nostos-music.blogspot

Saturday, May 20, 2023

Good morning!

My son-in-law is being commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Army today, so I end the week offering thoughts on how we think about our military.

But first, here is the Texas Minute for Friday, May 19, 2023.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan

As the border crisis continues, the Texas Senate Committee on Border Security strengthened proposed border security legislation from the Texas House. But as Sydnie Henry reports, advocates say the legislation still doesn’t go far enough to empower state authorities to repel invading illegals.
After House Speaker Dade Phelan (R–Beaumont) sided with Democrats to kill a landmark border security bill, which was later attached in a severely weakened form to another measure as an amendment, citizens called on the Texas Senate to strengthen it.
State Sen. Brian Birdwell (R–Granbury), chairman of the Senate Committee on Border Security and the Senate sponsor of the legislation, has obliged.
Under Birdwell's reconstituted measure, border security needs are funded, including providing border region courts with the necessary resources for dealing with border-related offenses and compensating property owners for damages caused by illegal crossings. It also creates a state border security force under the Texas Rangers at the Texas Department of Public Safety.
The full Senate will consider the measure in the coming days.

A proposal to create a multi-state border security compact is heading to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk, reports Darrell Frost. The legislation authorizes the governor to collaborate with other states on measures to increase border security by sharing intelligence and combining resources to combat illegal activity, specifically by constructing a physical or virtual barrier at the southern border.

After the Texas House and Senate approved a measure to ban child gender mutilation treatments, the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas and other leftist groups announced plans to file a lawsuit against the legislation. Katy Marshall has the details.
The ACLU of Texas, the ACLU, Lambda Legal, and the Transgender Law Center are threatening legal action, claiming the procedures are medically necessary.
Disputing that claim is State Rep. Tom Oliverson (R-Cypress), a medical doctor. “We don’t treat mental health disorders with surgery. We treat mental health disorders with mental health treatments.”
Gov. Greg Abbott has promised to sign the legislation when it reaches his desk.
“In the state of Texas, if you’re under the age of 18, you can’t get a tattoo, you can’t buy cigarettes, and so many other things, but people think that they should be able to make a decision to permanently alter their sex organs. That’s just outrageous,” said Abbott. “In Texas, we believe that cutting off a child’s sex organs is child abuse, and it’s gonna be treated that way by law.”

Freshman Republican State Rep. Frederick Frazier, a Dallas police officer who lives in McKinney, is facing more fallout over campaign sign shenanigans perpetrated during last year’s primary elections that resulted in pending criminal charges against him. Erin Anderson has the story.
Frazier is accused of claiming to be a code compliance officer and vandalizing signs promoting his GOP primary opponent, Paul Chabot. Frazier denies the charges.
The Dallas Police Department placed Frazier on administrative leave in June after he was indicted on two felony counts of impersonating a public servant. Those criminal charges led to an internal investigation of Frazier’s actions.
According to newly obtained documents from the Dallas Police Department’s Internal Affairs Division, investigators found evidence that Frazier committed three violations of Dallas PD’s code of conduct related to the campaign incident. The documents also cite video evidence showing Frazier at multiple locations where he is accused of committing the crimes.

Legislation addressing tenure in Texas’ public universities was delayed in the Texas House on Thursday, putting its future in jeopardy.
Senate Bill 18 would standardize procedures for awarding and removing tenure at Texas public colleges. When it passed out of the Senate, the legislation would have prohibited the practice of awarding tenure at public universities. The House Committee on Higher Education substantially altered the measure.
May 23 is the last day for the House to consider legislation that originated in the Senate.