Letters to the Editor

An article published July 12 highlighted a group of Texans writing my office about their concern with the current border crisis. I look forward to receiving those postcards, and I share their concern.

To address the humanitarian and security crisis at our southern border, I’ve introduced the Humane Act. It requires the Department of Homeland Security to keep families together, improves conditions in DHS facilities, and increases the number of personnel handling these cases to help expedite the process.

It closes a major loophole that human smugglers have been exploiting to bring immigrants across the border, and it protects legitimate trade and travel to maintain our strong relationship with Mexico. Mine is the only bipartisan proposal on the table.The humanitarian and security crisis along our border needs our attention, and I hope my colleagues in the Senate and House of Representatives can get behind this solution.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn

Aggie Assurance

Several of you have asked if Texas A&M University has plans for a tuition-free program for students from low-income families similar to what the University of Texas recently announced.

In fact, Texas A&M University implemented virtually the exact same program 10 years ago. The Texas A&M program is called Aggie Assurance. And since 2008, the program has allowed 33,447 undergraduate students from families earning less than $60,000 a year to attend college tuition free.

Texas A&M University System regents set aside an additional $30 million in 2018 to help students of families who earn $100,000 or less, or who are stricken with financial hardships such as losses during natural disasters, death of a breadwinner or some other calamity. This program, dubbed Regents’ Grants, was created after Hurricane Harvey and has helped hundreds of students who lost books, clothes and transportation, among other things. The Regents Grants program is available not only to students at Texas A&M University, but also to students at each of the universities in our system, about 150,000 in all.

We congratulate the University of Texas on adopting a program similar to Aggie Assurance. I know their students will benefit from it just as ours have for the last decade.

John Sharp, Chancellor,

Texas A&M System

BETSY ROSS FLAG

About that Colin Kaepernick controversy:

What everyone seems to be missing is that the Betsy Ross flag, by virtue of representing the founding of our country, in effect also represents the beginning of the end of slavery, something to be celebrated.

While no race has achieved color-blindness and equal treatment for all, we’ve set standards and come a long way from where we once were. Let’s keep going while we reflect proudly on what has been achieved.

Brit Conner, Tyler

SHORT-TERM MEMORY

Regarding the commentary in the July 4 edition by Betsy McCaughey, “Dems push to insure those who came illegally over veterans, middle class.”

It is obvious to me that the Democrats have short-term memory problems. They have forgotten that in taking their respective offices, they swore to uphold the Constitution and the laws of the United States and that they owe a fiduciary duty to the voters who elected them, not to the illegals that they feel will surely vote for them once the give them the privilege to vote.

In doing so, the Dems are cursing the citizens and those who gave their lives or their limbs to protect that very privilege. And yes, to also protect rights and privileges of those very same Dems.

Johnny Smith, Tyler

OUTSTANDING

Steve Knight’s article “Nature of Things” in the June 30 edition is outstanding journalism. He has written constantly of Texas wildlife, hunting and fishing. I have learned to depend upon Steve’s articles on new game laws in Texas. Great writing for those of us who still read the printed word.

John McCall, Hawkins

A FOLLOWER

Poor ‘Ole Uncle Joe’, proves once again that he is a follower, not a leader. In Saturday’s edition of the Tyler paper, “Biden and Harris, join Warren in promising to appoint a teacher as ed secretary”, as he stated in a speech before a group of teachers. If someone else has an election promise that he thinks will draw votes, he adopts it. If he were in front of a group of actors, he would probable promise to nominate one of them as Secretary of Stage. When told that it is Secretary of State, he would likely say,”Oh, never mind”, using his Gilda Radner interpretation. Again, nothing original.

Johnny Smith, Tyler

WANTS THE SHOES

It is evident that NIKE (athletic shoes), just before July 4th, joined the “Anti-American Founding Fathers movement” by listening to an anti-American former football player (NFL National Anthem kneeler). Now is the time for proud Americans to speak up. NIKE must either send me a pair of those new-but-withdrawn “Betsy Ross Flag” shoes, or make them available in stores…or I am totally through with them. I’ve been a good customer of theirs for decades.! Their ignominious entry into, and support of, the “Anti- American Culture War” is something that this US Army Veteran can no longer ignore.

Jack Gibson (Hideaway, Texas)

REACTING TO STORY

In response to your July 15 front-page, above-the-fold story, “Churches jump into action with threat of immigration sweeps”: I realize TMT and M.Roberts Media are much dependent on AP news and other similar sources for national news, but it confounds the senses to read what is included, apparently without question, for distribution to the so-called “masses.” To claim as you did in your lead that “religious leaders across the country used their pulpits Sunday to quell concerns in immigrant communities and spring into action to help those potentially threatened by the operation” is misleading, if not untrue. EXACTLY how many “religious leaders” were doing this? Five or 500? Your story doesn’t say. Is there even an estimate of how many, where and which “immigrant communities” “across the country” received this information from their pulpits? Your story only cites Chicago, Houston and NYC. It uses a 1,000-member congregation in Chicago as its prime example of “terrorized” churchgoers hiding from deportation, but much lower in the story admits that attendance there was about normal. The pastor of a Chicago United Methodist Church where “nearly all its congregants are living in the country illegally” used the the absence of food trucks outside her church as evidence of the severe trauma her parishioners must be feeling. Get real or stop reporting!

{span style=”vertical-align: inherit;”}{span style=”vertical-align: inherit;”}One more thing: This quote from a Catholic priest in your story, “We’re living in a time where the law may permit the government to do certain things but that doesn’t necessarily make it right,” forces me to ask this question: Was that same priest and his congregation out fomenting dissent against the government after Roe v. Wade? If not, then they obviously think it is fine for the government to allow the killing of innocent babies, but must protect at all costs the freedom of those who enter our country illegally. The only commonality I see here is that in their opinion, no one should be held accountable for his/her actions…except the President.{/span}{/span}

{span style=”vertical-align: inherit;”}{span style=”vertical-align: inherit;”}Jan Bailey McCauley{/span}{/span}

{span style=”vertical-align: inherit;”}{span style=”vertical-align: inherit;”}1421 S. Robertson Ave.{/span}{/span}

{span style=”vertical-align: inherit;”}{span style=”vertical-align: inherit;”}Tyler, TX 75701{/span}{/span}

{span style=”vertical-align: inherit;”}{span style=”vertical-align: inherit;”}903-570-5878 (M){/span}{/span}

{span style=”vertical-align: inherit;”}{span style=”vertical-align: inherit;”}903-581-1447 (H){/span}{/span}