Adam Kinzinger

            My VIP for this week is Adam Kinzinger. He is a Republican Representative from Illinois and a lieutenant colonel with the Wisconsin Air National Guard. He is also “big on border security” for several reasons. 

            One reason is the drugs that come across the border. Kinzinger knows that they may cross the border in Arizona, but they eventually make their way to Illinois. He finds it an “awesome” opportunity to protect Americans from the drugs coming over the border, and he is not just doing it in an office. He was recently deployed to the southern border with his National Guard unit, and his communications director published the following statement.

As with his previous border missions while elected, the Congressman will stay within the United States.

 The Congressman is humbled to serve his IL-16 community here in the People’s House and equally proud to serve as a reconnaissance pilot in the Air Guard. In both of these roles, Congressman Kinzinger fights to make our national security stronger, our border more secure, and our communities safer.

            Kinzinger appreciates the opportunity to serve on the border because it helps to keep him “grounded.” “I have some colleagues … they have let their position get to their head a little bit. When I deploy with these guys, it’s just my old buddies. They say basically, ‘Hey, you are a lieutenant colonel here. Nobody special.’”

            While his buddies may consider him to be “nobody special,” Kinzinger was able to see what was happening on the ground as he flew over the “mountainous parts of Arizona.” He says that the RC-26 is “specially equipped to gather information and high-resolution video of any illegal activity they may spot, on the ground.”

            Lt. Col. Kenneth Bruce with the Arizona Air National Guard told Fox, “We have over 200 miles of border out here that’s just almost unmanned. No fencing on it at all. We have a lot of traffic through there.”

            Kinzinger thinks that it would be a good thing if more members of Congress would travel to the border and believes that “Congress would be in a better spot” if all members had the same experience.