This month, we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Boy Scouts of America. When a boy takes the Scout Oath, he promises on his honor to do his best, to do his duty to God and his country and to obey the Scout Law. For 100 years, Scouting has prepared young boys to become leaders to give them the tools to become good citizens of this great nation.
It is fitting that we celebrate this joyous holiday season as the calendar comes to a close. It gives us a chance to reflect on the many blessings we’ve enjoyed over the past year. The greatest gift nearly all of us experience is the comfort, support, and love of our families.
More than 235 years ago, American patriots fed up with the taxes being levied on colonists by the British government held one of the first and most famous political protests.
Baseball is a game of inches. If the placement of a pitch is even slightly off, it could mean the difference between a home run and a strikeout. Similarly, writing laws requires precision. The smallest modification in the wording of a bill can alter the entire meaning of the legislation and change its impact on communities and taxpayers.
In the past week, millions of Iranian citizens have taken to the streets protesting the election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, saying it was a sham. Iranian leaders blame foreign influence for this unrest.
At the time, President Clinton insisted it was the best agreement possible and preferable to war. In a column I wrote in 1995, I raised concerns that this appeasement strategy bore insufficient safeguards and, by rewarding North Korea's bad behavior, we were sending a message that the United States would capitulate to nuclear blackmail.
Over the past year, we have seen gas prices spike to record levels followed by the deepest economic downturn in a generation. These events illustrate how our energy priorities and economic challenges are tightly intertwined.
In the aftermath of the attempted bombing of Northwest Flight 253 to Detroit, it is clear that America’s current aviation security measures did not work on Christmas day. The initial review concluded that if our intelligence analysts had pieced together the information available, there would have been sufficient grounds to place the attempted bomber on the terrorist watch-list.
Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling that affirmed the Second Amendment right to bear arms as an individual, protected right. In D.C v. Heller, the court declared that the District of Columbia’s ban on handguns was an unconstitutional restriction on that right.
In a rite of passage hundreds of years old, Texas families from Harlingen to Amarillo are hugging their children as they head back to school.
The most important issue facing our country today is health care reform. Like many of my colleagues, I believe that health care reform should be done in a careful, constructive, and bipartisan way. Unfortunately, the Democrats’ health care reform proposals meet none of those standards.
On January 1, 1954, Americans from coast to coast witnessed the first nationwide colorcast when the Tournament of Roses Parade was aired in vivid Technicolor. This broadcast marked the arrival of the color television, something Americans have now enjoyed for over half a century.
The fabric of Texas’ rich history is woven with legendary stories of sacrifice and remarkable acts of valor. From the battle of the Alamo, when Colonel William Barret Travis and his men stood their ground, declaring “no retreat, no surrender” and sacrificed all for the freedom of their nation – to the young men and women who are laying down their lives on foreign battlefields today – generation after generation, our state’s men and women have exhibited the indomitable Texas spirit of service and patriotism.
Listening is often the most important part of a conversation. That is why in my weekly column at the beginning of this year, as Americans welcomed a new President and a new Congress, I invited Texans to share their opinions with me on the most critical issues facing our state and nation.
