Unlike Doug LaMalfa, I have fought for my country. Moreover, as an Army Reservist, I stand ready to fight for America again. We have been ill-served by a Congress full of armchair generals and think-tank strategists, who have wasted countless dollars and lives on ill-fated interventions overseas.

The American military protects American interests. Sometimes that means protecting willing allies against foreign aggression. It does not mean nation building. We do not incur a Responsibility To Protect. Our soldiers are the cream of our society – and we must use them sparingly and decisively to secure an American future.

Just as our military must remain a last resort, our diplomatic efforts overseas must remain proactively engaged on the front lines of foreign affairs. I have served as a diplomat in Honduras, Mexico, Egypt, and Washington, D.C. I know the issues, I know the questions to ask, and I know what can reasonably be asked of the diplomatic service.

We are facing the threat of a rising China: a totalitarian regime singularly focused on the rules-based international order that cost half a million American lives in World War Two. We cannot squander the blood and sacrifices of our forefathers by retreating to isolationism. Nor can we embrace a self-congratulatory complacence in which we assume that the liberal democratic order will effortlessly persevere.

We live in the real world: where evil regimes stand ready to destroy everything we stand for. We need fighters in Congress that know the stakes.