"The first thing I would like to say to every person in district 150 is 'thank you.' You have allowed me to serve you since April of 2002, and I consider representing you an honor." - Debbie Riddle
// August 12th, 2010 // 3 Comments » // Uncategorized
Some of my colleagues believe that “anchor babies” are a myth, but this video from a 2008 CBS Nightly News broadcast proves otherwise. There are illegal immigrants gaming our system and taking advantage of US taxpayers.
// August 10th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Uncategorized
HOUSTON – Representative Debbie Riddle (R – District 150) has issued the following response to the Houston Chronicle regarding an editorial run this weekend:
“Eyes Front” in Sundays editorial 8/8/10, should have been “Eyes Closed.” The Houston Chronicle not only has their own eyes shut on the illegal immigration and voter fraud issues but it wants the Texas Legislature to do the same. It is not surprising the Chronicle would take an open-border stance and tell only half the truth to make their case.
The Chronicle claims securing our ballot box should NOT be a priority because the issue “log-jammed the session, derailing high priority legislation.” Truth be told it was the stall tactics by the democrats that shut down the legislative process for five days. Rather than have an up-or-down vote on a ballot security measure supported by almost 70 percent of Texans the democrats killed most of the major legislation before the House and forced a special session.
Not only does the Chronicle not chastise the democrats for hijacking the session, it endorses dropping ballot security and border security issues so we won’t have more bad behavior from the democrats. Their logic would stop the Texas legislature from any consideration of border security and/or ballot security.
The Chronicle in their wisdom states “The ultimate solution to the illegal presence of more than 10 million illegals will come from the halls of Congress and not the state capitols.”
More sound logic prevailed in 2005. That year crime along the border was skyrocketing, though crime in the rest of Texas was dropping. Operation Linebacker
was initiated and funded by Texas that same year and supplemented federal efforts at the border. Almost immediately the decreases in crime ranged from 25 percent up to 75 percent from area to area.
As the state program expanded crime decreased by 65 percent along the entire border and the presence of illegals was cut almost by half by late 2007. The follow up to Linebacker was Operation Border Star which caused another 60 percent drop in violent crime along the border, mostly due to increased funding to local law enforcement agencies. Note that these operations came from Austin – not Washington D.C.
According to the Texas Border Security Council, the most effective tool in this highly successful program was the increase in patrol presence. This is pure common horse sense! The more officers you have with authority to arrest the people breaking the law, then fewer people beak the law. We learned that concept in kindergarten with the dreaded hall monitors! Even the Chronicle admits that enforcement of our immigration laws decreases the presence of illegals!
Okay, this is the deal: this session we must fully secure the border. After 9/11 all political posturing and political correctness must stop. Dirty bombs can now be made, put in a suit case, carried across our border to a city like Houston, detonated killing up to a million people. The lives of our fellow Texans, even you and your family may depend on the courage of the Texas legislature to make sure the safety and security of the people of Texas is well established, and that can only happen with a fully secured border.
// August 8th, 2010 // 3 Comments » // Uncategorized
READ THE FULL ARTICLE AND VIEW VIDEO HERE ON ABC NEWS
Andy Cerota , ABC News
HOUSTON (KTRK) — Arizona’s controversial new immigration law arrived in Houston Thursday. Supporters of the law talked with Houston police about what it could do for this city.
Phoenix police presented Senate Bill 1070, which allows them to call immigration officers on a suspect believed to be in the country illegally. It’s something Houston police currently do not do.
Phoenix police say they’ve seen a drastic reduction in crime because of the law. That has certainly caught the attention of the Houston Police Officer’s Union as the momentum for a similar law here in Texas continues to build.
“It’s another tool to make our communities safer,” said Mark Spencer, president of the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association.
On Thursday, it took center stage at a luncheon hosted by the Houston Police Officer’s Union. The presentation was put on by Phoenix’s association. Spencer supports the law and says crimes involving illegal immigrants were out of control.
“Six Phoenix police officers murdered,” Spencer said. “Hispanics were three times more likely to be homicide victims in the city of Phoenix.”
Some believe the problems in Texas are no different than in Arizona. State Representative Debbie Riddle of Tomball, who attended Thursday’s event, plans to introduce a similar bill next session.
“This has nothing to do with skin color. It has everything to do with conduct,” Riddle said.
Opponents disagree and believe such a law would lead to racial profiling and spread fear through Houston’s immigrant community.
“We talk to immigrants every day who prefer not to call police even though it doesn’t exist here,” opponent Maria Jiminez said.
While the Houston Police Officer’s Union hasn’t taken an official stance, President Gary Blankinship says the bottom line is something has to be done.
“We’re seeing more and more repeat offenders we deport for criminal conduct, and they come back into the country illegally again and again,” Blankinship said.
Local advocates for immigrants’ rights and opponents of Arizona’s immigration law say they are busy waging their own campaign to fight any efforts to get a similar law passed here in Texas.
// July 28th, 2010 // 6 Comments » // Uncategorized
AUSTIN – Representative Debbie Riddle (R – District 150) has issued the following statement regarding today’s ruling in Arizona:
“The safety and security of the people of Arizona suffered a major setback today with Judge Bolton’s injunction. In essence, Judge Bolton has told Arizona’s citizens they are necessarily at the mercy of the federal government, and may not act in their own defense against the myriad negative consequences forced upon them by an onslaught of illegal immigration. I am saddened and outraged on behalf of Arizona, and I am hopeful that decisions from subsequent courts will be more favorable to the American people as this appeal progresses through the system.
In the meantime, nothing about this ruling impacts my plans to move forward with a bill that is substantially similar to HB 49, which I filed last session in the Texas Legislature, and which would make it possible for state and local law enforcement to arrest those who have been confirmed to have entered illegally into Texas in violation of federal immigration law. Decisions by the United States District Court of Arizona are not binding in Texas. Furthermore, there are significant differences between my bill and Arizona’s SB 1070.
Most importantly, HB 49 as it was drafted last session did not require anyone to prove their citizenship or risk arrest. An arrest would only be possible once an officer had confirmed with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement that a suspect was an alien who had entered the country illegally. Therefore, HB 49 does not allow for the possibility that legal residents or citizens could be subject to arrest, which was a primary concern in Judge Bolton’s ruling on SB 1070.
I will continue to monitor the developments of this case, and if necessary, adjust the language used previously in HB 49 so that any new legal concerns are addressed in the bill I will file in November in preparation for the next session of the Texas Legislature.
However, I want to make it clear that I am not put-off by the threat of legal action against a bill here in Texas. If all attempts at the state level to protect our nation’s sovereignty are struck down by the courts, it will only serve to stoke the raging signal fire alerting Washington D.C. to the fact that there is finally no one left to blame but themselves for the lack of law and order along our country’s borders.”
// July 27th, 2010 // 2 Comments » // Uncategorized
For a second time, State Representative Debbie Riddle debates her immigration legislation on the radio with a Democrat Legislator that has not read the bill.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE AUDIO of Debbie Riddle and Representative Jose Menedez on 740 KTRH Radio in Houston.
The comedic ending is worth the wait. After several minutes of Representative Menendez explaining why we should ignore our immigration laws, Menedez is asked point blank by KTRH news anchor Lana Hughes if he has read Representative Riddle’s bill.
“What bill?”, he asked.
For future reference, anyone that wishes to read HB49 and Representative Riddle’s comments regarding illegal immigration in Texas can VISIT THIS LINK.
// July 23rd, 2010 // No Comments » // Uncategorized
AUSTIN – Representative Debbie Riddle (R – District 150) has been ranked as the fourth most conservative member of the Texas House of Representatives, according to an analysis of voting records done by the James A. Baker III Institute of Public Policy at Rice University.
Representatives Linda Harper-Brown, Sid Miller, and Randy Weber all scored above Riddle by less than three-hundredths of a point each. In all, only 12 of the 150 members of the House were rated as “Very Conservative” by the study.
“Fourth place is hard to swallow,” Riddle joked. “This being an Olympic year, I would have liked to have at least medaled.”
// June 29th, 2010 // No Comments » // Uncategorized
Listen to the June 26th broadcast of the MaxOut Savings radio show with Ted Geoca. Mr Geoca interviews Representative Riddle about her recent experience visiting the Gulf Coast oil disaster. MaxOut Savings can be heard every Saturday at 11:00am on KNTH 1070 AM in Houston.
CLICK HERE TO GO DIRECTLY TO THE AUDIO FROM DEBBIE’S INTERVIEW.
// June 22nd, 2010 // No Comments » // Uncategorized
AUSTIN – The Third Texas Court of Appeals has upheld the conviction of a Belton
Little League coach who was sentenced to life in prison under the Texas version
of Jessica’s Law.
Representative Debbie Riddle, who authored the Texas Jessica Lunsford Act in
2007, said the ruling confirms the state’s commitment to imposing the harshest
penalties on pedophiles.
“Our number one priority is to make sure the safety and security of our citizens
is well established,” Riddle said. “That priority takes on a special urgency
when it comes to fiercely defending our children from predators who seek to do
them harm.”
William Thomas Jacobsen had been found guilty of molesting two children on his
baseball team during a sleep-over at his house. But Jacobsen sought to have the
conviction overturned on appeal by asserting that a statute created by Jessica’s
Law violated Texas’ constitutional requirement that a guilty verdict in a felony
case be unanimous.
The statute in question, a crime called “Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Young
Child or Children,” allows the commission of two or more acts of sexual assault
against victims younger than 14 years old to be grouped together in a single
charge that carries a mandatory-minimum prison sentence of 25 years, as oppose
to the five-year minimum for most first-degree felonies. The statute specifies
that a jury does not have to agree as to which sex acts were committed, as long
as they all agree that two or more specific acts of sexual abuse actually took
place over a period of 30 or more days.
The court of appeals ruled that the statute satisfied the jury unanimity
requirement of the constitution.
“When there is evidence of more than two acts of abuse over the specified time
period, [the statute] makes it clear that the jurors need not agree as to which
individual acts were committed so long as they agree that the defendant
committed at least two,” the court wrote in its opinion. “Because the jury in
this case was required to unanimously find that [Jacobsen] committed two or more
of the alleged acts of sexual abuse, his right to a unanimous jury verdict was
not violated.”
Riddle said she believes the ruling will be heard next by the Court of Criminal
Appeals, but she expects the state’s highest criminal court to uphold the
conviction as well.
“These pedophiles who repeatedly molest little children are undoubtedly the
absolute worst of the worst criminals anywhere,” Riddle said. “I am proud of the
fact that our state has a history of treating them sternly, and I am confident
that trend will continue.”
// June 15th, 2010 // 2 Comments » // Uncategorized
AUSTIN – After spending several days meeting with top officials in Washington D.C. and Louisiana, Representative Debbie Riddle (R – District 150) said the Deepwater Horizon oil spill has triggered an economic domino effect that could spell disaster for the Houston area.
“It doesn’t matter if a drop of oil ever hits Texas shores,” Riddle said. “The effects of fishing bans and drilling moratoriums combined with the environmental fallout are going to cost Texas millions of dollars and thousands of jobs unless we get this situation under control immediately.”
Riddle, who chairs the National Foundation for Women Legislators (NFWL), visited last Friday with U.S. Coast Guard officials at the White House before travelling to Louisiana to meet with BP executives, members of the Louisiana legislature, and fishermen along the Gulf Coast regarding containment strategies and the potential impact of the disaster on Texas businesses.
The trip was coordinated by Riddle and the NFWL as a way for the Foundation’s members to educate themselves on the spill, as well as communicate their constituent’s viable solutions to the proper authorities.
“There are Houston-based businesses with some of the world’s top scientists and engineers who have developed real strategies for how to solve these problems,” Riddle said. “But they can’t get through the bureaucratic red-tape to get the ideas into the hands of the people who can really use them.”
But Riddle said the meetings made another reality clear: the link between the Houston economy and the Louisiana fishing industry.
“When shrimpers can’t catch it, then our Houston-area businessmen can’t process it, and our restaurants and grocery stores can’t sell it,” Riddle said. “That means we lose businesses and jobs, and our state economy loses millions more dollars in revenue, and that’s only one of many industries that could be impacted.”
Efforts by the NFWL members to relay their constituents’ ideas have already made an impact, and Riddle believes local companies may soon have a seat at the table as the clean-up continues.
Over the last month NFWL’s Energy, Natural Resources & Agriculture Policy Committee has jumped into action to emphasize the importance of bringing the nation together to find solutions, forming NFWL’s Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Coalition. Women legislators, who are active with the Coalition and serving as Team Leaders for the Committee in their states, are working to implement an organized strategy utilizing state leaders to help mitigate the economic impact.
“This is an opportunity to foster true innovation,” Riddle said. “The solutions that are going to be produced by these partnerships don’t just help fix this current mess, but they will also help us solve our future energy problems by helping us safely tap our domestic fossil-fuel potential.”
“Representative Riddle is working with a network of elected women leaders from all 50 states who believe that now is not the time to point fingers, but instead work together as a nation to identify and implement solutions,” said Robin Read, NFWL’s President & CEO.
“Despite being in the middle of a recession, it is important for the Administration, federal labs, universities, high-tech industries and the oil and gas industries to work together in facing this challenge,” Read said. “This Coalition is committed to facilitating this communication, cutting through the red-tape and bringing real solutions and collaborations to the table.”
Through critical public-private partnerships, the NFWL Coalition is able to determine the best technologies and methods to assist with clean-up efforts – efforts that will have an impact on the Gulf Coast’s wildlife, land, and economic viability.
Copyright © 2010 Debbie Riddle. All rights reserved.
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