Texas Senator presses White House to first name viable alternative for housing terrorists
WASHINGTON, DC, Feb. 10, 2009 -- U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), Texas’ senior Senator, today urged the President to reconsider a date-certain closure of Guantanamo Bay until he can assure Americans there is a viable alternative for detaining terrorist combatants.
In a letter to President Barack Obama, Sen. Hutchison wrote:
“The Executive Order contemplates five scenarios for handling current detainees: return them to their home country, release them, transfer them to a third country, transfer them to the United States, or transfer them to another United States detention facility. Unfortunately, all of these alternatives pose substantial risk to our national security and place the lives of Americans and our allies at greater risk than continuing the current policy of holding these prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay facility. Of upmost concern, naturally, is the option to transfer these detainees to the United States.
“While sending detainees to the United States is clearly an unsupported choice, and an option fraught with risk, the alternative of sending Guantanamo Bay detainees to prisons in foreign countries or releasing them to their home country is equally a risky option posing potential harm for our country.
“We now know that as many as 61 detainees previously released from Guantanamo Bay have returned to the battlefield, many of whom are now waging war against Americans. With this knowledge, we should not abandon the security of Guantanamo Bay for the alternative of foreign transfers that could pose harm to our allies.
“I urge you to reconsider your Executive Order closing Guantanamo Bay and reject any option that might transfer these prisoners to any facility on American soil. Before setting a deadline for the closure of Guantanamo Bay, the American people must be assured that the transfer or release of detainees will neither harm our national security interests nor increase the risk of harm to American citizens at home or abroad. This assurance cannot be given today.”
On January 22, 2009, President Obama issued an Executive Order to close the Guantanamo Bay terrorist detention facility by January 22, 2010. Among the facility’s detainees have been key al-Qaeda operatives, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the confessed mastermind of the attacks on September 11, 2001.
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$838 Billion dollar spending bill now heads to a House-Senate conference committee
WASHINGTON, DC, Feb. 10, 2009 -- The U.S. Senate today passed an $838 billion dollar spending bill designed to stimulate the slumping U.S. economy.
Despite calls for bipartisan support from President Obama, only three Republican senators, Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania joined in supporting passage, with neither senator from Texas signing on.
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and Sen. John Cornyn both registered votes against motion to limit debate (cloture) yesterday, and on the passage of the bill today, and both issued strong statements in opposition.
On the cloture vote yesterday, Sen. Hutchison said "At a time when American families and businesses are facing economic hardship, any ‘stimulus’ should target job creation while being mindful of taxpayer burden and the growing deficit. This 778 page legislation, which will cost the American people a little more than $1 billion per page, is wrongly focused on spending programs that won’t effectively create jobs.
"Furthermore, some of this spending extends out as far as a decade, years after we have fought through this downturn. I believe that the best way to jumpstart our economy is through targeted tax cuts that quickly put money back in the hands of America’s small businesses and families. These tax cuts should work in concert with a limited spending program that emphasizes projects our government is going to do anyway, moving forward military construction, infrastructure and transportation improvements to spur job growth in Texas communities."
On the vote for passage today, Sen. Cornyn issued a statement saying "“I support President Obama’s call for swift action to revive the nation’s economy and put Americans back to work. Unfortunately, this proposal fails on both accounts and instead relies on bloated Washington programs, digging our country deeper and deeper into debt, and passing the IOUs to our children and grandchildren. This is unacceptable.
“I am disappointed that what could have been a bipartisan success has resulted in a bill narrowly passed by the Senate with the support of only three Republicans. Overspending is what landed our nation in the economic turmoil we find ourselves in today, and the partisan spending bill passed by Senate Democrats only exacerbates this irresponsible behavior—increasing our nation’s debt limit by nearly two trillion dollars to $12.14 trillion."
The bill will now go to a conference committee that will iron out differences between the Senate bill passed today, and the House version, which passed on Jan. 28, and would spend $819 billion. The House bill passed with no Republican support.
Obama has hopes of signing the bill before President's Day on Monday. On being informed of it's Senate passage, Obama said "That's good news, It's a good start."
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President Obama's nomination for Attorney General confirmed 75-21, despite Texan "nays"
WASHINGTON, DC, Feb. 2, 2009 -- Eric Holder, President Barak Obama's choice for Attorney General, was confirmed yesterday on a 75-21 vote, confounding intense lobbying efforts of gun rights groups across the country.
Both Texas Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn voted against Holder's appointment, which passed with the support of all 54 Democratic senators voting, both Independents, and 14 Republican senators.
On her vote against Holder, Hutchison said "One of the most important liberties we have under the Constitution is an individual’s right to keep and bear arms, guaranteed in the Bill of Rights. I am deeply concerned about Eric Holder’s expressed view that the Second Amendment is a collective right that does not specifically apply to individuals.
"He stated in a brief to the Supreme Court that ‘the Second Amendment does not protect firearms possession or use that is unrelated to participation in a well-regulated militia.’ This interpretation would allow a local or state government to ban handguns that thousands of people own today for protection of their homes. His position stands in opposition to the Supreme Court’s 2008 ruling that affirms the right to bear arms as an individual right protected by the Constitution,”
“The Attorney General must enforce the laws of the land and advise the President on legal and constitutional matters. I believe Mr. Holder is an intelligent, experienced, and thoughtful candidate. But after careful examination of his public statements and positions on constitutional liberties, such as the Second Amendment, I could not in good faith support his nomination to the Office of Attorney General.”
Senator Cornyn did not issue a statement regarding his vote.
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Only slightly amended from a companion House bill passed earlier, Senate Democrats and nine Republicans passed the measure today.
WASHINGTON, DC, Jan. 29, 2009 -- The Democrat plan to reauthorize and expand the federal government's role in insuring children, the State's Childrins's Health Insurance Plan (SCHIP), passed the US Senate today 66-32, and will head back over to the House next week for what is expected to be final passage.
Owing to the small amount of tinkering senators did on the bill, swift passage in the House is almost assured. With the backing of President Obama pledged earlier, Democrats should soon be able to announce that one of Obama's key campaign promises has already been kept.
Texas' two Republican senators, Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn, parted ways on the vote, with Hutchison voting for the bill and Cornyn voting against.
In a press release today, Hutchison said “Texas has the highest rate of uninsured children in the nation. I voted to reauthorize SCHIP because it provides critical federal funds for young Texans’ health care needs, which are not currently being met. The 72 cent federal match under SCHIP will also deliver a cost savings to state and local taxpayers, so they aren’t paying the full expense of treatment,”.
Under the bill passed today, Texas’ SCHIP allotment is expected to rise 72% from approximately $550 million to over $945 million, according to the Congressional Research Service. It also authorizes federal reimbursement for legal immigrant children under the SCHIP program, which will return approximately $23 million per year to the State of Texas.
According to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, Texas spent $25.2 million in FY08 on healthcare for 16,200 eligible legal immigrant children, and estimates that the number of eligible and enrolled legal immigrant children will grow to approximately 20,000 in FY09.
Said Sen. Hutchison. “Under this legislation, Texas’ SCHIP allotment is projected to increase by more than 70 percent, making available an additional $395 million, allowing hundreds of thousands of low-income children across the state access to healthcare.”
Hutchison offered an amendment today that would have increased Texas' allotment based on it's percentage of children with no health insurance coverage above the national average. Her amendment was voted down 81-17. Hutchison was joined by Cornyn on that vote.
Cornyn yesterday offered an amendment that would have reduced eligibility to the program and retained a five year waiting period for legal immigrants to join the program.
Speaking on that amendment, Cornyn said “To improve the bill and to focus on low-income children, I've offered this amendment that prohibits redistributing funds to states that have expanded their SCHIP program to higher income families or adults … Redistributed funds should be reserved for covering low-income children, to assist states with specific outreach and enrollment activities that will help enroll large numbers of low-income children who are eligible but not enrolled. We have a choice. We can either focus on low-income children or we can choose to expand the program and leave many low-income children behind,”.
Both Texans voted for that amendment, which also failed.
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Bill would Establish Dept. Of Justice Grant Program with Focus on Border Communities
WASHINGTON, DC, Jan. 28, 2009 -- U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), today filed The Border Law Enforcement Relief Act of 2009, S. 339, which would create a grant program at the U.S. Department of Justice to help border communities combat narcoterrorism.
“Our border law enforcement personnel are under assault. Powerful Mexican drug cartels threaten the safety of our communities and the law enforcement officials who protect us,” said Sen. Hutchison. “Congress must provide funding to combat narcotics trafficking and safeguard families and neighborhoods along the border that are on the frontlines. This legislation is an important step toward securing our borders and preventing violence in Mexico from spreading into our country.”
“Border violence places a financial burden on the taxpayers with law enforcement struggling to meet the personnel and the equipment needed to keep up with the combat against drugs. Our local police are outnumbered, outgunned, and do not have the financial resources to match the cartel’s unlimited financial budget. I appreciate Senator Hutchison’s leadership role in this endeavor of obtaining funds for the law enforcement in the border areas and looking out for the best interest of the United States,” said Sheriff Omar Lucio, Cameron County.
"Border security continues to be one of Laredo's top priorities. The City of Laredo would strongly benefit from this important legislation. Border communities are in dire need of additional resources to ensure the protection of their citizens. I applaud the efforts of Senator Hutchison to safeguard our borders,” said Raul Salinas, Mayor of Laredo.
"I fully support and appreciate Senator Hutchison's legislative initiative,” said Houston Police Department Chief Harold Hurtt. “The proposed Border Law Enforcement Relief Act is desperately needed to combat the growing violence along our southern border. It also recognizes that the major interior cities and urban areas are experiencing some of the same problems facing the border cities and provides funds necessary for large cities to combat the resulting drug and gang violence along with human trafficking, which is not restricted to border cities. A partnership between federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies is crucial to addressing these issues."
The Border Law Enforcement Relief Act of 2009, which was cosponsored by Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D- N.M.), will create and authorize $100 million in federal grant funding for each fiscal year from 2009 – 2013. Two-thirds of the funding will be designated for border communities within 100 miles of the northern and southern borders. The remaining one-third will go to law enforcement agencies nationwide that are affected by border-related criminal activity.
This grant funding may be used to obtain equipment, upgrade technology, hire additional personnel, and cover overtime and transportation costs associated with criminal activity along the border.
The National Sheriff’s Association pledged its support of the Border Law Enforcement Relief Act.
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