Representative Harriet Hageman (R-WY) from the United States Congress called into the Weekday Wake-Up on Thursday, July 17 for her monthly report.

Congresswoman Hageman discusses the Preventing AI Censorship Act, data centers, the ongoing conflict in Iran and other items being worked on in Congress.

The following transcript of the above interview is AI generated. Minor spelling errors are likely to occur.

(0:00) And U.S. Congresswoman Harriet Hageman joining us live today once again. Good morning Congresswoman, (0:05) how are you doing today? I’m wonderful, Duke, how are you? Hey, doing fantastic, as always, (0:11) really do appreciate your time and jumping into some of the issues here right away, but first, (0:15) sounds like President Trump is expected to make an address to the nation tonight, (0:21) that being announced, and what do you expect to hear from the President, (0:25) or what would you like to hear from the President tonight as he makes some of those comments? (0:30) Well, I’m not quite sure what the President is going to be talking about this evening, (0:34) and they’ve kind of kept a close hold on that. I don’t know if he’s going to be discussing (0:40) the budget situation, or if he’s going to be talking about what’s going on in Iran.

I don’t (0:46) know the answer to that. All right, well, we’ll see how things go with that tonight. (0:51) Congresswoman, one of the things we want to talk about, data centers in Wyoming, that’s been a big (0:55) topic of conversation, has for a long time, but especially recently over the last six months or (1:00) so, and you specifically have been looking for some answers from MEDA and their data center in (1:07) Cheyenne, a water contamination situation.

Give us your thoughts there, and what you think should (1:12) happen in a situation like this. Well, first of all, as you know, (1:17) I wrote a letter to MEDA asking for answers to specific questions related to the situation in (1:23) Cheyenne, and I will report that they were very responsive. They called us within 24 hours (1:29) with an update on what was going on, and also indicating that they were doing their own (1:35) investigation, and that they will be providing a formal response to the questions that I asked.

(1:41) And so we’re still waiting for that, but we’ve had a couple of phone calls with them now, (1:46) as they have told us what they were doing, and how they were investigating and trying to find (1:51) out what happened. One of the things that we made clear to them, and I would make clear to any other (1:58) industry that’s trying to locate in Wyoming, is you guys have got to be good neighbors. You need (2:02) to be giving us a lot more information.

There needs to be more public outreach with what your plans are, (2:10) what your energy demand is going to be, water impact on surrounding areas, whether they are (2:16) locating in the right place for these kinds of facilities. One of the things that I think that we (2:23) need to be looking into is the Industrial Siding Council Act, which was created by the Wyoming (2:30) legislature specifically to make sure that there are not these kinds of negative impacts on neighbors (2:37) when a large industry like this comes into a community. So I know that some of the state (2:42) legislators are looking at that and looking at whether there need to be changes made to that law (2:46) to make it more responsive and make it more protective of existing, the people who live in (2:51) these communities.

So I think that there’s quite a variety of things that need to be addressed. (2:57) Those are just some of them. (2:59) Congresswoman Hageman this morning on the Weekday Wakeup.

Congresswoman, looking at a bill that you (3:05) introduced that goes along with First Amendment rights and AI, the Preventing AI Censorship Act. (3:12) Tell us what this act is and what you’re hoping it accomplishes. (3:16) Well, under the previous Biden administration, as many of your listeners probably know, (3:21) they really weaponized the federal government against free speech and against conservative (3:26) thought.

META and Google have both admitted that in fact they were instructed by and followed the (3:34) instructions of the Biden administration to, for example, prevent truthful information about (3:41) COVID-19, where it originated, the Hunter Biden laptop, various different issues. And so I have (3:49) introduced what’s called the First Amendment Accountability Act, that any federal employee (3:53) who violates someone’s First Amendment rights could be held liable in damages for injunctive (3:58) relief and for attorney’s fees. I now have expanded that and I’ve focused specifically (4:05) on the government using AI to censor people’s speech or alter what they’re saying and making (4:11) it illegal for the federal government to use or manipulate AI in any way that would violate any (4:17) of our First Amendment rights.

(4:19) United States Representative Harriet Hageman on the Weekday Wakeup this morning. Congresswoman, (4:23) let’s talk about Iran and the ongoing situation there. It sounds like attacks have resumed or at (4:28) least use of American military, I guess, has resumed.

Kind of give us your overall thoughts on (4:37) where things currently sit with the situation in Iran and the direction that this is going. (4:44) Well, you know, I think that the reality is, is that this is a very complicated (4:49) situation that we are dealing with. Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.

Iran has got to stop using (4:55) its proxies to attack Israel and others in that area over there. And I think a lot of people had (5:02) warned the president that he could not trust the leadership of Iran. I think that that’s absolutely (5:07) legitimate.

I don’t trust the leadership of Iran. And so for that reason, he’s gone back in and (5:14) he’s now attempting to go after some of the targets that he had previously left unscathed (5:19) in the hopes that they would actually come to the table and work with us to get a resolution (5:25) to this situation. We cannot let Iran control the Strait of Hormuz.

It’s just that simple. (5:31) That is an international waterway. They have absolutely no right to control it or to prevent (5:36) shipping from passing through that area.

And so he’s making sure that we, that Iran does not have (5:44) that kind of power. And I think it’s really the only path forward. What, what is something in (5:49) this, in this Iran situation that you wish Americans maybe understood better and, and (5:54) where you’re in DC and able to be, see things a little more from, from the eyes of a Congress (6:02) person, what do you think that the American peoples need to understand that maybe, maybe (6:06) aren’t as clear? Iran is a bad actor.

It has been for 47 years. We have had a situation (6:13) where they have, we have been paying a terror tax for 47 years, ever since they overthrew the (6:20) previous government in Iran. Everybody in the world has really suffered because they are a (6:24) terrorist organization that actually believes that if they blow everybody else up, they’re (6:29) going to go to heaven.

They, they are a malign influence in the region. Their targets against (6:35) Israel have been absolutely barbaric. They control Hamas.

They control Hezbollah. They control what’s (6:43) going on in Lebanon. And it is time that the world is rid of these terrorist actors who are, (6:51) who have done nothing good in the 47 years that they have been in power.

We need to free the (6:57) Iranian people so that they actually have a chance at a normal life and not being controlled by (7:04) these dictators. And the, the, the, just the, the very, like I said, barbaric regime that has been (7:10) in power there. Congresswoman Harriet Hageman, again, this morning on the weekday, wake up with (7:14) us on SBI radio.

Congresswoman, what else is happening in, in DC impacting Wyoming or the (7:20) nation as a whole that, that maybe you would like to highlight today? So I know that it’s, (7:25) it’s probably kind of noisy as I’m actually been on the floor voting during the course of this (7:31) conversation. There’s a lot going on back here. We’re voting on funding for veterans today.

(7:36) It’s quite a substantial bill. This is one of them that is, I know a lot of people in Wyoming support (7:43) and it’s going to be relating to healthcare and a variety of other benefits for our veterans. (7:48) We’re voting on that this morning.

As far as the other work that we’ve been doing, (7:53) we’ve had some good committee work this week, trying to look at that, at, at providing better (7:59) services and security for our tribal members. We had a good discussion about missing and murdered (8:05) indigenous people that, that Wyoming has suffered from as well. We had a hearing on that about what (8:12) we need to do to provide better security and, and police services there.

We had a good markup (8:18) in judiciary on some good bills that were bipartisan, actually some good bills, making (8:24) sure that we’re protecting our, our constitutional rights and our courts from, from attacks. So (8:31) we’ve just, we’ve just been doing some real good work this week. It’s been very, (8:35) very busy between the committee work and the hearings.

And as soon as I’m done voting today, (8:39) I’m going to speak at a crypto conference. Thank you so much for taking time with us during this (8:44) busy, busy time. Congresswoman Harriet Hageman this morning on the weekday wake up.

Thank you (8:48) so much. Thanks. It’s all part of the SBI radio network on Swift 98 and the Spur.