Americans Deserve Transparency: The Biden-Harris Border Crisis

In March, I requested data from the Biden-Harris administration on how many illegal immigrants with a criminal history have been released in our communities. I received an answer this week: Over 662,000. The data released by ICE is beyond disturbing, and it should be a wake-up call for the Biden-Harris administration and cities across the country that hide behind sanctuary policies.

I will continue to do everything in my power to ensure ICE has the resources necessary to conduct deportations of those who are not authorized to be here, especially those that pose a danger to our public safety. This must be a priority.

Legislation on the Move

This week, my PEARL Act passed in the Committee on Homeland Security. The PEARL Act would establish a pilot program that connects local animal shelters with Customs and Border Protection personnel to provide Border Patrol Agents and Customs Officers with support dogs to assist in their demanding roles.

With the unprecedented crisis at the southern border, it’s critical that CBP has access to resources that support staff members and their overall wellbeing.   I will always work to support the hardworking men and women who defend our borders.

Delivering for Veterans

Ensuring veterans’ benefits are protected is one of my top priorities. When news broke this month of a $3 billion budget shortfall at the VA that could jeopardize veterans’ compensation and benefits, I worked alongside my colleagues on the House Appropriations Committee to help introduce the Veterans Benefits Continuity and Accountability Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2024.

This legislation, signed into law last Friday, secures $2.89 billion in emergency funding, guaranteeing that veterans’ benefits remain fully funded without interruption. I will always stand by our veterans and fight to protect the benefits they earned.

District to D.C. It’s always great to meet with Texans in Washington, D.C. If you’re ever in town, I encourage you to stop by our office. This week, I met with the San Antonio Chapter of Associated General Contractors. This organization plays a vital role in building our communities, and I’m eager to collaborate with them to support infrastructure developments in Bexar County.

I also had the opportunity to meet with Hudspeth County Judge Jojo MacKenzie. I’m committed to continuing to work alongside Judge MacKenzie to ensure West Texas receives the support it deserves in Congress.

Press Release from U.S. Congressman District 23 Tony Gonzales

August 18th, 2024

In Congress, I’ve worked hard to secure millions of dollars in funding to enhance school security, improve mental health services, and provide resources to teachers, school faculty, and first responders so they are prepared in the event of an emergency. I’m also working on legislation that pairs new resources with better guidance on school safety. My bill, the National Strategy for School Security Act, will develop a strategic operating plan with best practices for school safety measures. This important change will provide educational institutions with a national model that they can scale and implement. Founding the School Security Caucus As the proud founder and Co-Chair of the Bipartisan School Safety and Security Caucus, I am working hard to ensure that school security remains a priority in Washington. Our task force gives Members of Congress the opportunity to come together and foster policy discussions pertaining to school safety. Through the Bipartisan School Safety and Security Caucus, I have helped introduce several school safety bills in the U.S. House of Representatives and held roundtable discussions with educators, law enforcement, and school safety experts on Capitol Hill. Advancing School Safety Legislation I support a well-rounded approach to school security that invests in mental health initiatives and equips school faculty with the resources necessary to prevent school violence from taking place. I’m working to advance several bills in Congress that will support this mission. UNITED Act – recommits mental health resources to underserved communities across the nation EAGLES Act – establishes a national program focused on targeted school violence prevention ALYSSA Act – requires silent panic alarms in all schools to immediately alert law enforcement of an active shooter incident Strengthening Our Schools Act – increases investments in School Resource Officers to help protect students and faculty from potential active shooter situations ATTAIN on Mental Health Act – creates a user-friendly, online dashboard to expand access to funding for mental health and substance use disorder grants

Press Release from U.S. District 23 Congressman Tony Gonzales

Top Photo: Forbes Breaking News :

Congressman Tony Gonzales here. Plenty has happened this week, so I wanted to give a quick update on what’s going on in Washington.   I introduced the Save Our Kids Act on Thursday. This bill gives parents the ability to hold medical providers who don’t give the full facts about the dangerous side effects of puberty blockers and hormone therapies accountable. Additionally, the bill gives doctors the right to refuse to perform morally bankrupt sex-change procedures on children. Our children are our future, and it’s time Congress stands up for them. For details on the bill, click here:   Last weekend, millions of Americans were impacted by what many people consider the most severe I.T. outage in history. The outage, involving cybersecurity company CrowdStrike, took down multiple Microsoft platforms, including Microsoft Teams, a program countless businesses and people around the world rely on to discuss sensitive information. This critical failure has left many constituents wondering if Microsoft Teams is a secure platform.   I sit on the Homeland Security Committee, and in June, we held a hearing on this exact issue with Microsoft President and Vice Chair Brad Smith.   This week, Kimberly Cheatle, the former Director of the Secret Service, resigned. Now, it is time to bring the American people transparency. On Wednesday, I voted to establish a Congressional task force to investigate the assassination attempt on President Trump. No political candidate should ever have to fear for their life while on the campaign trail– not in this country. Congress will look into every fact. A failure like this can NEVER happen again.   Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled to the U.S. and gave a spirited address to Congress. Hearing Prime Minister Netanyahu speak was a somber reminder that now more than ever, we must stand by our allies in the Middle East. As a veteran, I know all too well that those who have seen war fight for peace the hardest. In the aftermath of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s speech, radical activists began to violently riot, defacing numerous historical landmarks and burning American flags at the Capitol. Their behavior was a disgrace to this country and should be universally condemned. Finally, I want to give a special thank you to Chairman Tom Currie, the Republican Party Chairman of Crane County. This week, Chairman Currie approached me with concerns about our military’s focus on DEI training. I take seriously my role to advocate for our district, so I asked Chairman Currie’s question during a Committee on Homeland Security hearing with the U.S. Coast Guard this week. I will always fight to make sure YOUR voice is heard in our nation’s Capitol.

by Michael Robinson | Uvalde Hesperian

 The Republican and Democratic Party run-off election day is on Tuesday, May 28th,2024 and it is the last day for eligible Uvalde County voters to cast their ballots. 

Republican Primary voters will have two races on their Party’s ballots while Democratic Primary voters will only have one. 

Republican Primary Run-Off Election

Uvalde County Sheriff’s Race

Republican primary voters will choose between incumbent candidate Ruben Nolasco and Otto Arnim for the next Uvalde County Sheriff. 

United States House of Representatives District 23rd Congressional District Race

Republican primary voters will choose between incumbent candidate Tony Gonzales and Brandon Herrera for their party’s candidate nomination to progress to the November General Election. 

Democratic Primary Run-Off Election

Texas House of Representatives District 80 Race

Democratic primary voters will choose between candidates Cecilia Castellano and Rosie Cuellar for their party’s candidate nomination to progress to the November General Election.

For Uvalde County Election information, visit https://www.uvaldecountyelections.com/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Press Release by U.S. Representative Tony Gonzales

March 26, 2024
SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS — This week, Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) joined Reps. Mike Kelly (R-PA) and Ryan Zinke (R-MT), Co-Chairs of the Northern Border Security Caucus, along with Northern Border Security Caucus members Rep. Nick Langworthy (R-NY) and House Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-NY) in sending a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas expressing “serious concern about the unprecedented surge in apprehensions along our northern border.”

According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data, in Fiscal Year (FY) 2023, Border Patrol Agents apprehended 10,021 aliens illegally crossing the northern border between ports of entry, including 2,229 apprehensions in the first four months alone. In the first four months of FY 2024, through January 2024, the Border Patrol has already apprehended 4,772 subjects along the northern border, a 114% increase from the first four months of FY 2023.

In FY 2024 alone, Border Patrol Agents are on track to apprehend a record number of illegal immigrants at the northern border.

“While the Southwest Border has been overrun with drug smugglers, we cannot allow another avenue for deadly, illegal drugs into our country and our communities,” the Members wrote. “In FY 2024 alone, Border Patrol agents are on track to apprehend a record number of illegal immigrants at the Northern border. These statistics are yet another example of how the Biden administration is downplaying the serious nature of this orchestrated border crisis. Every state has now become a border state under your leadership – or lack thereof.”

A total of 22 House Republicans signed the letter, click here to read the letter.

Press release received from the office of Senator Roland Gutierrez

  Austin, Texas – This afternoon, State Senator Roland Gutierrez voted against HB 3, the school security bill, because it is inadequate at addressing school safety concerns in the wake of the tragic shootings in Santa Fe and Uvalde.

  “School districts and their employees have already been asked to do more with less – more students with less counselors and support staff, larger class sizes with fewer teachers, and building more schools with less state money. Now we are going to add an unfunded mandate to have a security officer at every single public school. It is sick and twisted that we have the largest budget surplus in Texas history and we aren’t doing a damn thing to keep our kids safe. We aren’t doing anything to prevent another Uvalde,” Gutierrez stated.

  “I filed a bill that would have put a peace officer at every single public school in Texas, that would have been paid in full by the State of Texas. That bill never saw the light of day. Republican leadership doesn’t care about protecting our kids.”

Senator Gutierrez was joined by Senators Menendez, Eckhart, Miles, and Johnson in voting against the bill. Senator Gutierrez has long advocated for teacher pay raises, cost-of-living adjustments for retirees, and full funding of Texas public schools.

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Roland Gutierrez has served as the Texas State Senator for District 19 since 2021, previously serving six terms as a member of the Texas House of Representatives and two terms as a San Antonio City Councilman.

 

Austin, Texas – Today, State Senator Roland Gutierrez sent a letter to Governor Greg Abbott and Lt. Governor Dan Patrick demanding they suspend all necessary rules to solve the gun violence crisis in Texas, after allowing Senator Bob Hall to pass a bill that addresses a TikTok conspiracy theory.

“How can we get a bill rushed through, after the filing deadline has passed, to address some internet hoax but we can’t get anything done in all these months to address gun violence. Every single day, these parents show up to beg legislators to do something to fix gun laws so that this will not happen to more kids. They are told over and over again that something will be done, only to have the rug pulled out from under them,” Gutierrez stated.

“At this point for the Lt. Governor, the cruelty that he is putting these families through has to be the point. If that’s not the case, then let’s have hearings on the 24 common sense gun bills I submitted to the Senate, let’s have that conversation on HB 2744 that died in the House.”

Here’s how Senator Hall’s bill was accepted and passed by Lt. Gov. Patrick:

 

• This week, the Texas Senate suspended its rules to give Senator Bob Hall permission to introduce legislation two months after the bill filing deadline – SB 2632.

• SB 2632 was immediately referred to the Health and Human Services Committee (HHSC).

• The Chair of HHSC then sought a rules suspension to include the bill at a hearing.

• The Chair of HHSC then recommended the bill for the local and consent calendar.

During this legislative session, Senator Gutierrez has authored commonsense gun safety legislation, which large majorities of Texans agree with, including gun safety, reckless gun sales, and restrictions on the purchasing age of semiautomatic rifles. All of which have been censored by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.

 

Roland Gutierrez has served as the Texas State Senator for District 19 since 2021, previously serving six terms as a member of the Texas House of Representatives and two terms as a San Antonio City Councilman.

Press release

  Austin, Texas – This morning, State Senator Roland Gutierrez released a statement in response to HB 2744 being killed before reaching calendars. HB 2744 was authored by Rep. Tracy King and would have raised the age limit to purchase semiautomatic rifles to 21. The bill was voted out of the House Select Committee on Community Safety on Monday, but did not make it onto the House calendar by the 10:00 P.M. deadline on Tuesday, May 9th.

  “How dare Greg Abbott, Dan Patrick, Dade Phelan, Dustin Burrows and Ryan Guillen make these families live through this torture day after day. They lack any sort of fortitude to stand up and do something to keep our kids from being killed. Santa Fe, Uvalde, El Paso, and now Allen parents have showed up and pleaded with lawmakers who will cry with them one moment and stab them in the back the next,” Gutierrez stated.

  “We knew the children that died in the Uvalde massacre were braver than the DPS, but now we know that they were braver than these Republican lawmakers in the Texas legislature. They faced the end of the gun because these five men are too gutless to stand up to the gun lobby.”

  During this legislative session, Senator Gutierrez has authored commonsense gun safety legislation, which large majorities of Texans agree with, including gun safety, reckless gun sales, and restrictions on the purchasing age of semiautomatic rifles. All of which have been censored by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.

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  Roland Gutierrez has served as the Texas State Senator for District 19 since 2021, previously serving six terms as a member of the Texas House of Representatives and two terms as a San Antonio City Councilman.

 After a morning of action by Uvalde families, State Senator Roland Guiterrez, House, and Senate Democratic caucus, HB 2744 voted out of committee 8-5

Austin, Texas – Today, the Texas House Select Committee on Community Safety voted 8 – 5 to pass H.B. 2744, which would raise the age to purchase a semi-automatic rifle to 21, with exceptions for military and law enforcement. The vote comes on the heels of this morning’s press conference with Uvalde families and state Democrats demanding action on gun safety legislation.

“We can’t keep waiting for another tragedy for legislation on gun safety. Nothing can bring back the lives we’ve lost, but this will help to save lives in the future. We need to see this bill passed,” said Senator Gutierrez. “Semiautomatic rifles, weapons of war, are being used to hurt our children, families running errands, concertgoers, and grocery shoppers. If Texas Republicans aren’t going to vote to help protect our families, then they better step out of our way.”

HB 2744 will move on to the House Calendars Committee to be considered for a House floor vote. The Texas Legislature has three weeks to consider this vital piece of legislation before the session concludes on May 29th.

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Roland Gutierrez has served as the Texas State Senator for District 19 since 2021, previously serving six terms as a member of the Texas House of Representatives and two terms as a San Antonio City Councilman.