Below are the stated positions of every member of the Texas Congressional delegation with links to their websites so you can voice your disapproval with this dangerous legislation.
Supporting SOPA/PIPA
Lamar Smith - Yes, the driving force behind SOPA is not backing off of his support for this legislation.
John Cornyn - Cornyn was a co-sponsor of PIPA, but thanks to the overwhelming backlash against the bill, urged Congress to take more time to consider the bill, and seemed to back off from his earlier support.
John Carter - Carter is one of the co-sponsors of SOPA.
Please contact your representatives and senators and tell them to vote no on these terrible bills. If their positions have changed, please note it in the comments.
El Paso's congressman has it right. Here's his statement:
REYES STATEMENT ON THE STOP ONLINE PIRACY ACT
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congressman Silvestre Reyes (D-TX) today released the following statement regarding his position on the Stop Online Piracy Act, SOPA:
"The Internet is a powerful tool that has changed the way we communicate. As with every powerful tool, it has the potential for good and bad. As your federal representative, I will continue to work to ensure that our community has both access to the Internet and the security tools needed to safeguard our communities, especially children, from inappropriate and unsuitable material.
"Any legislation that aims to curtail online piracy and enhance security must take a balanced and fine-tuned approach. The current version of SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act, does not take a balanced approach. For that reason, I cannot support SOPA and will oppose it in its current form."
Texans should remember that Texas Republican Congressman Lamar Smith is the primary supporter of SOPA. He's fighting tooth and nail to protect big business and end Internet freedom. We must prevent this atrocious bill (and Texas embarrassment) from becoming law.
The House Intelligence Committee's top Democrat said Tuesday he has recommended that President-elect Barack Obama keep the country's current national intelligence director and CIA chief in place for some time to ensure continuity in U.S. intelligence programs during the transition to a new administration.
Intelligence Chairman Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, said he also recommended to Obama's transition team that some parts of the CIA's controversial alternative interrogation program should be allowed to continue. He declined to say what he specifically recommended, however.
The following U.S. House members endorsed Rep. Noriega in the U.S. Senate race: Reps. Al Green, Ruben Hinojosa, Silvestre Reyes, Chet Edwards, Sheila Jackson-Lee, Charlie Gonzalez, Nick Lampson, Ciro Rodriguez, Lloyd Doggett, Solomon P. Ortiz, Gene Green, and Eddie Bernice Johnson.
"Rick Noriega is the candidate in this race whose entire life represents his commitment to profound service to our nation ... military service and public service," said the members of the Texas Delegation. "From the halls of the University of Houston under an ROTC scholarship, to the halls of Harvard, to the Texas National Guard, to the halls of the State Capitol, to the mountains of Afghanistan after 9-11, and to the Texas border with Operation Jumpstart - we know that Rick Noriega is the candidate to best serve Texans in the United States Senate."
"On the defining issues of the day - national security, border security, health insurance for our children, and fiscal responsibility - Rick is uniquely positioned, by virtue of his life experience, to best serve Texas interests in the U.S. Senate," the members agreed. "U.S. military policy will long command the attention of future Congresses. Rick's understanding of on-the-ground logistics - as well as abilities and limitations - of our military will be a fresh and important voice in the Senate on military issues."
Charles Kuffner adds some insight as to why this is really pretty awesome and a success for Team Noriega.
Excellent. It may not seem like a big deal for a bunch of Democratic members of Congress to endorse a Democrat running for Senate, but 1) it's never a trivial thing to get a bunch of Democrats to agree on anything; 2) the more unified Noriega's support is here, the more likely he'll get support from the national folks; and 3) this is still a contested primary, however loosely that's being defined.
You may be wondering about that thirteenth member of Congress. That would be Rep. Henry Cuellar, and as usual, he's doing his own thing.
Various members of Congress also taped video statements of support which the campaign will be distributing over the coming days.
House Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has decided against naming either Rep. Jane Harman (Calif.), the senior Democrat on the House intelligence committee, or Rep. Alcee L. Hastings (Fla.), the panel's No. 2 Democrat, to chair the pivotal committee next year. [. . .]
Instead of picking Harman or Hastings, Pelosi will look for a compromise candidate, probably Rep. Silvestre Reyes (Tex.), but possibly Rep. Norman D. Dicks (Wash.), a hawkish member of the Appropriations defense subcommittee, or Rep. Sanford Bishop (Ga.), a conservative African American with experience on the intelligence committee.
As Kuff has pointed out, having Reyes as committee chair would help Texas crawl a little bit out of the seniority hole that Tom DeLay dug for us during redistricting.
Governor Perry ignores a resolution from the Harris County GOP Party asking him to veto HB3 and signs the bill in Brownwood today. The DMN article notes that even though HB3 is now law, Perry plans "to travel around the state holding ceremonial signings of the same bill." Is that not the dumbest thing you've ever heard?
Houston City Councilwoman Shelley Sekula-Gibbs, who is running to be the GOP nominee for CD-22, delays a vote on funding for a day-labor site because "the president of the United States says we're not supposed to be employing illegal immigrants." Democratic councilwomen Ada Edwards, Sue Lovell and Carol Alvardo give her what's what in return.
Congressman Silvestre Reyes pens a excellent pair of letters to President Bush about his plan to send troops and new technology to the border (which, incidentally, looks like one hell of a windfall for Lockheed Martin). Reyes' second letter concerns Mexico's July presidential election and the potential for militarization along the border to lead to the election of an anti-American president; presumably, Reyes is referring to Mexico City Mayor Andrés Manuel López Obrador. It's an interesting proposition, but anyone more up-to-date on their Mexican politics than I am care to comment on that?
I was pleasantly suprised to receive an e-mail from a fellow working in Texas Democratic Congressman Silvestre Reyes' office about his new blog. I think that might be the first case of interest and outreach to Texas bloggers and readers by TX Congressperson (that is already in office).
Even better was the fact that one of blog posts up right now, which tells about Speaker Hasterts short lived drive for fuel efficiency. After a short photo op in a hydrogen powered car, Hastert was photographed leaving it to be picked up by his SUV. Check it out.
