When My Country & State My Community Political Party Called I Answered
Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN Texas Each morning I wake up
I have a few moments of Christian reflection reading my Bible and praying for Gods forgiveness. Then I reflect on how proud I am to represent four counties in East Texas. Whether it is church the military public education or the Texas Legislature I have a record of service and I am humbled and honored for the opportunities to serve.
A few days ago the Hardin County Republican Womens Club held there monthly meeting. One of the guest speakers that evening was my primary opponent State Representative Michael Hamilton. During his remarks he strangely insinuated that because I have lived in Southeast Texas since 2005 and my place of birth is Houston my candidacy is not worthy of consideration by the voters.
I respect my opponents legacy in Southeast Texas but I am a citizen of the United States and Texas and my personal journey of service has led me throughout our great state and nation and around the world. Yes I am a native of Houston Texas and that is where my passion of public service began. I was involved in church the Boy Scouts and I even worked on political campaigns.
During my first year in high school the American people elected Ronald Reagan. I was inspired by his message to revive American greatness by promoting traditional family values reviving our national economy and restoring our stature in the world by rebuilding
our military strength.
President Reagans agenda appealed to me because it involved the basic values I grew up around. My parents and grandparents stressed hard work and good Christian living and I had grandfathers and uncles that served our nation in every major conflict of the 20th century.
Reagans leadership and my families example encouraged me to serve our country in uniform. I joined my high schools Army ROTC unit and with good grades and participating in other extracurricular activities I won an Army ROTC college scholarship. My nation my president called and I answered the challenge to confront and defeat the evil empire of the communist Soviet Union.
So therefore my desire to serve my country led me to Prairie View A & M University for four years where I studied Political Science and Military Science. In both of these academic endeavors I found continued value in service. My political science studies focused on case studies in leadership and service and in my military studies especially I honed my skills in leadership and warfare so that I would be an effective warfighter and honor the service and sacrifices of the men and women that our nation would charge me to lead.
Upon graduation the United States Congress that is people of the United States awarded me a commission in the United States Army as an Infantry officer. This chapter of service led me to Fort Benning Georgia for the Infantry Officer Basic Course and other training and then for Berlin Germany.
When I arrived for service in Berlin in 1987 it was at the height of the Cold War and the infamous Berlin Wall still ringed around the city and divided West and East freedom and communism respectively.
Because of the unsettled peace after WW II Berlin was divided among the the WW II allied powers: the United States Britain France and the Soviet Union. And in 1987 I saw firsthand the ruthlessness of communism and the lethality of the Soviet Union and often during my service in Berlin I had to review my units war plans and I even had to frequently
go to downtown Berlin and inspect my probable defensive position in the event of a Soviet attack.
But my opportunity to serve my nation provided many instructive points. One came in just a couple of months into my Berlin tour. In June of 1987 I saw President Ronald Reagan exhibit strong principled tried and true conservative leadership and stand at the Brandenburg Gates in the center of Berlin and challenged the Soviet leader of the evil empire Mikhail Gorbachev that if he was really serious about freedom and peace he would tear down this wall. President Reagan continued to ensure that our military was well-equipped and high-trained. Gorbachev and the Soviets did not tear down the wall but by 1989 because of the strong principled tried and true conservative leadership of Reagan the people of Berlin East German and West German tore the wall down and chose freedom.
Even while the U.S. forces were mainly focused on countering Soviet aggression in Berlin firsthand my troops and I had to confront Middle Eastern-sponsored terrorism. At times we had to provide an armed escort for our childrens school buses to counter Muslim-inspired terrorists threats. When I arrived in Berlin in 1987 the Cold War was ensuing a hot war was still a possibility and communism enslaved half of Europe. When I departed Berlin due to the leadership of President Ronald Reagan and the sacrifice of many Americans in uniform the Berlin Wall was no more freedom began to sweep across Eastern Europe and the demise of the Soviet Union was a reality and communism was a defeated and discredited system.
After three years in Europe my Army service brought me back home to the U.S. for more advanced Infantry officer training at Fort Benning Georgia. And I was involved in developing training and tactics at the Infantry School. After six years of service in the United States Army I honorably discharged and opened another chapter of public service: public education.
I returned to Houston Texas and while visiting the neighborhood I grew up in some friends asked me to consider returning to my junior high school as a classroom teacher and football and basketball coach. I took them up on this offer and it turned into a 17-year period of service developing and mentoring Texas most precious gift: our children.
When you make a commitment to serve our children in the classroom and on the fields of competition that often leads you to different communities because over a period of time coaches specialize in different facets of a particular sport. For me I developed a passion for middle school and sub-varsity programs because my passion in education was development and mentoring. My service even included traveling throughout Texas and officiating youth football basketball and baseball games.
So therefore my service in public teaching included four school districts in four different cities in four different counties in Texas. See when you serve you dont necessarily pick and choose where you want to go. You go where you are needed to roll up your sleeves not where you think someone will roll out a red carpet.
Now my heroes are my grandparents Jethro and Georgia White. Together they didnt have a high school education but they were God-fearing and industrious. And when I would visit them in rural East Texas I saw that they enjoyed and valued the right of private property ownership. And they inspired me and I would often say that I would grow up one day and be just like grandpa and grandma and own some land and cows. Well in 2005 I had the opportunity to make good on this Texas dream. I had saved and worked hard just like my grandparents. Usually we would say go West young man but in my case I came east to East Texas.
When I arrived to Tyler County in July of 2005 a couple of months later along with my new neighbors I experienced Hurricane Rita and then Hurricane Ike a few summers later. I have experienced the frustration of going to the cattle auction barn and seemingly not even getting a price that covers the cost of the feed. I am experiencing the drought cycle. As a public school teacher I have taught cried laughed and hugged our children.
In 2009 after much discussion with East Texans I offered myself for another round of service this time for the Texas Legislature. Yes I guess I could have waited until I lived in East Texas for another decade but in 2009 with a national government running roughshod over the Constitution taking over large swaths of means of production regulating and taxing Americans to the poor house my students exhibiting anxiety over their future.
The government was seemingly going out of its way undermining our tried and true conservative values. Local ranchers farmers plumbers and school teachers worrying how they would pay increasing rates of property taxes. School finance plans and business taxes passed by previous Texas Legislatures had defunded our classrooms and bankrupted our small businesses. The United States Texas which is my house and your house was on fire and when your house is on fire you dont wait you dont look around to see who is coming you dont ponder about how long you have lived in the house you rush and get the garden hose and start putting the fire out.
Again I respect my opponents personal history of living all of his life in one or two counties near I-10 East. But his logic would suggest that if Davy Crockett would have survived the valiant stand at the Alamo and Texas Independence he would not be worthy of voter consideration because Crockett didnt arrive with the original 300 families that settled in Texas. Or does the gentlemans logic suggests that if our brave men and women choose to live in Southeast Texas after serving in Iraq or Afghanistan are somehow inadequate for elected public service.
Look when underfunded Southeast Texas school districts needed a voice last legislative session I stepped up and offered conservative legislation that offered more funding equity without raising taxes or new revenues. When our loggers need a voice for fairness from the state government they have turned to me. Whether it is fighting for the survival of the state supported assisted living center in Lufkin our seniors in nursing homes our water and agricultural resources economic opportunities such as the Keystone pipeline I have answered.
But thats the point. When my country calls I have answered. When my community calls I answer. When my state calls I answer. When I think about service I am reminded of the prophet Isaiah in the Bibles Old Testament the Book of Isaiah 6:8. His country and people Israel were hurting and history informs us that he was a patriot and in the midst of their grieving he heard the voice of the Lord . . . saying Whom shall I send? And who will go for us? And Isaiah answered Here am I. Send me!
Again I would not suggests that because my opponent has concentrated his lifes work in one region of Texas he is not worthy of voter consideration. But when you have the servants heart you go where there is the need and my desire to serve and stand for our tried and true conservative values have taken me to the doorstep of communism the halls of our public schools to the floor of the Texas House of Representatives.
I am proud of my record of service and that is why I am asking for your support and your vote for my reelection to the Texas House of Representatives not because I think I am owed a distinction but because you your children and your childrens children deserve a Texas that champions the sanctity of Life promotes tried and true conservative values of Christianity constitutionalism and capitalism.
And that means we need more East Texas values in Austin.
