Pete Gallego's Remarks at Immigration Panel

by: Michael Hurta

Tue Apr 30, 2013 at 08:00 AM CDT

In Gallego's opening remarks, he spoke of the modern American Dream. In his speech, he told the story of Josue Obregon, a Retired United States Marine Corporal:

This is a story from Del Rio, Texas. Retired United States Marine Corporal Josue Obregon filed a petition for his wife Estéfania who still lived in Ciudad Acuña. The young couple was expecting their first child- when she suffered from an internal cyst which would require a blood transfusion.

She could not get the appropriate medical treatment in Mexico. And even though Mrs. Obregon had been approved for a spousal visa, it was still "being processed."  

She would not be allowed to come to the United States to get the treatment she and her unborn child needed without an emergency visa.

Read the rest of the Obregons' story and Congressman Gallego's speech below the fold.

Congressman Pete Gallego Participating In Immigration Panel Monday in San Antonio

by: Katherine Haenschen

Sat Apr 27, 2013 at 02:51 PM CDT

Monday, Gallego will join Congressman Luis Gutierrez (IL-04), Texas AFL-CIO President Becky Moeller, Texas Farm Bureau's Steve Pringle, and United We Dream's Carolina Canizalez for a panel discussion in San Antonio. The panel is free and open to the public, and will focus on Comprehensive Immigration Reform, including industry perspectives and Texas economic benefits.

The panel will be from 6-7:30 p.m. at the Palo Alto College Performing Arts Center, 1400 W. Villaret Blvd., San Antonio, TX 78224.

Whatever immigration reform legislation manages to pass both houses of Congress will likely have a tremendous impact on Texas, so it's great to see such a diverse coalition of leaders in our state proactively addressing what's at stake and framing it for Texas audiences.

Rep. Gallego Speaks Out For Immigrants In Armed Services

by: Joe Deshotel

Wed Apr 17, 2013 at 04:30 PM CDT

Congressman Pete Gallego (D-Alpine), whose district has the longest stretch of U.S. - Mexico border at 800 miles, accepted that challenge. Today Rep. Gallego spoke on the House floor in support of Comprehensive Immigration Reform -- especially with regards to those serving in the armed forces. He wants to ensure the citizens of his district, which contains 5 ports of entry as well as 3 major military bases, are allowed to determine their own fate through "hard work", and not "circumstance".   The Senate's so called "Gang of Eight" has released details of their version of the plan on Tuesday.  

Watch the Congressman's speech on the floor and click the jump for the full transcript...  

Pete Gallego, Making Sense, Slams a Proposal from Senator Cornyn and Mike McCaul

by: Nick Hudson

Fri Apr 12, 2013 at 09:16 AM CDT

On a conference call this week, Cornyn and McCaul indicated that certain (totally unrealistic) border security metrics would have to be met before they would contemplate a broader effort that includes a path to citizenship for the millions of undocumented immigrants who are currently living in the United States. They filed a bill, the Border Security Results Act, that they say would help the United States government achieve those metrics (I won't get into those metrics here).

Congressman Pete Gallego (TX-23), whose district shares the largest border with Mexico in the United States, slammed Cornyn and McCaul for their proposal:

"With about 800 miles of Texas-Mexico border in the district, I know the border impacts every part of our state. I'm hopeful that this bill is a good faith effort to move forward and not an attempt to build another wall between immigrants and the American dream. "Voters made it clear in November that Congress must act on real immigration reform now - and not a sham packaged as progress.  Small businesses, chambers, and families across our state are counting on it. "Reducing border wait times is something for which businesses and border lawmakers have long advocated.  I'm glad our senior senator is now onboard.  He can do much to allocate the resources to make reduced wait times possible."

Congressman Gallego's statement is right on target. It's too early to be drawing lines in the sand on immigration reform.

Gallego: Medicaid Expansion Good for San Antonio

by: Michael Hurta

Sun Mar 31, 2013 at 02:00 PM CDT

Texas is a land of many firsts. Unfortunately, our great state also has the distinction of being first in the percentage of uninsured residents in the country.

More than 6 million Texans - including 1.2 million children - are uninsured. One in four residents in Bexar County does not have health insurance. These are our friends and our neighbors.

Expanding Medicaid in Texas under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) would save taxpayers and local governments millions of dollars in costs of caring for uninsured.

Some projections show that Bexar County alone could save an estimated $53 million per year through the Medicaid expansion. If Texas participated in the expansion, our state could draw down almost $90 billion from the Medicaid expansion in the ACA over the first decade.

We could also help people. More than 1.5 million additional Texans - and 161,000 Bexar County residents would gain access to health care under the Medicaid expansion. And more than three million jobs would be generated according to a report generated by the Perryman Group.

The San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, hospitals across our state including Christus Santa Rosa, and a majority of Texans are in favor of Medicaid expansion.

Governors in 25 states, both Democratic and Republican, indicated that they will implement the Medicaid expansion.

Opting out of the Medicaid expansion doesn't save taxpayer money - opting out actually costs local taxpayers. There is no reason that Texans' hard-earned tax dollars should instead go to insure residents and bolster the economies of other states.

Expanding Medicaid would greatly benefit many safety net hospitals - such as Christus Santa Rosa here in San Antonio - that serve a significant number of uninsured and low-income patients. Hospitals will be higher reimbursed for the costs of treating the uninsured if Texas opts to expand Medicaid.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, failure to expand Medicaid in Texas will cost the state's hospitals nearly $25 billion in reimbursements between 2013 and 2022.

County jails in some circumstances also serve as the number one health care provider to individuals with mental illness - a costly task for which they are not equipped. The Medicaid expansion would relieve county jails of this burden - freeing their capacity to focus on individuals who have committed serious crimes.

It does not seem particularly efficient to force local governments and Texas taxpayers to bear the brunt of covering the uninsured. In fact, it seems contrary to good public policy.

Looking objectively at the numbers, Texas has a dismal record on health care. It is a record of which no Texan can be proud.

We can work to turn that record around. Texans would greatly be served by expanding Medicaid. The expansion would benefit not only our residents, but also our local and county governments and our economy.

Instead of rejecting the return of Texans' tax dollars to Texas, Gov. Rick Perry should make it his mission to obtain more health care for our residents while bringing more jobs to Texas, lowering the burden for our taxpayers and relieving the budgets of local and county governments.

Medicaid expansion is the right thing to do. It is both compassionate and efficient - and that is the Texas way.

Let's hope our governor agrees.

Texas Lunch Links: Payday Loans, Death Threats and High-Stakes Testing

by: Nick Hudson

Wed Mar 27, 2013 at 11:59 AM CDT

PAYDAY LOANS: Rev. Gerald Green, Jr. of Dallas-based CitySquare proposes four specific changes to Republican State Senator John Carona's, "dramatically weakened payday lending bill."

GALLEGO CHALLENGED: San Antonio Express News is reporting that Representative Pete Gallego, the Democrat who was elected to Texas' 23rd congressional district in November, has an early Republican challenger for 2014.

EDUCATION: The Texas House voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to reduce the required number of high school end-of-course exams from 15 to five and to change high school graduation plans to emphasize career and vocational training.

GUNS: Texas would require its residents to acquire concealed handgun licences in Texas under a bill authored by State Senator Juan Hinojosa, Democrat of McAllen. Texas currently recognizes other states' handgun licenses.

RICK PERRY: Governor Goodhair called the Obama administration's decision to award a competitively bid grant directly to a Texas coalition of women's clinics, instead of Texas' Department of State Health Services, "a clear attempt to circumvent the will of the Texas taxpayers and impose their own values on the people of Texas." The coalition of clinics will serve more than 160,000 women.

WELFARE DRUG-TESTING: Texas' Health and Human Services Committee unanimously approved a bill that would strip welfare recipients of benefits for one year if they fail a drug test this week.

EAGLE FORD SHALE: South Texas' Eagle Ford Shale oil and gas drilling operation had an estimated $61 billion impact on South Texas last year, according to an ongoing University of Texas at San Antonio study released at the Capitol on Tuesday. The study is being paid for by America's Natural Gas Alliance.

WHITMIRE SAFE: A prison investigator says that a death threat against Texas Senator John Whitmire from the Mexican Mafia was an unusual scam by a confidential informant. The death threat, which the Houston Chronicle reported yesterday, was the bright idea of confidential informant who hoped that recruiting and then reporting the conspirators would earn him cash or a reduced prison sentence.

FLASHBACK ON DOMA: Not a single Texas Democrat voted against the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996.

Friday Wrap: Perry Boo'ed at CPAC, Cruz's Selective Understanding, and a Fainting Couch

by: Burnt Orange Report

Fri Mar 15, 2013 at 10:44 AM CDT

Leading off, Congressman Pete Gallego LiveTweeted President Barack Obama's meeting with Congressional Democrats yesterday. It's worth a read:

Below the jump, find out who got boo'ed, who has a selective understanding of the 2nd Amendment, who came out for marriage equality, and who made our editor look for some pearls to clutch and a couch to faint on.  

Rep. Gallego: Single Biggest Threat to Border Security Is Sequestration

by: Joe Deshotel

Wed Feb 27, 2013 at 02:18 PM CST

"In small town West Texas when there's a fire everyone works together to put the fire out and no one focuses on how the fire started or who started the fire until after the fire is out. Here and now in Washington many folks are more focused on who is to blame for the sequester than trying to do something about it." - Rep. Gallego

The Congressman characterized the across the board cuts as having both economic and national security implications, saying, "Not having a vote this week is a decision by some in Congress for decreased border security, job loss and furloughs, and it devastates local communities and the state of Texas." His district contains a number of strategic military bases including Ft. Bliss in El Paso and Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio that could face furloughs in the tens of thousands.

His office also released this handy infographic of the impact of sequestration on the US-Mexico border. You can follow him on twitter at @RepPeteGallego and see his house floor speech below the jump.

Texas Border Already Blue: Immigration Reform Gives Democrats National Platform

by: Joe Deshotel

Tue Feb 19, 2013 at 02:41 PM CST

I think immigration reform gets done this session of Congress. From the perspective of both parties it is time...I think the Republicans saw with what happened with the latino electorate last and time and in places like Texas thats a really significant thing. -Congressman Gallego

Obama won the 2012 election with over 70% of the Hispanic vote, and announcing Comprehensive Immigration Reform as a top 2nd term priority during the State of the Union has left Republicans both nationally and in Texas struggling to find a viable position on the issue.

Most people don't really care where the idea comes from, I think they want action, they want something to happen, they're tired of the prolonged conversations. -Congresman Gallego

Pete Gallego VICTORY!

by: Ben Sherman

Wed Nov 07, 2012 at 04:19 PM CST

Even Texas Democrats have an in-state reason to rejoice. Pete Gallego defeated incumbent Republican Quico Canseco and is headed to Congress!

Huzzah!