Are Military Veterans the Key to a Functioning Congress? | SALT iConnections NY
Democratic representative Mikie Sherrill and Republican Steve Womack sat down with With Honor's co-founder and CEO Rye Barcott to discuss their military service and work in congress as part of the For Country Caucus. Rep. Sherrill, a former Lieutenant and Navy pilot, and Rep. Womack, an Army National Guard Colonel, discussed their military service and explained how shared sacrifice brings together politicians from across the aisle. The For Country Caucus has proven to be one of the most effective governing coalitions, passing 150+ laws, in a period of intense partisan gridlock. The discussion and related organizations highlight a growing movement to recruit and elect more military veterans for political office as a solution to ineffective governance.
Representative Mikie Sherrill | (D) New Jersey
Representative Steve Womack | (R) Arkansas
MODERATOR:
Rye Barcott | Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer, With Honor
Support With Honor: https://withhonor.org/
Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and spent almost 10 years on active duty in the Navy. She flew missions throughout Europe and the Middle East as a Sea King helicopter pilot, worked on the Battle Watch Floor in the European Theater during the Iraq invasion, and served as a Flag Aide to the Deputy Commander in Chief of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet. Sherrill also served as a Russian policy officer, working on the implementation of our nuclear treaty obligations and oversaw the relationship between the U.S. Navy and Russian Federation Navy. After leaving the Navy, Sherrill earned a law degree from Georgetown University. She worked as a lawyer before serving at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Jersey as an Outreach and Re-entry Coordinator and an Assistant U.S. Attorney. Sherrill is currently serving her third term as the representative for New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District. She sits on the House Armed Services Committee and the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party.
Congressman Steve Womack has proudly represented the Third District of Arkansas since his election in 2010. He is currently a senior member of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, where he is the newly appointed Chairman of the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Subcommittee. He formerly served as the Chairman of the House Budget Committee. Womack is committed to ensuring that the voices of his constituents are represented and is widely known in the House for his perfect voting record. During his tenure, he has never missed a vote and holds the longest consecutive voting streak maintained by any current member of the U.S. House of Representatives.Womack retired from the Arkansas Army National Guard in 2009 at the rank of Colonel with over thirty years of service. His deployment to Sinai, Egypt, in 2002 marked the first time a National Guard unit performed the mission of the Multinational Force and Observers. Womack’s Task Force received accolades from the highest levels of military and civilian leaders. He also serves as the Chairman of the West Point Board of Visitors (BOV), where he supports the U.S. Military Academy—the nation’s preeminent leadership development institution—in its mission to train the next generation of Army officers. He was first appointed to the BOV in 2012 and elected Chairman in 2017.
Rye Barcott is co-founder and CEO of With Honor, a national nonprofit and political action committee that fights polarization in Congress by recruiting, electing, and supporting principled veterans who pledge to serve with integrity, civility, and courage across party lines. With Honor Action and the bipartisan veterans it supports, including thirty veterans in the U.S. House, six veterans in the U.S. Senate, and one governor. Previously, Barcott co-founded and led the solar power investment firm Double Time Capital, and co-founded the youth leadership and public health non-profit CFK Africa in the Kibera informal settlement of Nairobi, Kenya. His memoir, It Happened on the Way to War, juxtaposes military service in the U.S. Marine Corps and social entrepreneurship.
Recorded May 20, 2024
SALT iConnections New York returned to Manhattan's west side for two days of thoughtful panel discussions with leading figures across finance, technology and public policy. Through the iConnections platform, the event also brings together over 2,000 asset allocators, asset managers and entrepreneurs for curated capital introductions.
The event takes place May 20-21, 2024 at the The Glasshouse in New York City.
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