93
Let’s hear the story of Nebraska, its communities, its number one industry Agriculture, and the people who make it happen. Sponsored by Nebraska's Law Firm® - Rembolt Ludtke.
93
Mike Flood--Broadcast Roots, Nebraska Heart
In this wide-ranging episode, Congressman Mike Flood joins us to share stories from his remarkable journey—from his start in radio broadcasting while in high school and the genesis of News Channel Nebraska to representing the state in the U.S. House of Representatives. Along the way, we get the definitive pronunciation of “Norfolk,” explore Nebraska’s polka music “honey hole,” and hear why Clearwater’s Big Rodeo holds a special place in his heart. Mike also reflects on the word he believes best captures the spirit of Nebraska: “heart.”
The breath. It's not just a place, but a way of life. It's 93 casts that are home to innovative individuals caring together as a spirit that runs deeper than its first story. It's a story that's every call. Welcome to 93.
SPEAKER_01:Welcome to 93 the podcast, where we talk about Nebraska, its communities, its number one industry agriculture, and the folks who make it happen. I'm Mark Falson, your host for today's episode, brought to you by Nebraska's law firm, Rembrandt. Our guest today hails from Madison County, Nebraska. He's an attorney. He's been a member of the Nebraska legislature, even serving as its speaker, and he currently serves in the U.S. House of Representatives. While we could talk to him about the current political environment, let's not do that because that's not a lot of fun. Instead, we're going to talk to him about television and radio, polka music in this great state we call Nebraska. Congressman Mike Flood, welcome to 93 the podcast.
SPEAKER_02:Thank you. I'm number seven. I always say seven on your plate, number one in your heart. Proud to be from Madison County.
SPEAKER_01:Here's one of my favorite stories about Madison County. What the the county seat of Madison County is actually what? Madison. Yeah. So you you I think you told me this story, or I've always used it. Attorneys say, hey, I just had a hearing up in Norfolk. You know they're they're not telling the truth because there is no courthouse in Norfolk.
SPEAKER_02:There's actually a lawyer, George Moyer. There was a there was a Norfolk Civil Division court where they did it at the city council chambers. And George Moyer, Jr., uh he's he's uh a longtime Madison lawyer. The judge says, Welcome uh to court, Mr. Moyer, and Mr. Moyer said, This is no court. The only court in this county is in Madison. It is not in Norfolk.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, it's again, I uh Madison's a great town, uh, but uh Norfolk is obviously the largest town in the county. So, what was the first car you had that you got to have the seven uh prefix license plate on?
SPEAKER_02:Well, I didn't really pick it out. My sister and my dad picked it out. They got it in Omaha. It was a uh stick shift of a 1984 Volkswagen Rabbit convertible, and it sat in the driveway, and of course I didn't know how to drive a stick shift, so I kind of just admired it for two days, and then I I started learning on it, but I had that until I was 22.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, that uh everyone I love first car stories. I some of the vehicles I drove, I'm I'm embarrassed to even describe, so I won't do that today. But you know what? They got they got me to school and got me to events, and that's all that mattered. You went to Notre Dame for undergrad in the Nebraska law. What why Notre Dame?
SPEAKER_02:Well, so my grandpa uh was an offensive line football player from uh Iowa City, and he played from 1934 to 1938 under Elmer Leyden, one of the four horsemen. So my mom, yeah, my mom grew up in a household that was all about uh Notre Dame, and her dad was a Notre Dame football player. Her brother went to Notre Dame, played football there, and uh that athletic uh gene skipped me. Um I didn't have any ability whatsoever in athletics. But actually, my real story is all I wanted to do when I graduated high school was stay on the radio at WJAG. I was a I was an afternoon radio announcer when I was in high school. In Norfolk. And uh in Norfolk, but I did not go to Notre Dame as a freshman. Um my mom, so frustrated that I wasn't engaging on this idea of going to college, she signed me up to go to Holy Cross College, which is where Rudy went. It's the two-year school right across from Notre Dame. And I went there, um, drove myself there, and ended up doing well. Then I transferred into Notre Dame as a sophomore. So that's that's how I got there, and uh and it was a great experience.
SPEAKER_01:So let's talk. You you started in radio in high school?
SPEAKER_02:Yes, I started when I was 15. I started uh doing covering news stories and then working overnights on Friday and Saturday nights.
SPEAKER_01:Why why radio? What was the passion about that?
SPEAKER_02:Well, uh my speech teacher at Norfolk Catholic, uh, she knew the news director who had been one of her students, and uh I was active in that. And she's like, you know, you would love to get to know Jim Curry over at WJG. And so I went there and he said, Yeah, we can have you go cover some stories and city council meetings, and then the program director found out I was interested. And if my parents would let me work overnight, then I could work from like 11 p.m. on Friday to like 6 a.m. on Saturday and do that on Friday night and then do it again on Sunday night. And that's kind of where I I only could go on the radio if there's a tornado warning. Otherwise, I just had to basically listen to the Michael Bolton music and get the commercials ready for the next day. So I prayed, I prayed for every tornado warning I could possibly find because that allowed me to actually get on the radio.
SPEAKER_01:So as a labor lawyer, I'll tell you that's probably child labor violations to let you work that way, but uh again, the statute has run on those, so sorry you don't have a claim on that. Did you uh did you continue in radio at Notre Dame?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Well, actually, I got out to uh South Bend and I started working at a country station overnights, just one night a week, WGTC. And then I ran the Notre Dame Student Station, WVFI, Voice of the Fighting Irish. And then my junior year, I wanted a job in the summer, and so I got a job uh on the radio at B-100. And uh funny story, uh, me and a bunch of my uh uh friends from Notre Dame, I had purchased a 1975 ambulance from Gregory, South Dakota, and I drove that out to Notre Dame as my vehicle, and instead of saying ambulance backwards, it said Irish backwards, and it was like the Ghostbusters. And so I drove that to the Bishowaka radio station, but I was embarrassed of it. So I tried to park a long ways away so they wouldn't see that I was getting out of that. And apparently the the morning show host, who has now become a good friend, Dirk Rowley, he saw me coming in from my interview and he told the program director any guy that drives a car like that needs to be a morning show stunt man. And that's how I became Sideshow Mike in South Bend, Indiana.
SPEAKER_01:So explain Sideshow Mike. Is this sort of your alter ego that you kind of went under?
SPEAKER_02:Well, remember, this is when radio was, this is pre-Youtube, and and Mancow and Chicago was doing all these little stunts. And so they basically brought me on the morning show. I worked from like 6 a.m. to 8 30 a.m. I wore a blue jumpsuit, and uh I would do all sorts of stunts, like I got duct taped to a pole, I got wrapped and bubble wrapped and went down the stairs at the courthouse in St. Joseph County, uh South Bend. I I just went out every morning and did different things in the community. I had an indestructible microphone, I dropped a piano on it uh from like a crane, just different things that were fun for the audience. And um the morning show got such good ratings in northern Indiana and southern Michigan that after I graduated from Notre Dame, um I took a one-year deferment from going to law school, and I worked full-time and made$55,000 being Sideshow Mike and uh loved every second of it.
SPEAKER_01:Did you continue the uh the radio gig or side gig when you were in law school?
SPEAKER_02:I did. I got to Lincoln and I went and got a job at Froggy 98. I was Jimmy Hoppe. Um that was my frog name. But I worked there my first year of law school, mostly mostly the summer after my first year, and then I tried doing it the first semester of my second year, but it got to be too much with school and everything. So I I was only Jimmy Jimmy Hoppe for like, I don't know, six months or something.
SPEAKER_01:So I I know at radio stations you often get to meet uh famous musicians either in studio or backstage. Who's the most famous musician you've met in your radio career?
SPEAKER_02:Uh I got to enter, well, two. Number one, I I got to meet this brand new artist back in 1996. We're at Heartland uh Country Bar in South Bend, Indiana, and this guy had a big old belt buckle, and on the back of his belt it just said Kenny. And this guy had a huge drawl, and he was kind of short, but he was all tanned up, and it ended up being Kenny Chesney. And this is this is when his his like right when his career was just getting ready to take off. And so Kenny Chesney and then uh Trisha Yearwood. I introduced Trisha Yearwood uh at the Elkart County Fair, and uh that those were the days in radio where artists would would just pull up in their bus and come to reported radio stations, and you know, they would just start talking to you, you know, just like Doug Stone and Rhett Aikens, and you know, that that happened in Lincoln, it happened in South Bend. Uh, you know, so you get to know all the artists really well. And they used to have like these little showcase things. So I've met a lot of country artists.
SPEAKER_01:So, what's the biggest lesson you've learned from working in radio that perhaps still sticks with you today?
SPEAKER_02:Uh if you've got something to say, say it very succinctly and do it in a way that you communicate effectively, and after you've delivered your message, stop talking. Uh it works really well, you know. Like sometimes I'm sitting in a meeting and I'm like, I I already bought what he was saying like 10 minutes ago. He's still trying to sell me on it. Like people have uh they you lose people, especially after seven minutes. I always tell people after seven minutes it's hard. Now that's nothing about a podcast.
SPEAKER_01:Right.
SPEAKER_02:Uh I'm just saying.
SPEAKER_01:So during one of your recent congressional campaigns, uh you featured polka music. What's uh where does your love of polka music come from?
SPEAKER_02:Well, uh, so when when COVID hit, uh so I have the news channel Nebraska TV Network. I don't get to do anything with it anymore. But um when COVID hit, all of our advertisers dropped because they couldn't sell cars, they couldn't sell clothes, they couldn't sell whatever it is they were advertising. And uh everybody was at home watching TV, and I was like, how are we going to find advertisers and what are we going to put on TV since we can't even really go out and report? And so I came up with this idea to have a two-hour variety show from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. And I did it in the uh at the Norfolk Knights at Columbus Hall, and then later the Norfolk VFW. And uh so I started inviting these bands, and and as I started doing it, my first one was a pianist, and he did really good. And then I had a country band, and then all of a sudden, I'm not really familiar with polka, but we put this polka band from Brainerd on, uh, the Leo Lani Orchestra.
SPEAKER_01:Brainerd is in the Bohemian Alps of Nebraska. That's what I am from good friends, I grew up right by it, know it well. Continue.
SPEAKER_02:So uh he this Leo Lani orchestra gets on there, and I looked down at Facebook, and there's 30,000 people watching this. And I was like, and when you're a broadcaster and and people are like consuming what you're doing, and I saw what it was, I was like, I fell in love with polka. I was like, if my audience likes this, then I love this. And and then I found out that all of these people from Wahoo to Rising City and David City, there's like a honey hole of polka, and it's the Czech influence. So next thing I know, I got a Czech vest. I'm I'm eating Czech food, and uh so that's what started it. So it's and and you start to like it, you know, just kind of like it's it's happy music for happy people.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, you know, growing up just south of the Bohemian Alps, my dad would listen to the Big Joe Polka show. Are you familiar with that? I am, I am. I think RFD brought that back. I think they bought the rights to that. And uh again, I can uh I'll never forget my dad that the that was his happy music as well.
SPEAKER_02:And then I found out about this guy named Moustache Joe in Fremont, and Moostache uh has a travel company. Uh his son is now the mayor of Fremont, Joey Spellerberg. But uh I actually co-hosted the the KUB Moostache Joe Polka uh gala uh with him, and uh he's now passed on. But uh people just came in droves. People used to take buses to go see Moostache.
SPEAKER_01:So you mentioned News Channel Nebraska, and I know you are no longer uh involved day-to-day there, but how what was the brainchild behind that? How'd it come about?
SPEAKER_02:So in uh 2012, I was running for governor, and uh I was traveling all over the state, and I went out to like uh Sheridan County or Scotts Bluff or Sydney Alliance, and uh I'm go there and I'm like, and they said, we don't know anything about Nebraska government. I was like, why? And they said, because we're in the Denver DMA. We know more about Denver and Rapid City and Cheyenne, Wyoming than we know about Lincoln, because that's the TV we consume. And I was flabbergasted because, you know, even though I'm in the Sioux City DMA in Norfolk, we get all of this Nebraska news because we get we still get Omaha and Lincoln TV stations. And I was like, how could we have a state when half the state isn't even getting news from what's going on in their state? And uh turns out the night that I announced for governor, my wife found a lump in her breast, and it turned out to be a very uh fast-moving cancer. So I I uh got out of the governor's race, and uh she's totally healthy now, but she went through a year of snow and radiation, and I didn't want to be that guy that couldn't give up being in politics. I didn't want to have my nose smashed against the glass outside of the legislature trying to relive my glory days. And so I would just lay on my bed and think about, you know, uh what could I do that would keep me professionally excited that would be good for the state? And I was like, I'm gonna start a TV network that just does Nebraska stuff. And that's how News Channel Nebraska started. And I took a lot of steps to get there, but it launched uh in 2015, and uh I I would not want to go back and watch any of the video from 2015 because it was like a cable access disaster for the first part of the year, but uh it's turned out to be something I'm really proud of today.
SPEAKER_01:So bring us up to speed on your family. How's everyone doing? Where are they at?
SPEAKER_02:And he's doing great. Uh our son, our oldest, is Brendan. He's 19. And um he's gonna take the same route I did. He's gonna go to Holy Cross for a year and then hopefully go to Notre Dame. And my younger one is Blake, and Blake is uh he's a 15-year-old heartthrob, I like to say, at Norfolk Catholic.
SPEAKER_01:He is uh just like you were.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, well, here's here's how I know we're completely different. Here's how I know Blake and I are completely different. I actually have a contempt for high school boys that cut the sleeves off of their t-shirts. Like, like that is something that's always bothered me. And Blake, Blake is exactly the opposite. Like he cuts the sleeves off of his t-shirt, so he goes to lift every day. And I'm like, no son of mine should ever present themselves like that. But no, Blake is Blake is a good student, and he is gonna be a sophomore next year. He loves football, he loves uh he did the seven-on-seven football stuff. He goes to the track every day and runs routes with the quarterback, and so he is, of course, Norfolk Catholics are really good at football, so he's he's all bought in on high school football.
SPEAKER_01:So it's good he got his uh athletic talents from his mother.
SPEAKER_02:Um I don't know, she wasn't even an athlete. I think it just skipped. I think this is this is latent from like the 30s. I remember when I was in junior high football, I was I remember playing in Stanton and I was on the receiving team, and I would just every time they kicked the ball and I was I was there back there to receive, I just prayed. I was like, I don't want that football to come anywhere near me. Because if that football comes to me, I've got a major problem. Number one, I have to catch it, and number two, I have to run, and people are going to be chasing me. I was like, I don't want any part of this. So I I I did stay, I did that, and then I got out.
SPEAKER_01:If I'm not mistaken, during especially during COVID, you had did you have the boys involved in News Channel Nebraska helping you with some shows?
SPEAKER_02:I did. I had Blake was he was young. I had him on a milk crate running a camera, and and I had Brendan running a camera. Because you know, that's when you could only have 10 people in a place, and uh I was worried about having you know some of my employees be around some of that. So uh yeah, they ran the cameras and actually they got tired of it, but I loved having them there. That was like some of the best days of being a dad and and uh introducing them to broadcasting.
SPEAKER_01:So you've traveled this great state many, many times. Is there one hidden gem in Nebraska that most people, perhaps even locals, haven't seen, but must see?
SPEAKER_02:Well, I have a perfect gem. It qualifies for almost all of what you just said except for the last part, the must-see. Here's the gem that I have been thinking about. And to be honest, until I became a member of Congress, I never even stepped on the base, off at Air Force Base, home to Stratcom. But the one thing that I wish every Nebraskan could see is that very special room well underground where some of our nation's top military leaders work and live and control our country's nuclear triad. Uh, the only reason I say that is I've had occasion to be there, and I think to myself, people in Nebraska don't know what an amazing team works for our country. And you know, you can get nervous about all the things happening in the world, but there are people that work on that base that do jobs that are way more stressful than anybody else in America has to deal with. And they are so positive. They love Nebraska, they love that base, and that it's not a job for them, it's a mission. And so that's the hidden gem. The problem is uh very hard to go see it. Um the other the other thing I was thinking of, and it's it's not even on the same plane, but I don't know how many people know Big Fred's Pizza exists in Omaha, but it is maybe one of my favorite places to be. Um uh so that's my recommendation.
SPEAKER_01:So do you have a favorite other than Big Fred's? Let's set that aside. Do you have a favorite either Nebraska food or restaurant that you try to hit when you're in that part of the state?
SPEAKER_02:Well, it's now torn down, but Pringers Restaurant in Norfolk was like uh was an extension of me personally. Like I I loved Pringers uh and that's now gone. Um where do I like I like chances are in York? Uh I like anywhere that has a really big salad bar. Uh you know, after COVID, salad bars have kind of gone away. Uh there's a place called the 411 up in Pierce that has a good salad bar. Uh, but I I like uh I like salad bars.
SPEAKER_01:So I if folks haven't been to Norfolk lately, describe the transformation that has occurred relative to the the water feature and the things that have gone on there. I I I drove by it, I haven't spent time, but I've just read so many good stories about it.
SPEAKER_02:Well, we were very fortunate to have a transformational mayor. Uh Josh Loaning became a city councilman, you know, I think maybe in 2014 or something like that. He became mayor in 2018 and he served eight years there. And uh Josh came in and wanted to. Revitalize the downtown and um long before anybody really thought it could be done, and he did it. He did it, and the I bought into it probably in 2018, 2019, and and he and I worked together. But I gotta give him credit. Like Norfolk's downtown is probably one of the best in Nebraska. We've got this controlled access, controlled water uh feature that runs through our community, the North Fork. And now they've turned we've turned it into a uh a whitewater rafting uh course. Um we've got all these new restaurants that are locally owned and they're not chains, and you've got Indian food, and you've got uh obviously a steakhouse, and we've got bars and restaurants that remind you of the old market in this town of 25,000, an hour and a half off the interstate. And if you haven't experienced it, I like to tell people we're like the Hamptons to New York City. We're like we're like Omaha and Lincoln's Hamptons. We're where you should be vacationing if you're in Lincoln.
SPEAKER_01:So settle a debate with folks who don't live from Nebraska. Is it Norfolk or Norfolk?
SPEAKER_02:It's Nor Fork. And the the whole deal is when we decided to name our town, we sent it into the post office as North Fork, because we're the North Fork of the Oakhorn River. And when they got our submission in DC, they thought we were too stupid to spell Norfolk, like Norfolk, Virginia. So they sent it back as Norfolk, and we say Nork because uh that's what we intended it to be.
SPEAKER_01:So a lot of Nebraska towns, especially in the summer, but all year round, often have little festivals or events or things. Uh are there any sort of favorite uh the small town community events uh that you would suggest someone goes to if they aren't from Nebraska or maybe even live here and haven't been?
SPEAKER_02:I would say the Clearwater Rodeo in Clearwater, Nebraska. That town transforms itself into uh the best rodeo and a superstar. This isn't just a street dance. Like Clearwater takes a community, there they are in northern Antelope County, and they turn it into uh a must-see, must-go-to event. In fact, when I got married to Mandy back in 2003, I said the only thing I have to do for the rest of my life is I have to be able to go to the Clearwater Rodeo with my friends because that is the most important summer event. Now, obviously you get kids and you don't get there every year, but uh they've got sky boxes at the rodeo grounds. And uh I I even think Joey Housman has a skybox uh over there. Of course he does. Yeah, of course he does.
SPEAKER_01:So is there a favorite Nebraska season? Again, everyone has uh differences of opinion on that. Uh is it is it winter, fall, spring, or summer? What's your favorite and why?
SPEAKER_02:Winter, because I love sitting in front of a real working wood-burning fireplace. And um, I have one in my home in Norfolk, and I actually have one in my little basement apartment in DC. Um, I like it when I'm in there and the snow pellets are hitting the, you know, the the sleet's hitting the windows, and I've got a roaring fire going, and um, you know, that is that is like my downtime. My favorite time of year is kind of winter, uh, which is completely opposite than my wife. She she loves the sun and she loves the summer. Uh, so we work that way very well. She's in her prime right now, and um, me, it's definitely winter.
SPEAKER_01:Congressman, a number of our listeners are involved in agriculture. Have you ever worked on a farm or do you have any farm experience?
SPEAKER_02:I don't. Uh the most experience I have, you know, intersecting with agriculture at a young age is I used to have to call all the uh the elevators and get the closing cash grain prices. And it amazed me. I remember when I was in high school, corn was at$2.12 a bushel. And uh 15 years later, when I'm running my own radio station, I get up and I start making the same calls. And corn in 2000 uh was uh$2.19. I thought, how the heck does this happen? Uh of course the yields are better, but most of my most of my farm experience is from uh reporting on it through the broadcast side. And and obviously when you run a radio station, you are you are in the middle of agriculture every single day uh in terms of supporting it and uh selling advertising to people that that sell implements and all that stuff. But uh I never detasseled. Uh and I don't know why, because my friends did it and made good money. I don't I never got the hookup to go detassel, but um, I don't have any specific farm experience.
SPEAKER_01:I think I read somewhere you just turned the ripe age of 50. Is that true and how did you celebrate?
SPEAKER_02:It is true, and uh Mandy, my wife, actually gave me the best birthday present ever. Um I can't, you know, it was my birthday weekend, and uh we were planning to go out for dinner or something, and I had just taken Blake out driving because he's got a learner's permit, so he wanted to go practice driving. And I walked into our kitchen and all of my a lot of my really tight high school or no college and law school friends uh were in my kitchen, and they'd come in from Houston and Los Angeles and Lincoln and Phoenix, and uh they were just in my kitchen and we sat around in in my room uh with my fire going, and uh we just told stories from like, I don't know, six o'clock to well past midnight, and probably one of the, you know, like we didn't go out and do some big thing, we didn't go out and go to a bar or restaurant, and it was just all these guys that I, you know, when you're in law school, you you form these bonds with folks. You have a lot of friends from Battle Creek, you know. It'd be like all your best friends are are gathered in your kitchen and you're like, don't expect them, and they all flew in to be there. And so that was like the best surprise I ever could have gotten.
SPEAKER_01:Do you miss practicing law?
SPEAKER_02:You know what I miss uh about practicing law is I miss, you know, I never graduated out of divorces or really general practice, but I miss that call from a family on a Friday, on a Saturday morning where Junior got himself in some trouble the night before. His parents are really mad. And I said, Well, come down to the office, let's sit down and talk about it. Mom and dad are so mad, there's maybe some tears. I miss saying to mom and dad, hey, why don't you hang out in the lobby? And then I sit down with that young man and say, Listen, I know you you're having a bad day, but this is not gonna affect the rest of your life. We're gonna get you through this, you're gonna be okay, and this is gonna get better, and we'll just go through this together, and and your parents, all of this will fade with time. And uh that's the part, you know, also when you when you're helping somebody in a divorce and they're in a bad situation, maybe there's domestic violence, maybe there's you know, money issues or infidelity or whatever the issues are, just don't get along. And you you take somebody through that process that is very hard, it's emotional, and uh you see them a couple years later and they're like, Thank you so much for helping me through that. My my life is so good right now. I'm doing this, I'm doing this, I'm doing this, I'm remarried, I'm having a baby, you know, whatever it is. Uh I miss that part of practicing law.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, you folks forget that a synonym for attorney or lawyer is counselor, and that's kind of what we do. And I I agree. Couldn't agree with you more. That's those those are the fun moments that you see value in being able to help others. So, Congressman, one question we ask all of our guests, and you just get one word. What is the one word to you that best describes the state in which uh you were born and raised, where you're still raising your family, and you currently represent us in Congress? What's your one word for Nebraska?
SPEAKER_02:Oh, that's a good question. I would say heart. Can you explain? Yes. I would say uh and I get this all the time when people come up to me and say they have no, they'll they'll they'll say, I was in Lincoln, and those are some of the nicest people I've ever met. I went to the game, and everybody couldn't be nicer. I do this fintech conference where all these folks come to the innovation campus and they are like, and you know, the governor would say, if you asked him that question, he would say, It's the people, right? I say it's the heart. We have good-hearted people, and we take it for granted um that people have a good heart. Uh because, you know, there's other parts of the country where people are they're cynical and they are, and I'm not saying those folks don't exist in our state, but um, you know, like what I I here's a good example. Um the the supervisor for the Los Angeles County Board came out here to see me uh because I'm the chair of the housing and insurance subcommittee. And Los Angeles just lost 14,000 dwellings with the Palisades fire. And um, she was coming in, she's obviously a Democrat, and she sits down and and we're talking about the CDBG disaster relief fund that we're gonna do in a supplemental to help the people of California. And uh she I could tell she was tense when she walked in because she's like, okay, this guy's a Republican, you know, I'm a I'm a Democrat. And uh we got to talking, and I said to her, you know, we are so sorry that happened to you out in Los Angeles. And I can tell you the people I represent in Nebraska are good people, and they would want you to get the help that they in turn would also expect if a tornado took out, you know, 14,000 homes. Like we care about the people of California, and uh the people that I represent would want me to care about you because we understand what it's like going through a disaster. And at that moment, like I saw her face just kind of light up and she was just like, oh my gosh, thank you. Thank you for saying that. I thought, of course we say that. We're from Nebraska, like, we're not out to get people, you know. We we care about our fellow Americans, and sure there are political differences. But if we had 14,000 homes that were taken out of commission, you know, from Hallam to Lincoln to Ashland, we would want the people of California voting to help us put those pieces of people's lives back together. And I think that's part of what makes us unique as uh you know a state in the middle of the country.
SPEAKER_01:Congressman, thank you for your time. Thank you for your service to our state and to our country. I continue to uh uh again love seeing you around the state and appreciate uh everything that you do.
SPEAKER_02:Thank you very much. You're very nice to call, and I enjoyed this.
SPEAKER_01:If you enjoyed this episode, consider subscribing on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your favorite podcast. And also consider giving it a five-star rating while you're at it. And please keep on listening as we release additional episodes on Nebraska. It's great communities. Nebraska's number one industry agriculture, and the people who make it happen.
SPEAKER_00:Thanks. This has been Ninety Three, the podcast. Sponsored by Nebraska's law firm, Rumbold Ludke.
