After speaking to 5th-grade students at the Owensboro Catholic 4-6 Center, Congressman Brett Guthrie took time to answer questions from local media about a range of national and international issues, tying many of them back to his work in Congress.
“Ever since I was a state senator, I would speak to a lot of 5th graders,” Guthrie said. “The main reason is in 5th grade, at least when I was in state government, is when they studied government.”
He said his goal is to help students understand how government works — especially during the school year when standardized testing focuses on civics and history.
“I was trying to bring government to the classroom,” he said. “So I kind of developed a little speech that I gave today doing that. And so I do as many of elementary schools as I can.”
Guthrie said another reason he visits schools is because it allows him to meet people he wouldn’t typically see at traditional stops.
“When you come to communities, a lot of times members of Congress go to public things like chambers of commerce or something that’s happening. And most teachers, they can’t just break away like business people can,” he said. “So you see a lot of great people, but mostly business people. I like to go into schools — you see staff, teachers, lunchroom workers, people who work in the building. So that adds to it, but the kids are the primary reason.”
Guthrie said he tried to connect with students by showing how government works and why it matters.
“They’re in the Boston Tea Party. They’re not quite to the Constitution,” he said. “But I try to explain to them that we have a tremendously inefficient way to govern, but it’s the right way. It’s what Winston Churchill said — America does the right thing after it’s tried everything else.”
He also emphasized the value of a system built on religious liberty and checks and balances.
AI, energy, and competition with China
Guthrie said the U.S. faces a major global challenge in determining who will control future platforms for artificial intelligence.
“The big battle for world importance is who’s going to control the platform for artificial intelligence,” he said. “Europe is taking themselves out because they don’t develop energy and they have all these regulations. So it’s really us and China. Are we going to let a dictatorship control a platform that can eavesdrop on everybody in the world?”
He said Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates confirmed that a large AI data center could consume the same amount of electricity as the entire city of Seattle.
“Century Aluminum used as much power as the city of Louisville,” Guthrie said. “That’s why I’ve told the judge in Hancock County that the vacant energy plant would be a good place for a data center.”
Congressional gridlock and budget debates
Guthrie acknowledged that some Republican priorities didn’t make it into the latest spending bill because of the reality of needing bipartisan support in the Senate.
“Speaker Johnson was very careful to say, there’s a lot of things we would love to do in a spending bill. We’ve got to get at least eight votes in the Senate,” Guthrie said. “We can’t put things in the bill that Democrats say, ‘Well, I would have been for it except for this.’”
Guthrie added that political tensions often prevent legislation from advancing — not because of substance, but because of the optics.
“You hear [Senator] Chuck Schumer say, essentially, there’s nothing in this bill I’m against. But they just don’t want Donald Trump to have a win on anything,” Guthrie said. “Elections have consequences. We had to swallow some things that Biden wanted to do when we were in the minority.”
Tariffs and Trump’s economic agenda
When asked about the impact of tariffs, Guthrie said concerns vary by industry.
“Agriculture is concerned about tariffs. Automotive is concerned about tariffs. Bourbon is concerned about tariffs,” he said. “President Trump believes this is the right policy — he talked about it in his campaign. He’s not surprising anyone.”
Guthrie said Trump has shown some willingness to adjust when necessary.
“He literally has a checklist. But he’s been flexible,” Guthrie said. “He says, ‘We’re going to do this,’ and then when it seems to have some negative impact, he’ll say, ‘Okay, maybe we’ll back off.’”
He said his ideal policy would be reciprocal tariffs.
“If a country tariffs our products, we should have an equal tariff. If they drop theirs, we drop ours,” he said. “I think President Trump’s trying to get us to a level playing field.”
Foreign aid and China’s global influence
On the topic of international relations, Guthrie emphasized the strategic use of foreign aid to counter China’s influence, particularly in Africa.
“China’s going to come in and help Africa build — they’re sitting on tons of lithium. [China will say] ‘We’re going to give you all this money to build the bridges and roads that you need.’ And they’ll know they can’t pay them back,” he said. “That’s what’s going to happen.”
He added, “We just can’t say no. Our interests don’t stop at our borders. The largest lithium deposits in the world are in Afghanistan, and guess who moved in after we left? The Chinese.”
Ukraine and the future of the conflict
Guthrie also spoke about the war in Ukraine, emphasizing that while the U.S. has supported the country militarily, there’s a growing need to find a path forward.
“I’m as anti-Putin as anybody in Congress,” he said. “But we’re at a stalemate. The Ukrainians are fighting bravely, but they just don’t have the resources to continue indefinitely.”
He said unless European allies are willing to send troops, negotiations may become necessary.
“We need to find a good ending to it,” Guthrie said. “But it needs to be an ending that’s favorable to the people of Ukraine — as much as we can.”
Oversight and transparency
Guthrie also addressed concerns about government spending, including large grants awarded through federal initiatives.
“We’re going to investigate that,” he said of a reported $2 billion grant to a group connected to Stacey Abrams. “Her organization never had more than a few dollars. That’s a $2 billion grant from the federal government that’s on cash flow.”
He said he’s committed to ensuring taxpayer dollars are used appropriately.
“We want to follow up everything with an investigation, facts, and data. Is your money going where you want it to go?” he said. “When a research grant has 60% for overhead, that’s got to concern people.”
Guthrie said he hopes the focus remains on results — not just personalities like Elon Musk.
“They get so caught up in just Elon’s personality. Let’s uncover what’s going on and ask, ‘Are you okay with this?’” he said.
