First District U.S. Congressman Nathaniel Moran (R) recaps the passage of H.R. 734, the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, which requires that only individuals who are biologically female be allowed to compete in women’s sports. He also discusses his trip to Taiwan, Korea and Japan and his take on possible conflict with China in the future. Moran says the GOP convention in July 2024 won’t be divided … he hopes.
Mike Landess: For UT Tyler Radio, I’m Mike Landess. When he was campaigning for the district one congressional seat, former Smith County Judge Nathaniel Moran promised transparency and regular updates for constituents after four “tele-town hall” events, weekly Moran minute email updates and regular posting on social media.
He seems to be keeping his word. Congressman Moran is our guest. Welcome.
Nathaniel Moran: Mike, it’s a pleasure to be here with you. And I think in four months, this is my third opportunity to speak with you, and I appreciate the fact that you mentioned all those. Venues of communication that we’re trying to push out to the folks to let them know what we’re doing on their behalf in East Texas and how we’re working, because that’s what they sent me there to do, is to work to be transparent, so they can hold me accountable to make sure that I’m voting the way that I need to vote for East Texas.
Mike Landess: Let’s talk about your most recent piece of successful legislation, H.R. 734, the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act. Was that a hard sell across party lines?
Nathaniel Moran: No, it was not a hard sell on the Republican side. And I’m confused by why the Democrats simply would not support this. There was so much work done before Title IX to make sure that our girls and our women got equal opportunity in sports and got fair treatment in sports.
And now it seemingly–I don’t understand the logic behind trying to break down those lines and now return men into the sporting venues where women are. It simply doesn’t make any sense to me, regardless where you stand on a number of issues as it relates to gender. That particular issue doesn’t make sense.
And so all we’re doing is undoing those protections we gave to women in Title IX. And so this vote was to restore that protection to women and girls in sports.
Mike Landess: You recently posted a list of what you consider as wins in the first 100 days of this congressional session. Can you pick a few to highlight for us?
Nathaniel Moran: Yeah. You know, in just the first hundred days, our congressional delegation on the Republican side has passed more legislation that actually got signed into law by a Democratic president than the Democratic House of Representatives did, and the prior 117th Congress. That says a lot about what we’re trying to actually do, this congressional session.
We’re not trying to be divisive, but we are trying to pass good laws that make good sense that then the Democrats and the Senate will support and the President will sign into law. We’ve proven that would actually be the case. Very happy to see now through committee work through regular order, a number of bills that are starting to come to the floor, and you’ll see some more come in the next month, including a huge border security package out of the judiciary and out of Homeland Security.
We’re getting to see what we just passed last week, the Limit Save and Grow Act, which is responsibly dealing with the debt ceiling crisis, but also reigning in spending with good policies going forward to say we need to bring this government spending under control. It’s driving the inflation. We need to bring that down.
Mike Landess: When we spoke earlier this year, we talked about China and Taiwan, and since that time, you got a chance to visit that area, get a firsthand look at the situation. Tell us about your impressions.
Nathaniel Moran: This trip was a really unique opportunity for me to be able to go look those leaders in the face in Taiwan, in Japan, and in Korea, and to determine what kind of alliances and partnerships do we have and where are the gaps, and what can we do legislatively to start to build those diplomatic ties, our economic ties, and to strengthen our military readiness so that we can deter aggression from China toward Taiwan effectively. That was the mission that we were on.
I was one of two freshmen who were on the trip, and out of 74 freshmen, I felt privileged to be able to do that part of the Foreign Affairs Committee, so it really made sense for me to go. What I learned was we’ve got defense industrial-based problems here in America that we need to correct. We need to be able to be ready for military conflict, so that we avoid a military conflict.
That’s what we want. We want peace. We want stability. We want prosperity in that region. We need to be able to do that by showing that we have the military muscle, if and when necessary. That’s one thing that I learned. The second is we need to build those economic ties with Korea and Japan in particular.
They’re desperate for economic ties here in the United States. They’re getting sucked into the economic black hole of China. And they’re becoming more and more beholden to China because of energy, because of semiconductors, because of so many other areas of their lives.
We need to break them free from Chinese influence. We need to have more American influence on them in the region.
Mike Landess: There was a concern put forth yet again about a war with China. Do you get any sense of that at all when you were there?
Nathaniel Moran: There is a very, very deep concern in Taiwan about a military invasion.
I don’t think we’re right on the eminent precipice of that. I think what you’re gonna see is over the next year, a lot of political influence by China to try to persuade the Taiwanese to elect a pro-China government next year in their elections. If that happens, you may see Taiwan go the same direction that Hong Kong went. And if China is able to accomplish it in a political matter, then they’ve won without a military conflict.
If that doesn’t happen, and we get a pro-American government in Taiwan next year, which we’re hoping, I’m afraid what we’re gonna see from China is a naval blockade in the Strait of Taiwan. That Strait of Taiwan–more than half of all the goods that we receive here in America go through that Strait of Taiwan.
That’s a problem. We need to make sure that we retain naval control of that Strait. If that blockade doesn’t work in the 2024-2025, early time period, then that may be when you see more military action by China, but I don’t think they’re gonna do that. If America will stand strong now and flex its muscle now, and let them know, hey, we’re prepared and ready, if in fact you decide to do that, I think that’ll make China stand down.
Mike Landess: I didn’t see you bring your crystal ball into the studio, but I’m gonna ask you anyway. Are you concerned about a divided Republican party in 2024 with Trump loyalists and whomever has the audacity to run against him for the nomination? Or will the dust be somewhat settled by July of 2024?
Nathaniel Moran: I think by July of 2024, the dust will be settled.
That’s my hope. Of course, I don’t have a crystal ball, and certainly anybody who says they know what’s gonna happen by July 2024 is just guessing; that’s all they’re doing. But what we really wanna see over the next 12 to 14 months is healthy debate internally in the Republican party. Just like you wanna see on the Democratic side.
And then you wanna see healthy political debate between the two parties, both Republicans and Democrats, because that’s what makes America great, when we can converse in a very civil manner and talk about issues on a high level and say this is what I think is best for America in the future if we can do that very civilly.
Then I think we can come to a consensus of where we agree and where we disagree, and then let the chips fall where they may. It’s when the uncivility gets in the middle of all this, that’s when we start seeing the disruption that we don’t want to see in America, the division that we don’t wanna see in America. Because at the end of the day, we’re all Americans, and America is the greatest place on earth.
Mike Landess: Any final thoughts before we wrap up?
Nathaniel Moran: It’s a pleasure to be here with you, Mike, and always a pleasure to continue to serve East Texans. Our goal and our mission continually, as you mentioned earlier, is to be transparent about what we’re doing, to make sure to have those conversations, to be out in the field all the time that we’re here in the district, which is what we’ve been doing today and we’re gonna continue to do, and then to make the best decisions we can with the information we have when it comes time to vote.
Because at the end of the day, my vote cast is not my vote. (It’s) the vote for all 767,000 East Texans who sent me to Washington D.C.
Mike Landess: Our guest has been Congressman Nathaniel Moran of Texas First District. To hear this interview again or to share it, go to KVUT.org. For UT Tyler Radio, I’m Mike Landess.
(Transcripts are automatically generated and may contain phonetic spellings and other spelling and punctuation errors. Grammar errors contained in the original recording are not typically corrected.)
