Update: At 2:39 p.m. Friday, Jason Johnson, press secretary for U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-Texas), sent this statement from the congressman to The Rider: “The Iran conflict is serious and I will continue to monitor the situation closely. I value the input of everyone in our community and the engagement of the constituents of our district. Every decision and vote I make is made with the best interests of the 15th District of Texas and my oath to the Constitution in mind.”
About 30 people from across the Rio Grande Valley gathered Thursday at Congressman Vicente Gonzalez’s office in McAllen to protest the conflict between the U.S. and Iran. This protest was one of 377 rallies that took place across the country.
Sydney Ribera, an environmental science senior, heard about the event from local activists and said she is a regular at protests.
“I’m here because I’m exercising my right to peaceful protest, and the people need to have their opinions heard by our representatives,” Ribera said.
Protesters shouted chants like “Sí Se Puede” and “No war with Iran,” which were matched with the honks from passing cars. Various speakers shared their thoughts about the conflict through a megaphone.
“All this attention to war funding … should be allocated to things that we do need, things like health care, education, infrastructure repair, especially in disadvantaged communities, such as the Rio Grande Valley,” Ribera said. “Because, as we said before, there’s no reason why we have money for war, but we don’t have money for the things we need.”
One of the speakers was Ribera’s 10-year-old sister.
“They are our future,” Ribera said. “They are the ones who are going to be our future politicians, our future educators, our future leaders, and they need to be educated about the issues that not only affect our community directly, they also need to be taught empathy for people who are not like us, people who are over there, people in other countries.”
David Jackson, a resident of Edinburg, believes war is not the answer to anything.
“I hope that there can be some kind of negotiation,” Jackson said. “The president claims to be the grand negotiator but, to me, he hasn’t fulfilled that at all.”
Gonzalez (D-Texas) voted Thursday in favor of Resolution 83, directing the president to terminate the use of U.S. armed forces to engage in hostilities in or against Iran, according to congress.gov.
“Make no mistake, Iran and its proxies continue to pose a threat to our national security and stability in the Middle East,” Gonzalez said in a news release Thursday. “While the Constitution affords the president the right to defend our nation if there is an ‘imminent threat,’ it bestows on Congress the power to authorize the use of military force. President Trump does not have the authority to target and kill an Iranian official, no matter how evil, without consulting Congress. If the president wants to take us to war, he must seek congressional approval.
As a member of Congress, it is my responsibility to uphold the Constitution and keep our troops and the American people safe. That includes preventing this Administration from dragging us into another endless war in the Middle East absent a clear strategy, thoughtful deliberation in both chambers of Congress, and proper legal authorization.”
The Rider tried to contact Gonzalez but he was not available for comment on the protest.
Jesse Saenz, a computer engineering junior, said he thought being at the protest would make a difference.
“There might be people that say that one person can’t make a difference, but I like to think otherwise,” Saenz said.
He said he has an uncle that got drafted in the Vietnam War and would love to hear what his uncle has to say but respects his decision to refrain from ever talking about it.
“He does not talk about it at all, which is pretty telling,” Saenz said.
Saenz believes diplomacy can solve any problem.
“We don’t have to resort to violence because, you know, no one wants to be hurt, no one wants their people to be hurt,” he said.
Ribera encourages her fellow UTRGV peers to be active in their community.
“Go to these kinds of protests because the point of a protest is to have the people’s opinion heard and to eventually have a seat at that table to decide what kind of solution will happen,” she said.
