:21)
I spent eight years as an army paratrooper, ranger school, all aspects of it. But I did determine that I wanted to see other aspects and apply that in other places. So I went to business school. And I've been in California ever since. And I run a company called TIBCO. And we provide essentially data integration, data management, and predictive analytics capabilities to both our armed services, federal agencies, as well as some of the world's largest companies, Federal Express, for example. Depending on TIBCO to both deliver vaccines as part of Operation Warp Speed. At the same time, they were delivering more Christmas presents than ever, holiday presents than ever before ...
Anthony Scaramucci: (08:02)
Sure.
Dan Streetman: (08:03)
... because of the pandemic and everyone shopping. Timmy got his bicycle, and Timmy's grandmother got her vaccine. And we're really proud of the role that TIBCO plays in some of those organizations around the world, giving everybody one thing we gained in our service, a shared consciousness and understanding of what's important, rooted in data and coming back to the common goals we shared together.
Rye Barcott: (08:23)
Can I just add something?
Anthony Scaramucci: (08:25)
Yeah, please.
Rye Barcott: (08:25)
On optimism. So, my favorite quote of all time, leadership quote is Colin Powell, who said, "Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier."
Dan Streetman: (08:34)
Absolutely.
Rye Barcott: (08:35)
And I just love that, it embodies so much of, hey, you're seeing adversity, but run into the adversity. Keep a positive attitude. Nobody wants to follow somebody that's down.
Dan Streetman: (08:45)
And I think it's something for organizations and our government to keep in mind, is that we are trained that way. And so, there’ve been people who said, well, generals or admirals lied about our status in the world. No, they didn't. I mean, they honestly did have the optimism to do the right thing. I think that biggest thing we learned is you have to have, like Congresswoman Sherrill said, integrity in everything you do. And if you don't bring that from day one, you put yourself at risk and you put everybody else at risk. And that's one of those other things. You can get that in a lot of different perspectives. I don't want to say that service is the only way you can build those characteristics, but it is certainly a great way.
Anthony Scaramucci: (09:24)
So I want to test something on all three of you. And it left a big impression on me. It was from Speaker Boehner, John Boehner. And so, Boehner came here a few years ago and talk. But prior to that, I met him in his office, which is one of the most beautiful offices in Washington, because looking down Pennsylvania Avenue. And I told Bob Dole I met him in that office, it's known the most beautiful office is the Oval Office looking out into the Rose Barn. And I thought that was funny.
Anthony Scaramucci: (09:51)
But Speaker Boehner said to me that the Congress worked better when there was more civic virtue in the country, civic Unity, and it primarily came from the military. He said that the Congress worked better in the '40s and '50s because the men and women that were serving in the Congress had served the country in some part of the world. And so if they were from New York, they didn't necessarily have a rivalry from the person from North Dakota because they had met those people in their various battalions and squadrons and so forth. And so it made it easier to get things done. Have we lost that? Number one, is that true? I believe it is, and I'm interested in each of your reactions. And then secondarily, if we've lost that, how do we get it back?
Rye Barcott: (10:35)
Yep. Well, I really believe that to our core, and that's what we embody it With Honor, is trying to get more veterans who pledge to work across party lines, work with integrity and civility into the Congress. That doesn't mean that all veterans are part of the solution. But when you look at the numbers, what's happened over the last 50 years, it's happened in my lifetime, is that Congress used to have better representation above 70%, roughly. That's now down to 20%.
Rye Barcott: (11:04)
Obviously, it's no secret that in that time period, the polarization of Congress measured by how people vote across party lines has gone out the window. There's a really interesting chart, it's on our website at withhonor.org, that actually shows that a data, a histogram of how folks have voted over that time. And we believe that that's correlated, that's a part of the reason, is that you have increasing this tribalism almost. The military breaks down that tribalism. It does not matter what your political party is. It doesn't matter what your ethnicity is.
Rye Barcott: (11:40)
It doesn't matter what your religion is. It doesn't matter who your mommy and daddy are. You are in the foxhole together and you are doing the mission together. And that's the attitude that we look for With Honor that's embodied by many of the 25 vets that we support who are members of Congress, and so thrilled also to have Congresswoman Sherrill in that group as well. But you're living it so. And I know it's not easy, for sure.
Rye Barcott: (12:08)
Yeah. So, I had one Zoom meeting and one of the members of Congress said, "I'm going to just give y'all some real talk. Congress is a dysfunctional workplace." And I was like, ah, taken aback. And then I was like, huh, yeah, yeah, that might describe it. It is a unique ... If we're kind, a unique workplace. And what we've seen is the consolidation of power on both sides of the aisle for various reasons. And it's almost become this sense in Congress that voting against the party is wrong, you're not a good Republican, you're not a good Democrat, you're somehow doing the wrong thing.
Rye Barcott: (12:48)
And the people that I think are most often likely to put their district, to put the country first are our veterans. And you think that doesn't sound like that big a deal. I mean, I remember saying, people are saying, oh, you're going to vote against this? Wow, that's pretty brave or pretty courageous. And I'm like, I've done a lot braver things and vote against a piece of legislation that's bad for New Jersey. But it does ... There is this reinforcing problem because you start to do this and then you're trying to get other stuff done.
Rye Barcott: (13:17)
And people think you've committed this sacrilege against your party, et cetera. So, I think it's so important to have veterans though, that can take a view and say, look, I'm just putting the country first. I just think this is critically important, and to model that for other people. I just had a piece of legislation that I cared about very deeply, and that was critically important, not just for working moms, but for our economy as a whole, around childcare. And the legislation that came forward in my committee was not going to cut it. It just wasn't.
Rye Barcott: (13:47)
And I think the first instinct was, well, let's try to do this and the chair was holding firm. We weren't getting any momentum. And finally, I just gathered the people on the committee, a lot of them working moms and said, "You guys know this is not going to cut it." And we got together and finally got a unanimous vote for my amendment, making sure that we had the childcare forces we need. That's not traditionally what ... Traditionally, you just say, okay, well, I'll just wait until maybe there's another opportunity. That seems to be what's going on in Congress too many times. And it's leading, unfortunately, to a lack of compromise, a lack of bipartisanship, and occasionally a lack of good legislation.
Dan Streetman: (14:32)
Look, the first thing you learn is that the best contributions you make are always going to be in service to a greater good. There are no units of one, even though it was a good motto for a little while for the army ...
Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill: (14:44)
There's never a good motto.
Dan Streetman: (14:45)
... out there. There's a motto, a motto. There aren't always one. You're always part of a unit. You're always part of a team. And what you come back to is, what do you share in common? And too often right now, you're rewarded by yelling or making noise about what you don't share in common. And don't get me wrong, if something is dangerous or something is against our principles and our values, you better speak up in the military because bad things will happen for ... But if it's a disagreement or you have different perspectives, you get together, you work it out, and you think about what your mission is.
Dan Streetman: (15:19)
And it starts with those values. At West Point, it was duty, honor, country. You come back to that principle and then you come back to what is it we are trying to accomplish. And so, I like to bring that back into the workplace. I like to think TIBCO software is a very functional workplace. And we do that because we bring exactly that idea. What do we have in common? What is the data that lead us to? Let's have a tough discussion, but let's then figure out where the common ground is and make it happen.
Dan Streetman: (15:45)
It was like seeing Congressman Khanna and Governor Bush here yesterday on the stage. They disagree about exactly how a private-public partnership should work, but they agree we need private-public partnerships to get things done. And if we come back to what we agree on ...
Anthony Scaramucci: (15:59)
That was a great discussion.
Dan Streetman: (16:00)
... then we can make so much more happen.
Anthony Scaramucci: (16:03)
So, last night, I purchased a $50,000 dress. And on the back of the dress, it said tax the rich. But when I put it on this morning, I couldn't fit in there properly. I was like, I wasn't going to ...
Dan Streetman: (16:13)
Yeah, that wasn't a good ...
Anthony Scaramucci: (16:15)
... wear this morning. Then I realize that these delegates will eventually get mad at me. Is that distracting, if I'm wearing a $50,000 dress and paying a $38,000 ticket to go to a mall like that?
Dan Streetman: (16:27)
I want to bring it back to the model Congresswoman Sherrill demonstrates. Go to Twitter. I challenge you to find something negative that she has posted, shared that attack somebody or belittle somebody. Instead she shares information on how to get FEMA funds for her district. She shares information on how she celebrated our [crosstalk 00:16:48].
Anthony Scaramucci: (16:48)
Alright. I get it to you, Dan, and do that, Congresswoman. I'm going to get your Twitter following up, okay?
Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill: (16:51)
Okay, you're going to get me more following.
Anthony Scaramucci: (16:54)
[crosstalk 00:16:54]
Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill: (16:54)
And then get me kick out.
Dan Streetman: (16:54)
But her Twitter following is pathetic compared to that person. And so, I think Twitter is ... It's like a ...
Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill: (16:59)
My [inaudible 00:16:59] here. That's something ...
Dan Streetman: (17:00)
It's like a car accident. It's like, yes, you can't look away from it, but you should. And so, I think that there's this come back to the character she demonstrates. It's not about, hey, look at me, it's about what we get done. And that action was about look at me.
Anthony Scaramucci: (17:14)
Okay. And I want to get the Congresswoman to react is, I think is interesting point because ...
Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill: (17:19)
Then my Twitter feed is pathetic?
Anthony Scaramucci: (17:20)
Well, no, [crosstalk 00:17:21].
Dan Streetman: (17:22)
No. I love it.
Anthony Scaramucci: (17:23)
We're going to work it out. I'll give you some really bombastic ridiculous things to say. We'll get it up like 50,000 by this evening.
Dan Streetman: (17:28)
That's your role.
Anthony Scaramucci: (17:30)
Yeah. I've done that well. Trust me. We're in a different age now. And so, what I'm wondering is, can we blend civic virtue and patriotism with the right connectivity and communication to get the messaging out there in a way that people are going to pay attention to it. I admire Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez. I do. She's got a great work ethic. I may not agree with her intellectually. I want to debate her in the free marketplace of ideas. But I do admire her because of her moxie for hard work, and she's getting messaging out there. So I'm wondering, can we get the civic virtue, patriotic, unifying message out there and not have it be boring and have it be attractive to people?
Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill: (18:15)
I mean, that's our challenge. And you can like social media or not like social media. It's not going anywhere. We were operating in a new environment. I can tell you, it's constantly evolving. We talk all the time about how do we use this platform, how can we get our message out. What's the most effective way? Because it's critically important, especially as you're trying to communicate to people through a really difficult communications arena, and there are some people, you're not going to believe this, who are very bombastic and really clutter the airwaves with that makes it hard to break too.
Anthony Scaramucci: (18:55)
[inaudible 00:18:55]
Dan Streetman: (18:55)
You might be surprised.
Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill: (18:55)
You might be surprised. But it is a medium that you do have to, to gather a certain thing, come up with a way to connect with people. And we know that emotional connections work best. And so, how do you work in that thing when you don't want people enraged? And there are a lot of people in rage a bit. You don't want people in rage. You want people passionate about your childcare bill. How do you do that? It's very difficult, and we're constantly evolving. I agree with you.
Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill: (19:24)
I know there is room for doing something that gets so much attention that makes people think. And you can be for or against representative Ocasio-Cortez does, but you were talking about it and you were thinking about it and you were lining up in your head how you feel about some of her positions. And I think that's part of the public discourse. The trouble for a person in my district doing the things I'm doing is, how do you bring excitement to boring legislation? And why do you do that?
Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill: (20:08)
Because the other thing is you can get really wrapped up in just trying to get a million followers and suddenly, you're realizing, hey, I'm not sure I'm actually creating the progress I want to create in Congress. And so sometimes you find the tail wagging the dog a little bit. It's really a brave new world, I think, in how we became.
Dan Streetman: (20:24)
And that's the military piece, is you always have in mind, this is what I love. It's not that you know what your mission is, you know what you're trying to accomplish, you know what you're trying to advance and you don't get distracted by the other aspect of it. And Rye does a great job celebrating that with With Honor. And of course, he's lived it himself of how do I certainly raise the issues that need to be raised, but do it in a way that's constructive and do it in a way where we can continue to advance what we all agree on? And that's the biggest challenge.
Rye Barcott: (20:52)
Yeah. And I mean, some of the old school still matters, and it's definitely going to continue to matter. You cannot attack somebody on Twitter before you've met them eyeball to eyeball and expect that you're going to have a really real relationship with them. And that happens. Obviously, that happens in our orbit. That also happens in Congress. So one of the things that we ...
Anthony Scaramucci: (21:13)
Okay. But I'm going to pushback [inaudible 00:21:13] and I'll tell you why. Because a lot of people tag me on Twitter, I could care less. When I meet them, they're like running. Particularly, if they're verified, they're running away from me. I don't care. I mean, you just had a guy in stage that fired me after 11 days in the White House, no problem.
Rye Barcott: (21:29)
Well, you are a unique individual.
Anthony Scaramucci: (21:30)
No, but I'm just saying to you like, we got to get over this stuff. You know what I mean? And for some reason, it's like indelible ink, if it's on Twitter and then people flip out [inaudible 00:21:40] ...
Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill: (21:40)
You're a little bit ahead of your time.
Dan Streetman: (21:41)
I think a bigger ...
Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill: (21:42)
Because you're like my kids.
Anthony Scaramucci: (21:43)
What's that?
Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill: (21:44)
You're a little bit ahead of your time on this because you're like what I think is coming, where people ingest social media differently. I'm constantly ...
Anthony Scaramucci: (21:51)
How old are your kids?
Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill: (21:51)
My oldest is 15, my youngest is 9. And I constantly tell them, don't post anything, don't get on there. You don't want to be on there. And I'm constantly getting stuff from my sisters who are following them like, oh, that was so cute. I'm like, really? Great. I hate school. Great, great. I'm trying to just ... I have this kind of old school, non-digital native, just keep your private business private type thing. And my kids are part of this whole new world where they want to share what they had for breakfast with their 10 followers. And I think ...
Dan Streetman: (22:25)
And [inaudible 00:22:25] team say, they can use that against you in court when ...
Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill: (22:32)
Yeah. It's like, this is ... That you could [inaudible 00:22:33] this. I think we're headed there. It's just trying to find where we're at now. To some of us, it's an interesting balance to try to connect with people, try to get the word out, but try to do serious things. I think that's where I have a lot of struggle, is how do you do serious things on social media?
Anthony Scaramucci: (22:50)
Okay. So I think that ... And I don't know how to answer that. I think we're all searching for that answer. But what I want to ask you is you see these amazingly talented people, they're patriots. How did you go from being a patriot, which is an amazing thing, serving the country, putting your life at risk, but now you got to crossover into the political realm. I didn't do well in the political realm because I didn't see the shots coming. I mean, at least in your realm, you're working on a team, the team is patriotic, you have a culture where you're going to help each other.
Anthony Scaramucci: (23:27)
But you get to Washington. There's not that many people that have a culture of, oh, you know what, we're here actually to serve the country. A lot of these people are like, hey, I'm here to serve my own personal power and to aggrandize myself usually.
Rye Barcott: (23:40)
Yeah. Or they come into it and then it's a slow creep. The pressures are there. I think the attribute ...
Anthony Scaramucci: (23:47)
Slow creep can become like that.
Rye Barcott: (23:48)
Yeah, exactly. It just chips away. So what we look at in particular is it comes back to service. Do you view this as being something larger than yourself? Do you view it in military terms as a hardship post? It is a hardship post. It's definitely a hardship post for Congresswoman Sherrill who has three or four kids is in a competitive district. She has basically three jobs and stuff coming at her all the time.
Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill: (24:16)
My husband doesn't consider it a hardship post. He considers it an escape.
Rye Barcott: (24:23)
Escape, yeah, yeah.
Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill: (24:23)
I'm like, "I can't even go down to Washington. I wish I wasn't going." And he's like, "Really?"
Rye Barcott: (24:28)
We share that. We married well. To have that grounding that, listen, this is going to be something that's larger than myself and to be able to resist that slow creep. Because corruption is real. I mean, and it happens and it builds on itself.
Anthony Scaramucci: (24:43)
I want to extend that because I often think about this in the parable George Orwell wrote in Animal Farm. And I was thinking about it. The pigs were revolting against the farmers. They organized all the animals. They were upset with two legged animals, which were the farmers. But do you remember what happened to the pigs at the end? They were up on their hind legs and they were wearing vest and they had pocket watches. And they've taken over the farm. And so, they had started out as part of the proletariat. And they started out with this virtue and this principle.
Anthony Scaramucci: (25:14)
But by the end, because of that process that you said they get drawn into, they became the two legged animal. So when the horse knocked on the door, there were the pigs in the farmhouse standing up and they had the pocket vest. That happens a lot in Washington, does it not?
Rye Barcott: (25:29)
It sure does, except ...
Anthony Scaramucci: (25:30)
How do you keep it from happening to yourself, Congresswoman?
Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill: (25:33)
We keep it from happening with groups like the For Country Caucus. Because the difference, I think, in some of the people that I served with and why I think we've been able to create a different culture is because we came in as a group. The 2018 class in the Democratic caucus was one of the largest classes to enter into Congress. And so, you have this built-in group of people. And it was a reinforcing measure too. You would say, well, this is ridiculous, and you'd have a group of people saying, yeah, this is ridiculous, this doesn't make any sense. Why would anyone do it this way? And that felt very unique. I know I'm on the New Jersey delegation, as somebody have mentioned. You don't clap again?
Dan Streetman: (26:21)
Jersey.
Anthony Scaramucci: (26:22)
[inaudible 00:26:22]
Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill: (26:22)
Thank you. But I did go to ...
Rye Barcott: (26:25)
I feel like I need [crosstalk 00:26:26]
Anthony Scaramucci: (26:25)
Some of those New Jersey's move the floor to them. I met a few of them, okay?
Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill: (26:29)
You can clap if you're from any connection. I remember early on, it's a large delegation, which is very nice. You don't quite realize how that's going to be helpful until you get into Congress. And I went to one of them and said, "Well, are we going to vote as a block on this? What are we thinking here?" And the person said to me, "I got to be honest with you around here, it's every man for himself." And I said, "Huh." And we got that a lot. In fact, when I would want to do events, we do fundraisers.
Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill: (27:01)
And when I would want to do a fundraiser with another one of the Veterans Service members I came in with, my team would be like, oh, I don't know, we'd probably be better off by ourselves. There just wasn't this idea of coming together. And we have almost, in some ways, had to show others the way that this kind of group can actually build ...
Anthony Scaramucci: (27:26)
There's power in that collection.
Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill: (27:27)
It's more power. It's more power. You're not ...
Anthony Scaramucci: (27:29)
Of course.
Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill: (27:30)
But for so many, it feels like a zero sum game. If I'm, in any way, giving this person power and somehow losing it, we've created a base of people where we've all gotten more power and more ability to [inaudible 00:27:43].
Dan Streetman: (27:42)
And I think the military has great training for it. So you're absolutely ... You get a block rating where your boss puts it on paper and it goes into permanent record how you stack up against all your peers. Yet that you don't think about that day in day out, you think about what you're doing with your peers to go accomplish what you have to do. And so, where Congresswoman Sherrill stepped up is saying, look, we can do this differently. I don't care if you think it's every person for themselves. We can accomplish more and we can all do that together. So I really believe that.
Dan Streetman: (28:12)
And look, I'm in the commercial space, and companies have the same challenges. Organizations can very easily lose their way, and you come back to establishing one of things we learned, is what are our values. So again, I work at TIBCO software. TIBCO founded by Vivek Ranadivé. The information bus company, just what TIBCO stood for, we now focus on our values and what it stands for. We work together, the T, we are innovative, the I. We are bold, we are customer focused, and we're optimistic. Nowhere in there does it say we're going to go make a ton of money.
Dan Streetman: (28:44)
Nowhere in there does it say we're going to rise faster than others. Instead, we focus on our customers on bringing innovation and being bold, and we do it. And that helps people get aligned. And that's something you learn where you're serving.
Anthony Scaramucci: (28:56)
Is there an incentive? If you ... Where Washington's are, gave you the magic wand, we could change incentives in Washington to drive people to do what Dan is saying because he has a corporate culture. The military has a military culture where the incentives are aligned to do exactly what Dan just said. So if you had a magic wand, you could go to Washington, wave the wand, what are two or three normative things you would do to try to get the incentives alongside of what the Congresswoman and Dan is saying?
Rye Barcott: (29:24)
That is a great question. The first thing that I would do ...
Anthony Scaramucci: (29:29)
Finally, got a good question. I'm going to relax [inaudible 00:29:30].
Rye Barcott: (29:30)
It's a great question. The first thing I would do would be build up organizations like With Honor, little bit of pitch there for the organization that I co-founded with other veterans. Why? Because what we're trying to do is actually shift against this tide and build a group that is cross partisan that does meet every two weeks, that takes a pledge to serve with integrity, civility, and courage, and lives by it. And by the way, we measure their bipartisans [inaudible 00:30:00].
Anthony Scaramucci: (30:00)
So more people elected from your group, they're all in there with that pledge, but still worried about the animal farm thing. Because when they get in there, they start getting corruptive forces. So what would be some incentives from the town?
Rye Barcott: (30:16)
I think folks ...
Anthony Scaramucci: (30:16)
Is there anything you'd change about the town that would make it easier for them to stay in the curve of your group, inside the boundaries of your group?
Rye Barcott: (30:25)
Yeah. I mean, one thing that everybody in this room can do is you can support individuals that push the tide back. You can support them. You can send ... That doesn't need to be financial, it could be financial, but you can put, you can say, listen, I believe in this. I'm not going to just jump on this culture war. I'm not going to get triggered by this or that. I'm going to actually say I'm going to look for the ones that are bucking the tide and I'm going to support them and I'm going to use whatever microphone I have to do that. That's something that individuals can do.
Rye Barcott: (30:56)
That's part of the reason why our organization, With Honor, were political reform organization. There aren't many. I mean, we are a big country. We run out about $10 million a year. There are maybe five organizations that are similar in the entire United States that are working on political reform that have that sort of magnitude. We need more Americans that care. We need more Americans that are going to lean in, that are going to actually stroke checks, they're going to put their time and effort and work into this, because it really matters. This really matters for our country's competitiveness. We cannot have our congress continue to be this dysfunctional and polarized and really broken.
Anthony Scaramucci: (31:38)
I mean, I think it's brilliant. And that's why we invited you and we're going to do everything we can at the SkyBridge SALT level out. I want to switch to something that I'm concerned about. I had dinner last night with General McMaster, General Kelly, and a few people. And they talked a little bit about it this morning, but they are very worried about China. And they're very worried about the inner inward turn at China, the investments that have made by the United States, the competitive dynamic, what China is doing around the world. Is the Congress and the Senate, as well versus General HR McMaster on the danger of what's going on between the United States and China?
Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill: (32:23)
Certain committees. So, different committees have jurisdiction, as you know. So I'd say the House Armed Services Committee is very aware. That's one of the committees I sit on. I'd say Foreign Affair is very aware. Your Intelligence Committee, very aware. Other committee members, probably not as largely focused. But the committees of jurisdiction that are dealing with this are moving to address all these things. But the problem isn't necessarily if Congress is aware, that is one problem. The problem is, is the nation aware?
Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill: (32:58)
And I don't think the nation is where ... I think the nation regards China as this great place to get cheap Halloween costumes. I don't think the nation is aware that China is moving into African and Latin American countries, putting them into a great deal of debt to build roads and bridges, teaching the leaders in power how to shut up parts of the internet, promoting Chinese ideals and television. It's very costly to get American television or the BBC. I mean, I don't think America is aware, in general, that we are ceding so much ground as far as our values and our ideals to China.
Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill: (33:39)
And that matters, economically, a great deal. I will say that the new national defense strategy does envision great power competition. So for those of us who grew up during the Cold War, to me, this idea of great power competition doesn't just involve how are we going to be competitive, how are we going to make sure our national security needs are met, vis-à-vis China or Russia. But really, it's also war of ideals, promoting our ideals, convincing our allies and friends that our view of the world is better for individuals, it's better for government, it's better economically, and we should band together and ensure the world order agrees with us.
Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill: (34:24)
And so, when we're making decisions on cyber, when we're making decision international norms around those issues, the values of places like China and Russia are very different from what the US values are. So we need to still be at the table creating those norms. And we can't do that if our country as a whole is not convinced that that's where we need to be and pushing that agenda.
Rye Barcott: (34:49)
And that's part of the reason why a forum like the For Country Caucus of 25 members of Congress, both parties that meet every two weeks. It's so important that we are actually talking about these issues. One of the big topics that the Caucus has worked on is artificial intelligence has been a huge topic at SALT this week. Eric Schmidt, former SALT speaker, with Bob Work, commissioned a study over two years by Congress called the National Security Artificial Intelligence Commission. They have over 50 recommendations in Congress.
Rye Barcott: (35:24)
The beginning of their report starts with the slide, with one simple statement, and that is that China believes that our polarization is to its critical advantage. That's an 800-page study on artificial intelligence. And that's the slide that it starts with. We have to have Congress working. We have to be able to talk across party lines on these issues, because they are massive and they're going to be defining our lifetimes.
Dan Streetman: (35:52)
I remain ...
Anthony Scaramucci: (35:53)
That's totally true, by the way, what you said.
Dan Streetman: (35:54)
Yeah. But I remain relentlessly optimistic about our country. I think democratic ideals and a free market economy will ... We both learned Russian at our respective military academies. We are prepared for [inaudible 00:36:09].
Anthony Scaramucci: (36:09)
Could you see Russia from your house though?
Dan Streetman: (36:13)
They got [inaudible 00:36:14] houses. But this whole idea of understanding the different systems and what they're doing is key, and we also studied the history. You absolutely is, as Secretary Flournoy was talking, have to be prepared. You have to be ready. You have to understand that that polarization is absolutely a potential flaw, but it's also one of our greatest aspects of it. And that we allow people to do that. And we bring different opinions. I'm still convinced, because I work in the commercial sector. We use artificial intelligence in all of TIBCO's products.
Dan Streetman: (36:43)
And I would put what we do in what our free, willing, and able to move across the economy team members are able to do against anything China does. We do have to have public-private partnerships. We have to be thinking about what is the DARPA aspect ...
Anthony Scaramucci: (36:59)
National question.
Dan Streetman: (37:00)
... do that helps you see the internet, but then all these companies made the most of the internet. And so, finding those combos are going to be important. But some of these, our polarization is, again, a feature. But we have to just make sure it doesn't become like a bug.
Anthony Scaramucci: (37:15)
We got a couple minutes. How many more congressmen and women are going to be in the Congress as a result of your work in the upcoming midterm elections?
Rye Barcott: (37:28)
Well, we the group that we support currently in Congress, and we're 50/50 across party lines, has 25 members. We'd like to get that up to 40. That's going to take some work. This is a critical election coming up because of [inaudible 00:37:40].
Anthony Scaramucci: (37:40)
That would be almost 10% of the Congress, so 8%, 9% of them.
Rye Barcott: (37:43)
Again, if you have cohesion, that can move things and make stuff happen. So that's our goal. That's what we're aiming for.
Anthony Scaramucci: (37:51)
And you're in software, how are you going to get the Congresswoman's Twitter following up? Do you have some ...
Dan Streetman: (37:56)
Well ...
Anthony Scaramucci: (37:56)
Any advice there?
Dan Streetman: (37:57)
Might be I'm going to up following that.
Anthony Scaramucci: (37:59)
She's not going to take [inaudible 00:37:59].
Dan Streetman: (37:59)
[inaudible 00:37:59] following them.
Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill: (37:59)
Thank you.
Dan Streetman: (37:59)
But my point is it's a bad measure.
Anthony Scaramucci: (37:59)
Which is supposed to be. She's not going to take my advice. She's not going to my direction.
Dan Streetman: (38:04)
I mean, my whole point is a bad measure and idea exactly what With Honor is doing. Let's raise, let's help people. Not all of us have the time every day to make sure we're seeing how people vote, but what you do to share that perspective and help us understand what makes us a better place is important. The work you're doing is really valuable. And it's just a real pleasure to be part, I think, of a system that can deliver. As long as we bring integrity and teamwork to everything we do, [inaudible 00:38:29].
Anthony Scaramucci: (38:28)
Congresswoman, I want to make a pitch for tourism in your district. Have you been to the Yogi Berra Museum at Montclair's [inaudible 00:38:35]?
Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill: (38:34)
I live in Montclair. I've been to Yogi Berra several times.
Anthony Scaramucci: (38:37)
Make the pitch for Yogi here. How much fun is that museum? You've been in a museum?
Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill: (38:42)
That it is wonderful. I don't know, those of you who've heard him say, to get to his house, he'd say if you come to a fork in the road, take it. You really could go either way to get to his house. That was true. That's wonderful. The winter headquarters of George Washington, in the hardest winter during the Revolutionary War was in Morristown. And if you want to take a moment to commemorate 9/11, the most beautiful 9/11 memorial that we have is at the top of Eagle Rock.
Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill: (39:12)
That's where George Washington looked down over Manhattan to spy on the British troops. We have the Great Swamp, which is a gorgeous outdoor conservation area. And the last time I was there, a bald eagle flew right over my head. Nobody believes me. I was by myself. So, we just have some wonderful tourism. And as you start to make your plans for the 250th anniversary of our country, I would suggest you come out to my district.
Dan Streetman: (39:42)
So there's one place that's not in her district that's in New Jersey, Meadowlands, where army is going to beat Navy this December, is also a great place to be.
Anthony Scaramucci: (39:54)
Okay, uh-oh.
Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill: (39:55)
I can't leave it on that. I can't leave it on that. As the New Jersey [inaudible 00:39:55].
Anthony Scaramucci: (39:55)
That's how you got to finish for the kneecapping, you kneecap it.
Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill: (39:57)
As the New Jersey congresswoman, I'm going to have to say go neatly.
Anthony Scaramucci: (39:57)
See the polarization in sports I'm telling you, it's going to be a hard one. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much. Guys, that was terrific.