俄亥俄州代顿和威斯康星州欧克莱尔 —— 在中期选举前两周，共和党面临保住国会控制权的艰难战斗之际，国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯周二在中西部关键战场州进行为期一天的行程，为一名前线众议院共和党议员助选。赫格塞斯今年第二次访问威斯康星州，在欧克莱尔的河畔机械与工程公司向制造业工人发表讲话，大力宣扬众议员德里克·范奥登（共和党-威斯康星州）的履历和军旅生涯，此行是五角大楼“自由兵工厂”巡回活动的一部分。
Dayton, Ohio and Eau Claire, Wisc. — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth boosted a frontline House Republican on Tuesday during a day trip to Midwest battlegrounds two weeks before the midterm elections, in which Republicans are facing an uphill fight to keep control of Congress. Hegseth, who completed his second visit to Wisconsin this year, talked up Rep. Derrick Van Orden’s (R-Wisc.) background and military service while speaking to manufacturing workers at Riverside Machine and Engineering in Eau Claire as part of the Pentagon’s “Arsenal of Freedom” tour.
“国会山上没有比那位先生更坚定的支持者了，他从不忘记自己从哪里来——无论是美国海军、海豹突击队，还是威斯康星州，”这位国防部长说道。“他是个绝不退缩的人，我非常敬佩他所做的一切以及他的做事风格。”
“No more steadfast supporter on Capitol Hill than that man right there, who never forgets where he came from — whether it’s the U.S. Navy, whether it’s the SEALs or whether it’s Wisconsin,” the defense secretary said. “He’s a guy that just never backs down, and I respect the heck out of what he does and how he does it.”
这位第二任期议员正在威斯康星州第三国会选区与民主党人丽贝卡·库克展开激烈的连任角逐。他在介绍赫格塞斯前，强调了自己的军事背景——18岁入伍海军，二十多年后以海豹突击队高级军士长军衔退役。作为特朗普总统的坚定盟友，范奥登表示，他和赫格塞斯“很久以前”就成了朋友，且五角大楼负责人“初心正确”。
The second-term lawmaker is locked in a tight reelection bid against Democrat Rebecca Cooke in Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional district. He touted his military background — joining the Navy at 18 and retiring over two decades later as a SEAL senior chief — before introducing Hegseth. Van Orden, a staunch President Trump ally, said he and Hegseth became friends a “long time ago,” and that the Pentagon chief’s heart is in the “right place.”
“他身穿军装、手持枪械为国对抗邪恶。他不必那样做，但他做了。他不必接受这个职位，为此遭受了绝对不公正的诸多攻击。但他这么做是出于正确的理由。他是为你们而做，为你们的孩子而做，”范奥登在赫格塞斯登台前说道。
“He fought for our country in uniform with the gun in his hand against evil. He didn't have to do that. He did. He did not have to take this job, where he's gotten so much stuff that is absolutely inappropriate. But he's doing it for the right reasons. He's doing it for you. He's doing it for your children,” Van Orden said before Hegseth took the stage.
范奥登赞扬了从事技术工种相较于读四年制大学的优势，并表示河畔公司的工人们在挽救生命。“我是有史以来当选国会议员的美国现役军人中服役时间最长的士官，正是因为你们，才有美国人活到了今天。
Van Orden extolled the benefits of going into the trades over taking the 4-year college route, and said the Riverside workers were saving lives. “I'm the longest-serving enlisted member of the United States military to ever get elected to Congress ever, and there are Americans that are alive because of you. Because of you getting up and going to work and working with your hands,” he said.
“因为你们起早贪黑、去上班、用双手劳动，”他说，“寡妇变少了，有了父亲和母亲的孩子变多了，都是因为你们的工作。”
“There are less widows, there are children with fathers and mothers because of your work.”
在讲话中，赫格塞斯吹捧了自己掌管五角大楼以来推行的改革，以及扩大美国国防工业基础的必要性。库克指出，范奥登曾六次投票反对终止美国对伊朗战争的《战争权力决议》，并批评这位议员在该州未举办过“任何一场面对面的市民大会”。“但他却有时间与一位曾向我们承诺这场战争几个月前就会结束的官员称兄道弟。威斯康星州选民已对那些许诺‘不发动新战争’却食言而肥的政客感到厌倦，”这位民主党人周二晚间在给《国会山报》的一份声明中说。“他们理应拥有一位了解我们社区面临何种困境的代表，而不是让我们处境更糟的人。”
Hegseth, during his remarks, touted reforms executed since taking the helm at the Pentagon and the necessity of expanding the American defense industrial base. Cooke highlighted that Van Orden voted six times against the War Powers resolution to end the U.S. war against Iran and dinged the lawmaker for not holding a “single in-person town hall” with voters in the state. “But he has time to pal around with one of the officials who promised us that this war would be over months ago. Wisconsinites are fed up with politicians who make promises like ‘no new wars’ and then break them,” the Democrat said in a statement to The Hill late Tuesday. “They deserve a representative who understands what our communities are up against, not who makes us worse off.”
《库克政治报告》将威斯康星州第3国会选区的竞争评级为“势均力敌”。但《萨巴托水晶球》最近将其评级从“势均力敌”调整为“倾向民主党”。
The Wisconsin 3rd Congressional district race is rated as a “toss-up” by The Cook Political Report. But Sabato’s Crystal Ball recently changed its rating from a toss-up to Leans Democratic.
赫格塞斯的中西部之行，是在今年早些时候造访肯塔基州和爱荷华州之后进行的，当时他为共和党候选人助选。一些批评者认为，这些露面违反了《哈奇法案》，该法案禁止联邦雇员参与政治活动。其他特朗普高层官员也因本月早些时候出席阿拉斯加州的一场集会而面临类似指控。
Hegseth's Midwest trip comes after the defense secretary traveled to Kentucky and Iowa earlier this year, where he has campaigned for Republican candidates. Some critics argued the appearances violated the Hatch Act, which bars federal employees from partaking in political activities. Other top Trump officials face similar allegations over their attendance at a rally in Alaska earlier this month.
周二，赫格塞斯在众议院竞选中避免给出直接背书，也未攻击库克。他对工人的讲话遵循的脚本比8月爱荷华之行少了政治色彩，后者曾引来民主党人的特别关注。当时为众议员扎克·纳恩（共和党-爱荷华州）助选时，赫格塞斯抨击了之前的民主党政府，并赞扬了这位爱荷华州共和党人在国会山的工作。
On Tuesday, Hegseth avoided giving a direct endorsement in the House race and did not attack Cooke. His address to workers followed a less political script than his August Iowa trip, which drew particular scrutiny from Democrats. While campaigning for Rep. Zach Nunn (R-Iowa), Hegseth slammed previous Democratic administrations and lauded the Iowa Republican’s work on Capitol Hill.
五角大楼官员表示，赫格塞斯是以“个人身份”出席该筹款活动的，但由前国家安全官员组成的“稳态”组织已针对这位五角大楼负责人提交了道德投诉。三个月前，赫格塞斯还在肯塔基州助选，支持前海豹突击队队员埃德·加尔雷因。加尔雷因最终在共和党初选中击败了众议员托马斯·马西（共和党-肯塔基州）。马西上个月针对赫格塞斯提出了八项弹劾条款。
Pentagon officials said Hegseth attended the fundraiser in a “personal capacity,” but Steady State, a group of former national security officials, filed an ethics complaint against the Pentagon head. Hegseth also hit the campaign trail three months prior in Kentucky, where he supported former Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein. Gallrein ended up unseating Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) in the Republican primary. Massie introduced eight articles of impeachment against Hegseth last month.
在抵达威斯康星州之前，赫格塞斯飞往俄亥俄州代顿，参观了内华达山脉公司（SNC）的航空创新与技术中心，该中心正在将大韩航空的747-8客机改装为E-4C“生存空中作战中心”，即新一代“末日飞机”。赫格塞斯赞扬了内华达山脉公司在该机型上的工作，该机型将取代老旧的E-4B“国家空中作战中心”飞机。“我们可以谈论想要拥有产业，或想要规模化，或想要开放架构，或想要下一代技术，”赫格塞斯在代顿的演讲中说。
Before touching down in Wisconsin, Hegseth flew to Dayton, Ohio, where he toured the Sierra Nevada Corporation’s (SNC) Aviation Innovation and Technology Center, which is converting Korean Air 747-8 jets into E-4C Survivable Airborne Operations Centers, the new generation of “doomsday” planes. Hegseth praised SNC’s work on the aircraft, which will replace the older E-4B National Airborne Operations Center jets. “We can talk about wanting to have industry, or wanting to scale, or wanting to open architecture, or wanting the next generation,” Hegseth said during his speech in Dayton.
“但这个国家所拥有的并非天赐。它是锻造出来的。它是由劳动、由专业知识、以及站在这里的各位和在线参会的各位纯粹的意志力锻造而成的。”这位国防部长再次为特朗普创纪录的1.5万亿美元国防预算请求背书，以帮助美国保持世界上“最强大的军队”，并辩称这些投资直接转化为美国制造商的高薪就业岗位。赫格塞斯再次誓言，五角大楼将在特朗普第二任期结束前通过一次干净的审计，并强调国防部对寻求与主要承包商竞争的新型国防企业持开放态度。
“But what exists in this nation is not gifted. It was forged. It was forged by labor, by expertise, and by the sheer willpower of each of you standing here today and joining us online.”The defense secretary again advocated for Trump’s record $1.5 trillion defense budget request to help the U.S. retain the “most powerful military” in the world and argued that those investments directly translate to high-paying jobs for U.S. manufacturers. Once more, Hegseth vowed that the Pentagon will pass a clean audit by the end of Trump’s second term and highlighted DOD’s openness to newer defense firms looking to compete with prime contractors.
“正如我所说，我们正在为企业提供更大、更长、更可预期的合同，以便它们能够大规模、快速地交付，”他说。“这意味着更多就业岗位，随着企业投资于员工，意味着更多可靠的高薪就业岗位。”
“We are providing, as I said, larger, longer, more predictable contracts to companies so that they can deliver at scale and at pace,” he said. “That means more jobs, more reliable, high-paying jobs as companies invest in their people.”