Sen. Cornyn addresses community issues 

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) spoke about border security, the economy and the Israel-Hamas war Monday during the State of the Congress Luncheon in the Edinburg Conference Center at Renaissance.

The Rio Grande Valley Hispanic Chamber of Commerce invited Cornyn to speak at the event.

The mission of the RGV Hispanic Chamber is to promote economic development and assist businesses to access the Hispanic market through networking, promoting education and nurturing leadership, according to its website.

Julian Alvarez, the senior vice president and director of Business Development for Lone Star National Bank, was the moderator for Cornyn’s question-and-answer session.

The senator said the Border Patrol has paid a “heavy price.”

“And the country has paid a heavy price as a result of uncontrolled illegal immigration,” he said. “Let me say very clearly, legal immigration has been a blessing to our country. It has been … an unequivocal blessing.”

Cornyn said people pay large amounts of money to the cartels to get into the U.S.

“These organizations continue to get rich as more and more people come across the border,” he said. “[In the] last few years … roughly 7 million people come across the border, that includes 1.5 million what the Border Patrol calls got-aways. … And we know that they are probably not up to a lot of good if they are evading law enforcement.”

Cornyn shared his experience going to the Yuma Border Patrol Sector in Arizona.

“The acting Border Patrol chiefs said to us … ‘We encountered people from 147 different countries, speaking more than 200 languages last year,’” he said. “And we thought, ‘How in the world could that possibly be true?’”

Cornyn said people from a safe third country should not qualify for asylum in the U.S.

He said he invited some of his colleagues to the Rio Grande Valley because he occasionally hears senators from other states saying they “need to seal the border.”

“You can’t just put up a piece of infrastructure and expect the … border to be safe, or control the flow of people and drugs coming into the country,” Cornyn said. “… I think it’s really important for Sen. [Ted] Cruz, myself, [U.S. Rep.] Monica [De La Cruz] and others, to invite our colleagues to come down here so they can see it for themselves. And so they can learn.”

During a news conference after the luncheon, he said he is not going to “vote for another penny to facilitate the current policies of the Biden administration.”

“I think my record demonstrates I’m willing to work with anybody to try to solve problems,” Cornyn said. “But unfortunately, the Biden administration has shown zero interest in working with us. And I think the consequences of that speak for themselves.”

He said Texans have won the lottery by living in Texas.

“Texas remains the economic engine that really drives the rest of the country,” Cornyn said. “And you see people voting with their feet, coming from places like California and elsewhere to Texas because we are truly still the land of opportunity, where the American Dream is still alive and well.”

He said the federal government helped fuel inflation by spending too much money on the American Recovery Act and Inflation Reduction Act after COVID-19 was over.

Cornyn also spoke about the Israel-Hamas war during his keynote saying he was “shocked” to see the invasion by Hamas, which is a Palestinian Islamic political party that has an armed wing of the same name, according to the Associated Press. 

“The United States has an important role to play supporting our friends and allies around the world,” he said. “I was pleased to hear President Biden make an unequivocal commitment to supporting Israel. They are the only democracy there in the Middle East, which is a very dangerous neighborhood.”

During a news conference at the end of his keynote, Cornyn was asked what the federal government can do to help the lack of transportation in colonias. 

 Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez suggested a way the problem can be alleviated.

“The study is telling us that part of the problem of … getting people to have an education is lack of transportation,” Cortez said. “We are not going to solve their problem here today, but I can tell you that this senator right next to me here is always willing to sit down with us and help us. He was approached earlier today about the Recompete Grant that’s coming up. … That would [go] a long way in helping us with a problem that you just mentioned.”

At the end of the luncheon, Cornyn received the Official Compadre award for his commitment to the region.