CNN Newsroom: Interview with Rep. Cory Mills (R-FL)
Interview
"Well, first off, thanks for having me. It's truly an honor to be in a position to have the capacity and the capability to go in and help those in need. You know, every one of these members, the, the two operations that I personally went on, whether it was out in the high foot Nazareth and the Tiberius area the second on the West Bank and Jerusalem area, we're all structurally grateful.
You know, many of these had been stuck for four or five and six days, flights canceled, no way out. no thoughts on how they were going to be able to maneuver. Had called the State Department, really received very little if no effort whatsoever from them. And so, that was the whole reason when I -- you know, I was over in Afghanistan 2021 and conducted the very first successful overland rescue of Americans for a woman and her three Children out of Texas. And I had a bit of an inkling on how this would turn out and which is why I had quickly mobilized, went over there and started to conduct the ground evacuations.
I've got a charter tomorrow that's going to go out with 218 Americans. We're now at 96 Americans through ground evacuations, of which I had done 77 of those. So, things are moving, but it's still, you know, so much left to do.
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I am planning to go back out. I'm here in D.C. because we have a speaker's vote, which is very important for us to be able to govern in the House of Representatives. But I will be heading back.
And to answer your first part of that question. You know, Israel in the region is really a powder keg at the moment. We know Iran's influence in the destabilization of this. We know that people like General Secretary Hassan Nasrallah of Hezbollah in Lebanon are getting involved. We see Hamas's response as they continue to ramp up its efforts and funding.
But we also need to start looking at the Golan Heights and we also need to start looking at other Iranian proxy militias, such as the one even in Iraq, which is being pledged by Hadi al-Amiri for the Hashd Al-Sha'bi, the Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq, and many others.
So, this could turn into a much bigger thing than just the Gaza Strip. This could turn into a whole of region destabilization. And I think that this is where international attention and support needs to come in to start looking at how do we truly get certain things like ceasefires in place? How do we actually ensure the safety and the minimization of collateral damage of civilians on all sides? And how do we actually ensure that we cut the head off the snake on this to prevent any future destabilization in the region by these types of proxy militias?
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Well, I can tell you that one of the things that the United States needs to be doing, which is certainly one of the top priorities for myself and should be for all elected officials is the safety and security of all American citizens.
To go to your point, I think that we need to be having broader discussions with Egypt, because it is my understanding that the Rafah Crossing point is also close to even American citizens and that they're offering no safe passage whatsoever to anyone. So, I think that there needs to be definitely discussion with our allies. How do we hold our adversaries accountable and how do we actually support Israel's defense for its own sovereignty and safety?
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Well, I'll put it very clearly. No, I'm not. I am not willing to take up more space in America for Gazan refugees. We already have 10 million plus illegal immigrants in the U.S. right now on a completely open and porous border where hundreds of thousands more are spilling over.
When you think about housing affordability, availability, what services can be provided to even the American citizen of the illegals that are currently here, I don't think that America is in an economic position or in a resource and access position to be able to take in any refugees and that the Middle East should be looking at being able to help take care of the dozen refugees and be able to place them in a more suitable spot.
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Thank you so much. I appreciate you time.
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