Burnt Orange Report

Aaron Peña Replies

By Byron LaMasters

Via comments, State Rep. Aaron Peña (D-Edinburg) replied to our post regarding his blog:

Guys, I appreciate your taking notice of the blog on my website. I have been a longtime reader of the Burnt Orange Report. Your blog along with many of the others noted on your homepage inspired me to break free of the traditional modes of political communication and join the revolution.

This really is Democracy unbound. Wow! You can actually hear the shudders in the boardrooms and corridors of power. Keep up the good work! I will link you up soon.

Aaron Peña

Good to hear from you, Rep. Peña. Thanks for joining the revolution! Again, check out his blog here.

So what was Rep. Peña been doing while his Republican colleagues were partying in Washington D.C. this week? Peña went back to his district to pay his respects for a soldier who died in Iraq:

The House of Representatives adjourned until January 24, 2005 so that some house leaders and members could travel to Washington D.C. for the presidential inauguration. For me, coming home to pay my respects to Lance Corporal Juan Cisneros Alvarez (22) who died in Iraq.

Cisneros had only been in Iraq five months before he was killed. I have attended nearly every funeral for our fallen soldiers who once called the Valley home. You never quite get used to comprehending the pain and loss you experience when a young life is stolen away. You look for logic and you find none. You search for God's plan and cannot see it. I only pray that the grace of the almighty is visited on this family, as it was extremely painful for all of us there who attended the funeral to see the pain inflicted upon them. [...]

As to myself, I am having difficulties containing my emotions. I have seen too many young lives snuffed away by this war. These people deserve better. We owe our respect to these families. As a community, we have to come together to assist them in time of need. I will not forget Juan, nor his sacrifice, nor allow his memory to fade. Washington, the inauguration and its celebrations seem so far away right now. I'm glad I came home.

God bless you, Juan.

Aaron Peña's sentiments echo the best of what we should expect from all of our lawmakers. His thoughts embody the compassion that all of us share for the families of those whose lives have been cut short by this war. It's just such a shame to me that so many other lawmakers, and most significantly, our President, do not share that commitment or interest in serving the families of the men and women that have fallen in service to our country.