Top, left to right, Sharyland Pioneer and Sharyland High. (Andrew Cordero | Special to RGVSports); Bottom, left to right, IDEA Pharr and Donna North. All four teams sit at the top of their district standings heading into the week.
As the Sharyland school board embarks on the crucial task of hiring a new superintendent for our school district, I would like to express a heartfelt concern about overpaying a new superintendent like some of the other districts in the Valley. I urge the school board to remember that the backbone of any thriving school district lies in its educators.
A well-compensated and motivated teaching staff is essential for maintaining a positive and effective learning environment, ultimately contributing to the overall excellence of our school district.
Students are released at Sharyland High School on Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2022, in Mission. (Joel Martinez | [email protected])
Please remember that teachers and staff have not been given a raise in many years. While the selection of a superintendent is undoubtedly a crucial decision, it is equally important not to lose sight of the invaluable contributions our teachers make every day.
Let us ensure that the financial resources allocated are distributed for teachers and staff raises.
Anthony Limon
Mission
Shelter decision draws criticism
Now that the city of Harlingen has ended the relationship between the city and the Humane Society, they want to build a new shelter. Even while they operate out of the current dilapidated facility, there will be astronomical costs that they have not communicated to the taxpayers. Seems they are putting the cart before the horse.
They have the facility, 11 staff salaries, plus benefits, maintenance, utilities, liability insurance, transportation, a veterinarian, costs of services such as spay and neuter, vaccinations and chipping, office equipment, computers, printers, medical equipment, medicines, food for the animals, crates, toys, leashes, pest control, grooming supplies, cleaning supplies, equipment for special needs animals, the list goes on and on. The city has no idea of the costs involved in running a shelter.
How much of our money will they contribute to operations this time around? They want to hire 11 employees for an animal shelter at a cost of approximately $366,000. That’s just payroll.
Taxpayers have not yet been informed of the price tag of operating the shelter, much less the costs to build a new shelter. A $400,000 contribution to the Humane Society was one thing. Building, maintaining and operating a multimillion-dollar animal shelter is quite another.
A view of the facade of the Rio Grande Valley Humane Society in Harlingen in Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2023. (Miguel Roberts | The Brownsville Herald)
There has been no discussion outside their announcement and rendering of a new shelter. There have been no votes by the commission to undertake the construction and operation of a new shelter. The city just decided to go forward.
Has anyone asked the public if they are willing to spend their tax dollars on a new multimillion-dollar animal shelter? As wonderful as a new facility may sound, we still have to pay for it. Has a ballot initiative been discussed?
Before they spend, spend, spend, shouldn’t there be a feasibility study or cost analysis to present to the taxpayers? Where will the money come from? They can continuously amend the budget, but they still have to pay for it, and in a city of 70,000 people they will be way out over their skis.
Taxpayers, it’s your money. Transparency alert! Let’s see the price tag.
DawnRae Sealy-Leonard
Harlingen
Do your research
As a very young letter writer 20 years ago, I got blasted for criticizing President Bush. “Another America-hating leftist comes calling,” one responder said.
Wasn’t much internet access back then, so the TV people colored my political world view. All I knew was that Democrats were the good folks. They were given such glowing praise and adulation by pundits, how could you disagree?
Years passed, hard delving and their eroding of my BS detector, and I woke up.
Recent national polling found that only 3.2% college professors identify as Republican. Another recent study found college undergraduates to test almost exact average IQ as non-collegians. Correlation? The prevailing wisdom of today’s leftist is “settled science,” and to never question or rebuke the trusted authorities. Human advancement has never unfolded this way. Reinterpretation and expounding upon academic and scientific dogma is always necessary. In 2021, CNN’s Brian Stelter said four words — “do your own research” — were sabotaging the government’s COVID efforts. “The problem is that most people simply don’t know how to do their own research,” CNN claimed. So we’re too stupid to self-educate, then? Got it. Suffice to say, most of the pandemic protocols were disastrous failures.
The moral being, be more than just a filter-less propaganda retainer. Delve, inquire and challenge prevailing narratives. Do your own research. Take a peek outside your trusted echo chamber, branch out. You’ll grow exponentially, both personally and civically.
Jamey Honaker
Primera
Government called rogue
When our federal government chooses to impose against the states illegal migration that will hurt every state in our nation, that’s a rogue government.
The federal government is not our boss, king or dictator.
We have a federal government out of control. The federal government was meant to unite the states and the nation, not to divide a nation. This division today has turned America into chaos from our east coast to our west coast.
The problem is in our state representatives in Washington, D.C., who feel entitled due to their position, four decades long for some. They created a gang of thugs ruling over the states and feel untouchable and above the law.
The states need to rethink and readjust the role of our federal government. We cannot sit idle and let the federal government rule like a king without question on laws and decisions that affect all 50 states
There are millions of refugees all over the world because of U.S. wars for profit.
The U.S. government has a heavy hand in starving people in the Third World and killing people for profit.
We witness the half-million dead in Ukraine, because Joe Biden and Victoria Nuland chose not to continue the U.S. historic assurance to Russia that NATO nukes would not threaten Russia.
Some 30,000 dead in Gaza from U.S. bombs and counting, because Biden doesn’t care how many people he kills.
Time to stand up yet?
Review Martin Luther King’s sermon on Vietnam. U.S. mass murder is not new.
Tom Laney
Mercedes
Cheney’s concerns
Former Congresswoman Liz Cheney poses backstage before her conversation with David Rubenstein at the 92nd Street Y on Monday, June 26, 2023, in New York. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP)
The following are excerpts are from Liz Cheney’s best seller “Oath and Honor, A Memoir and a warning.”
“When we had a presentation on recent polling results, I asked about Trump’s favorability numbers among independent voters. I didn’t get a response. Any discussion of Trump that could be perceived as negative was clearly avoided. Only praise could be offered.”
“The discussion turned to social media and big tech. In the aftermath of January 6, Trump had been kicked off multiple social media platforms. Certain others who had amplified Trump’s false claims were also deplatformed. As (Kevin) McCarthy discussed conservative speech being silenced online, he claimed that the online platform Parler had been shut down simply because it was conservative.
“Parler’s online platform was shut down because users of the site were calling for violence, including political assassinations and Parler had failed to remove the posts, including the following:
>> “This cu** (United States Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao) should be hung for betraying their country.”
>> “Hang this mofo (Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger) today.”
>> “We are coming with our list we know where you live we know who you are and we are coming for you and it starts on the 6th civil war…..Lol if you think it’s a joke….Enjoy your last few days you have.”
>> “We need to act like our forefathers did Kill (Black and Jewish people) all Leave no victims or survivors.”
>> “After the firing squads are done with the politicians the teachers are next.”
>> “Shoot the police that protect these sh—bag senators right in the head then make the senator grovel a bit before capping they ass.”
>> We are going to fight in a civil War on Jan. 20th, Form MILITIAS now and acquire targets.”
>> White people need to ignite their racial identity and rain down suffering and death like a hurricane upon Zionists. ”Parler’s online.”
“The impact of this lie was especially toxic. It was not lost on those who had been posting racist, anti-Semitic, hate-filled calls for violence on Parler that Trump and his Republican supporters were defending them. The lie also fed the anger of Trump supporters who believed they were being silenced because of their political beliefs. After January 6, Kevin told us he was receiving FBI briefings about the serious threats of violence against members of Congress. At the time, he had admonished all House Republicans not to fan the flames of this potential political violence. Now he was doing it himself.”
Italo J. Zarate
Brownsville
Don’t blame Nancy Pelosi
Duane Rasmussen criticizes Nancy Pelosi for not calling out the National Guard to put down the riots at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 (Jan. 16 13). No speaker of the House, Democrat or Republican, has the authority to call out the Guard.
Guard units stationed throughout the country are under the control of the respective governors where those units are stationed, except when nationalized by the president. And, except the unit stationed in the District of Columbia. The unit in the District of Columbia is under the exclusive control of the president of the United States.
Following the riot, there were numerous articles that stated that the vice president and others pleaded with the president to call out the Guard, and of course he refused to do so.
I know Pelosi is a favorite punching target, but don’t blame her for not doing what she had no authority to do.
Melchor Chavez
Harlingen
Lacking knowledge
A song from the 1960s starts, “Don’t know much about history ….” The song features a young man who hasn’t paid much attention in school but has figured out which girl he wants to be with.
Ironically, the song writer’s admission is true of even those boomers and subsequent generations of public-school students who did pay attention in school. American elementary and secondary education went into a free fall after World War II, as plummeting SAT scores attested.
In an even more serious irony, what was taught in American public education was always intended to be just a starting point for life-long learning. Today, Americans are committed to life-long entertainment instead.
When our knowledge of history slides into the abyss, it turns out that it is not just government and politics we are clueless about. What we believe about God and religion, war and peace, business and law, family and science is weak or outright wrong as well.
The songwriter Sam Cooke knew he was ignorant. We don’t even know that.
Kimball Shinkoskey
Woods Cross, Utah
Referendum on secession
Buried in the Texas Election Code, Section 172.088, is a statute that was passed in 1985 that allowed voters, by petition, to place a ballot proposition on a political party’s primary election ballot.
A referendum is a non-binding survey of registered Texas voters. The referendum is first created by a sponsor and then presented to the public by way of a petition. The requirements are twofold. The first is that a minimum number of signatures are needed to approve the petition. The number required this year is 97,709 signatures. The second requirement is that the petitions be delivered to the Republican GOP offices no later than 6 p.m. on Dec. 11, 2023.
Roughly six months ago, the Texas Nationalist Movement (TNM) sponsored a petition to place the following referendum on the March 2024 Republican primary ballot: “Texas should reassert its status as an independent nation.” Yes or no. This is nothing more than survey of WeThePeople (Texas voters).
TNM gathered 139,456 signatures (audited). These were delivered to the GOP headquarters six hours prior to the deadline specified in the statute.
It is quite obvious that the Republican Party committee is afraid of what the results of this survey may show. Texans are fed up with the members of government who continue to blatantly break and bypass the law (Constitution) — i.e., criminals. When submitted, Matt Rinaldi, chairman of the GOP committee, rejected the petition based on a twisted and irrational interpretation of the lawful statute, thus denying WeThePeople from submitting an opinion very important to the people of Texas.
TNM is now suing the Texas GOP organization. If this situation alarms you, as it should, I would ask you to take action by contacting your state representatives. Further, submit a protest to www.Texasgop.org/contact.
Jack Baker
Boerne
Nation haters
America haters would never win the presidency in the future, when their hate brought undeserving tyranny, weaponization, economic destruction, character and racism calumnies, suffering and immeasurable pain to good, trusting and hardworking Americans.
Imelda Coronado
Mission
Editorial derided
It happened again. This newspaper published another comment knocking the efforts of our governor, from the Houston Chronicle. Obviously, the Chronicle offers no support to Gov. Greg Abbott for anything, just as the Valley newspaper gang continues to knock him for every move he makes.
The latest attack of Gov. Abbott in the issue of Jan. 17 concerned the action of the governor to close the park in Eagle Pass that was being used as a collection point for illegals. The order to close the park was intended to make it just a bit more difficult for those crossing the river illegally to take up residence in the U.S. And strong Democrat and Joe Biden cohort, U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, was singled out for his predictable support of the do-nothing party as Cuellar misstated, or was outright lying, when he accused Abbott of allowing three people to drown by not letting U.S. Border Patrol agents enter the park to save them.
The problem is that we understand the drownings took place before help of any kind could reach them. And so it goes. Stories get twisted to make the Republican look bad.
Sure, it’s a tragedy, Rep. Cuellar and Houston Chronicle, but don’t look past President Biden and his administration for fault. Check back at the illegal problem while President Donald Trump was in office and contrast that record with what Biden has done since Day One of his administration. Leave Texas alone. None of the problem with illegals can lie in the lap of Texas or Gov. Abbott.
How about placing the fault of the drownings in the hands of those who drowned, who made the unwise decision to try to come here illegally? And the same question can be asked for those illegals who run into the barbed wire or floating balls. They are put there as a warning to not come into our country illegally. Only a supreme dolt takes the chance to surmount obstacles that are telling them to stay away.
We as a nation are suffering a silent and weaponless invasion, yet still an invasion. It is the great quantity of people overwhelming our ability to handle them that is threatening our existence as a nation. Cuellar thinks both parties can sit down and reach a solution. That is impossible as long as the radical socialist segment of our society continues to espouse its no-borders policy with open doors to all.
Gov. Abbott’s letter to the president that the liberals and the Chronicle seem to despise was only telling the truth. My contacts around the country support our governor and wish him even greater success in keeping the illegals out. They don’t want them in their back yards. Get the message, Rep. Cuellar and all of your tribe.
Duane Rasmussen
Laguna Vista
Trump judge
Aileen Cannon was nominated to be a U.S. district judge by Donald Trump on his way out of office in 2020. Now, she’s overseeing Trump’s classified documents case in Florida, and she’s doing everything in her power to delay the trial until after the election and let Trump off the hook.
MAGA Republicans have infiltrated deeply into America’s legal system.
Ned Sheats
Mission
Editor’s note: We welcome your letters and commentary. Submissions must include the writer’s full name, address and daytime telephone number for verification. Letters of 200 words or fewer will be given preference. Submissions may be edited for length, grammar and clarity. Letters may be mailed to P.O Box 3267, McAllen, Texas 78502-3267, or emailed to [email protected].
Barbed wire stretches along the Rio Grande on the United States side of the border to prevent the passage of undocumented migrants in Eagle Pass on Thursday, June 2, 2022. (Lola Gomez/Dallas Morning News/TNS)
By David G. Savage | Los Angeles Times (TNS)
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ruled for the Biden administration in a 5-4 vote Monday and said Border Patrol agents may cut barbed wire installed by Texas authorities that prevents them from patrolling areas along the Rio Grande.
The justices set aside an order handed down by the 5th Circuit Court that prohibited Border Patrol agents from “damaging, destroying, or otherwise interfering with Texas’s concertina wire fence in the vicinity of Eagle Pass, Texas.”
Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr., Neil M. Gorsuch and Brett M. Kavanaugh dissented.
U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar had appealed to the Supreme Court on behalf of the Department of Homeland Security and argued that the Constitution gives federal agents, not state officials, the power to enforce the law along the border.
“Federal law unambiguously grants Border Patrol agents the authority, without a warrant, to access private land within 25 miles of the international border,” she said in Department of Homeland Security vs. Texas.
Prelogar said that Texas has responded to “increased border crossings” by placing “rolls of concertina wire (a type of coiled razor wire) in numerous locations, including as relevant here along a 29-mile stretch of the riverbank in Eagle Pass, much of which is private land,” she said.
The wire coils “stand between Border Patrol agents and the border and the noncitizens along the border they are charged with inspecting and apprehending — thus physically obstructing agents from fulfilling their responsibilities under federal law.”
That in turn prompted “agents [to] cut or move the wire in some circumstances,” Prelogar said.
She argued the Texas policy and the court order that upheld it conflict with the “foundational constitutional principle that the federal government is not bound by the laws or policies of any particular state in its enactment and implementation of federal law.”
Texas officials argued the barbed wire “serves as a deterrent — an effective one at that” causing illegal border crossings to drop significantly. They described the Eagle Pass area as “the epicenter of the present migrant influx: nearly a quarter of migrant entries into the United States happen there.”
A federal judge cited photos that showed columns of migrants leaving the river area and said the Border Patrol cut the wire “for no apparent purpose other than to allow migrants easier entrance further inland.”
But Border Patrol agents aiding the migrants were walking inland to a processing center.
Shortly after the Biden administration appealed to the high court, a woman and two of her children drowned trying to cross the river.
The Border Patrol said its agents had been blocked from getting to the river to help with a rescue, but Texas officials said the deaths had been reported before the federal agents arrived.
Clouds linger over Tony Butler Golf Course in Harlingen Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2023, as Tropical Storm Harold made landfall impacting coastal regions from Port Mansfield north to Corpus Christi. (Miguel Roberts/The Brownsville Herald)
Water stands in a field off Old Military Highway in Brownsville on Monday, Jan. 22, 2024. (Miguel Roberts | The Brownsville Herald)
Rio Grande Valley residents can anticipate a return to normal temperatures with a slight chance for some additional rain this week, according to the National Weather Service in Brownsville.
National Weather Service Lead Forecaster Rick Hallman said that most of the rain from Sunday evening and the early morning had already dissipated.
“We’ve got a couple more shots of (rain), possibly late tonight and into Tuesday,” Hallman said. “Again, maybe late Tuesday into Wednesday. There’s a small chance Thursday. Overall it doesn’t look like any big rain, but at least a chance pretty much everyday through Thursday.”
As for the cold weather that lingered for most of last week, Hallman said that temperatures should return to normal this week.
Ducks gather by a resaca at Texas Southmost College in Brownsville on Monday, Jan. 22, 2024. (Miguel Roberts | The Brownsville Herald)
“There’s no cold weather to speak of, really,” Hallman said. “Temperatures tomorrow get back to above average, and remain above average Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.”
There could still be some cooler temperatures in the mornings, but temperatures will reach the upper-70’s throughout the week in the afternoons.
“It may be a little bit cool Thursday, Friday mornings and Saturday mornings, but nowhere near where we were,” Hallman explained. “It’s kind of a quiet weather week. We’re trying to get back to what’s normal, almost more of a spring pattern.”
Tax preparation volunteers Ashley Arizmendi, middle, and Guadalupe Hernandez discuss a tax question while assisting a client at the Texas Southmost College VITA site on Monday, Jan. 22, 2024. (Courtesy: United Way of Southern Cameron County)
Tax preparation volunteers Ashley Arizmendi, middle, and Guadalupe Hernandez discuss a tax question while assisting a client at the Texas Southmost College VITA site on Monday, Jan. 22, 2024. (Courtesy: United Way of Southern Cameron County)
The first of the year means tax season is here and the United Way of Southern Cameron County is cranking up its Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program.
A free service for individuals and families earning less than $64,000 annually, VITA last year filed more than 5,000 tax returns and returned more than $2.8 million in Earned Income Tax Credits and more than $1.7 million in Child Tax Credits to local taxpayers, according to UWSCC.
Nine VITA sites will be available in Brownsville, two in Harlingen, two in Los Fresnos, and one each in La Feria, Port Isabel and San Benito at various dates and times from late January through most of tax season. Some sites are appointment-only. Others will accept walk-ins.
The VITA site at Texas Southmost College ITECC, 301 Mexico Blvd., F-6 has already launched. The site will be offering appointment-only tax preparation through April 17.
For complete information on VITA sites in the Rio Grande Valley, hours and dates of dates of operation, and phone numbers for making appointments if necessary, call 211 or visit 211texas.org.
UWSCC is holding a special event on Jan. 31 at Porter Early College High School recognizing its early participation in the VITA program. Porter hosted its first VITA site in 2009 under the guidance of former teacher Alberto Velez. That first year, student volunteers prepared 103 tax returns, secured $256,232 in credits for filers and pioneered VITA at the high school level.
Porter’s VITA program is now under the guidance of business teacher Michelle Solis, who will be presented with an award by Velez during the Jan. 31 ceremony. Solis said she’s grateful for the opportunity to help her students gain their Tax Preparation Certification — necessary to be a VITA volunteer — with the support of UWSCC and the IRS.
“Not only do they get this lifelong skill, but they also get the chance to help the community in preparing their taxes for free,” she said. “We live in an area where many families are living paycheck to paycheck, and having these services available to them on campus has helped them tremendously. Our students have learned many necessary skills such as tax laws, business clerical skills and customer service that will help them forever.”
The Rio Grande Valley Diabetes Association will host “Let’s Make a Valentine’s Day Wreath” at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 23, at the RGVDA office, 3200 N. 23rd St., Suite A, in McAllen.
The event is free for persons with diabetes, and $5 for non-diabetics, which includes supplies for the wreath.
Victor Godinez, 28, walks in to the courtroom after a bathroom break as he stands trial for the death of Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Moises Sanchez in the 389th state District Count on Monday, Jan. 8, 2024, in Edinburg. (Joel Martinez | [email protected])
EDINBURG — After 10 days of testimony against the 28-year-old Edinburg man accused of shooting Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Moises Sanchez, defense attorneys rested their case.
Victor Alejandro Godinez, who is facing the death penalty if convicted, is charged with one count of capital murder of a peace officer and two counts of attempted capital murder of a peace officer after he allegedly shot at two Edinburg police officers during his manhunt with a Smith & Wesson .357 magnum revolver.
On Monday, Godinez stated he would not testify.
On April 6, 2019, Sanchez responded to a car crash at the intersection of 10th Street and Freddy Gonzalez Drive allegedly involving Godinez who then fled the scene.
Sanchez pursued and found Godinez walking through an Edinburg neighborhood barefoot when he then allegedly shot Sanchez in the shoulder and head.
Godinez later told investigators that he was drunk during the incident and couldn’t remember parts of it.
Sanchez died months later in August after a surgery conducted in order to replace his destroyed bone flap in Houston.
Defense Attorney Jaime Aleman asked state District Judge Letty Lopez to revisit a talk he and attorney O. Rene Flores had with Godinez regarding his testimony on Friday after prosecutors rested. Aleman asked Godinez before the court if he would like to testify to which he said “no.”
Lopez asked both the state and defense if they’d like to continue to which both stated they’re resting their cases.
She then told the jurors they’d be dismissed for the day as she would be taking the rest of the day to prepare the jury charge for deliberation.
Court will resume Tuesday morning where the defense and state prosecutors will have the opportunity to present their closing arguments.
Editor’s note: This story was been updated for clarity.
Daniel Riano, a third-semester Cybersecurity student at TSTC, watches a video introduction about networking during a recent lab session. (Courtesy: Texas State Technical College/TSTC)
Daniel Riano, a third-semester Cybersecurity student at TSTC, watches a video introduction about networking during a recent lab session. (Courtesy: Texas State Technical College/TSTC)
HARLINGEN — Just as ancient castles had to be protected against invaders, modern computer networks are vulnerable to cyberattacks.
That is where Texas State Technical College’s Cybersecurity program comes in.
Alejandro Alcoser is a Cybersecurity instructor at TSTC’s Harlingen campus. He said the program can prepare students for a rewarding career.
“Beginner students will take courses such as Fundamentals of Networking Technologies, Introduction to Digital Forensics, and Personal Computer Hardware,” he said. “Advanced students will take courses such as Information Technology Security, Intrusion Detection, and Security Assessment and Auditing.”
Alcoser added that cybersecurity technology has become more complex.
“There are more ways for a company to get hacked,” he said. “Now companies look to hire a skilled professional with the knowledge, skills and experience in a specific information technology area to mitigate a cyberattack.”
Alcoser cited an example of a cyberattack that led to better safeguards.
“A baby monitor was hacked because it didn’t have any security features,” he said. “That gave a hacker access to look at the inside of somebody’s home. Now new baby monitor models have enhanced security capabilities.”
Daniel Riano, of Harlingen, is studying for a certificate of completion in Cybersecurity.
“We’re going to learn how to set up and configure internet protocol,” he said. “I’m curious to know how it coincides with networking operating systems.”
TSTC offers an Associate of Applied Science degree and two certificates of completion in Cybersecurity, and an advanced technology certificate in Digital Forensics Specialist.
According to onetonline.org, digital forensics analysts in Texas can earn a median salary of $83,340 a year. The website projected that there would be a 20% increase in such jobs in the state from 2020 to 2030.
The Dome of the U.S. Capitol Building at sunset seen from Upper Senate Park in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023. (Andrew Harnik/AP Photo)
Three months have passed since Hamas terrorists launched a violent attack on the state of Israel. They entered the country by land, air and sea. They murdered babies and children. They took more than 200 hostages to use as bargaining chips. They raped, tortured and beheaded civilians, and filmed it all for the world to see.
I recently returned from a trip to Israel, where my Senate colleagues and I were shown excerpts of the disturbing footage. We witnessed only a fragment of horrors Israel endured that day, but it emphasized the devastation that has permeated the people of Israel and Jews around the world over the past three months.
For Israel, this attack is similar to what our country experienced on Sept. 11, 2001, when nearly 3,000 innocent lives were stolen by terrorists. Israel is much smaller than the United States, and the Oct. 7 attack would be equivalent to roughly 36,000 Americans dying on 9/11 — an absolutely unimaginable thought.
In the days following the Oct. 7 attack, I met with members of Texas’ Jewish community at Temple Emanu-El in Dallas. Despite living thousands of miles away from the war, each person I spoke to had a personal connection to the attack. Many had friends and loved ones who were kidnapped or killed by the terrorists, or children who are in the Israeli army fighting on the front lines of the war.
That same sense of mourning and shock was evident on the face of every person I spoke with in Israel recently, especially the families of those who are still being held hostage by Hamas. Our conversations highlighted the vast divide between the two sides of this conflict. This is not a battle between two nations — this a war between good and evil.
Hamas’ victims are not limited to the people of Israel, but also innocent Palestinians in Gaza. For years the group has used charitable donations to build weapons and tunnels while the people of Gaza live in poverty. In addition, the terrorist group has a long history of using Palestinian civilians as human shields. Terrorists operate from a vast network of tunnels beneath Gaza, often sheltering beneath hospitals, schools and clinics because they know Israel will not target these locations. Hamas knowingly places innocent people between terrorists and incoming rockets.
Sadly, the evil the world witnessed on Oct. 7 is not limited to Hamas — it is shared by terrorist organizations throughout the Middle East, and Iran is the head of the octopus. Its tentacles of terror extend throughout the region and threaten to destabilize the Middle East and possibly start a much larger war.
Iran provides Hamas and other terrorist proxies with funding, weapons and training to enable attacks like the one in Israel, and they are working around the clock to export terror. Iranian-led proxies in Iraq and Syria are attacking U.S. forces, Hezbollah is launching constant assaults on northern Israel, and the Houthis are disrupting global commerce and freedom of navigation from their bases in Yemen.
The outcome of this war is about the future of Israel, but it’s also about the future of Iran. If Hamas emerges from this war with nothing more than a black eye, it will send a message to Iran and its terrorist proxies that their war against Israel and the West is worthwhile.
Since the initial attack on Oct. 7, the United States has stood strongly and proudly in support of Israel — one of our closest allies — and the only democracy in the Middle East. We’ve provided military assistance and repeatedly affirmed that Israel has a right and responsibility to defend itself.
In the Senate, there’s a bipartisan push to provide additional aid to Israel, and I hope we can do that soon. Additional assistance is crucial to not only the future of the Jewish state but also the stability of the region. We need to act soon to ensure Israel has the resources it needs to defeat Hamas and confront the growing threat from Iran.
Israel deserves America’s unequivocal support, and my latest visit to Israel affirmed that we must do more to support our closest friend in the Middle East.
John Cornyn, R-San Antonio, represents Texas in the U.S. Senate.
MCALLEN ROWE
PSJA SOUTHWEST 8, VALLEY VIEW 0
EDCOUCH-ELSA
BROWNSVILLE VETERANS 8, BROWNSVILLE LOPEZ 0
HARLINGEN SOUTH
BROWNSVILLE PORTER
Commentary: U.S. must support Israel, deter Iran from further violence
Three months have passed since Hamas terrorists launched a violent attack on the state of Israel. They entered the country by land, air and sea. They murdered babies and children. They took more than 200 hostages to use as bargaining chips. They raped, tortured and beheaded civilians, and filmed it all for the world to see.
I recently returned from a trip to Israel, where my Senate colleagues and I were shown excerpts of the disturbing footage. We witnessed only a fragment of horrors Israel endured that day, but it emphasized the devastation that has permeated the people of Israel and Jews around the world over the past three months.
For Israel, this attack is similar to what our country experienced on Sept. 11, 2001, when nearly 3,000 innocent lives were stolen by terrorists. Israel is much smaller than the United States, and the Oct. 7 attack would be equivalent to roughly 36,000 Americans dying on 9/11 — an absolutely unimaginable thought.
In the days following the Oct. 7 attack, I met with members of Texas’ Jewish community at Temple Emanu-El in Dallas. Despite living thousands of miles away from the war, each person I spoke to had a personal connection to the attack. Many had friends and loved ones who were kidnapped or killed by the terrorists, or children who are in the Israeli army fighting on the front lines of the war.
That same sense of mourning and shock was evident on the face of every person I spoke with in Israel recently, especially the families of those who are still being held hostage by Hamas. Our conversations highlighted the vast divide between the two sides of this conflict. This is not a battle between two nations — this a war between good and evil.
Hamas’ victims are not limited to the people of Israel, but also innocent Palestinians in Gaza. For years the group has used charitable donations to build weapons and tunnels while the people of Gaza live in poverty. In addition, the terrorist group has a long history of using Palestinian civilians as human shields. Terrorists operate from a vast network of tunnels beneath Gaza, often sheltering beneath hospitals, schools and clinics because they know Israel will not target these locations. Hamas knowingly places innocent people between terrorists and incoming rockets.
Sadly, the evil the world witnessed on Oct. 7 is not limited to Hamas — it is shared by terrorist organizations throughout the Middle East, and Iran is the head of the octopus. Its tentacles of terror extend throughout the region and threaten to destabilize the Middle East and possibly start a much larger war.
Iran provides Hamas and other terrorist proxies with funding, weapons and training to enable attacks like the one in Israel, and they are working around the clock to export terror. Iranian-led proxies in Iraq and Syria are attacking U.S. forces, Hezbollah is launching constant assaults on northern Israel, and the Houthis are disrupting global commerce and freedom of navigation from their bases in Yemen.
The outcome of this war is about the future of Israel, but it’s also about the future of Iran. If Hamas emerges from this war with nothing more than a black eye, it will send a message to Iran and its terrorist proxies that their war against Israel and the West is worthwhile.
Since the initial attack on Oct. 7, the United States has stood strongly and proudly in support of Israel — one of our closest allies — and the only democracy in the Middle East. We’ve provided military assistance and repeatedly affirmed that Israel has a right and responsibility to defend itself.
In the Senate, there’s a bipartisan push to provide additional aid to Israel, and I hope we can do that soon. Additional assistance is crucial to not only the future of the Jewish state but also the stability of the region. We need to act soon to ensure Israel has the resources it needs to defeat Hamas and confront the growing threat from Iran.
Israel deserves America’s unequivocal support, and my latest visit to Israel affirmed that we must do more to support our closest friend in the Middle East.
John Cornyn, R-San Antonio, represents Texas in the U.S. Senate.