National Security

On September 11, 2001, the lives of over 3,000 innocent people were taken in senseless acts of terror. Since that time thousands of brave men and women in our military have gone to the far corners of the world to defend the very freedoms that were attacked that day. Many troops stationed abroad include brave soldiers from the 26th District of Texas. These troops, along with other units that have been activated in Texas, are making our state proud as they serve our nation in the War on Terror.

I am proud to have been a part of over a half-dozen official congressional delegations that have gone abroad to see our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. As a member of Congress, I believe it is important that we exercise our congressional oversight duties to determine if our troops have the appropriate resources they need to do their job and to also ensure that our U.S. personnel are acting within the U.S. law and pursuant to standing treaty obligations.

As the war continues, I believe it is important that we do not lose our resolve against an extremely capable and committed enemy. The people that wish to do us harm, as we saw with the embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, the bombings of Khobar Towers and the U.S.S. Cole, 9/11 attacks, the Bali bombing, or the Madrid and London bombings, show little if any regard to the legal, cultural, and moral structures that we rely on to maintain a society based upon the rule of law and respect for individual rights.

I have consistently supported federal funding for our men and women in uniform that make such sacrifices to protect our freedoms. Having seen many of these soldiers in person on the front lines of the War on Terror, I can assure you that we are very fortunate to have such capable persons protecting our freedoms.