Who?
Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) — Member, Senate Armed Services Committee
LISTEN: Laslo & Rounds*
*1st interview was on 6-13-2024 & 2nd took place on 6-20-2024
Interview I: Ask a Pol asks
Have you talked to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) about the UAP hearing she’s planning with AARO?
Rounds replies:
“I haven’t not recently,” Rounds tells Ask a Pol.
Interview II: Ask a Pol asks
Any update on the UAPDA Amendment?
Key Rounds:
“No, not a whole lot of anything there, just simply continuing to move forward and we’ll see where it goes,” Sen. Rounds exclusively tells Ask a Pol.
Caught our ear:
“You know, bottom line is nobody is trying to release information on classified programs that would help our adversaries,” Rounds tells us. “But, I think more openness in terms of what we can talk about can help clarify that maybe there is nothing to be afraid of out there.”
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Below find a rough transcript of Ask a Pol’s exclusive interview with Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD), slightly edited for clarity.
TRANSCRIPT II: Sen. Mike Rounds
SCENE: Sen. Rounds is walking through the basement of the Capitol when Ask a Pol briefly catches up with him before he hops a tram back to his office.
Matt Laslo: “Hey how you doing, sir? Any update on the tweaks in your UAPDA amendment with [Sen. Chuck] Schumer?”
Mike Rounds: “No, not a whole lot of anything there, just simply continuing to move forward and we’ll see where it goes.”
ML: “Because that wasn’t really debated at all. That issue, in the House NDAA this year. Do you think there’s an appetite for it over here?”
MR: “I think we just got to clarify what our goals on it are, and I think we can work through them. You know, bottom line is nobody is trying to release information on classified programs that would help our adversaries.”
ML: “Yeah?”
MR: “And — it's not — that’s not our goal.”
ML: “Yeah?”
MR: “But, I think more openness in terms of what we can talk about can help clarify that maybe there is nothing to be afraid of out there.”
ML: “Yeah, I’ll be watching. Nice.”
MR: “Alright.”
ML: “Have a good one.”
Sen. Rounds on UAPDA: "not a whole lot of anything there"