I don't know that my colleagues in Congress really care about what happens here in El Paso and in Juarez. They care what happens in their home district.
The average congressman has a time and attention span of about 2 minutes.
I think some of our members may have thought the default issue was a hostage you might take a chance at shooting. Most of us didn’t think that. What we did learn is this - it’s a hostage that’s worth ransoming. And it focuses the Congress on something that must be done.
Most of what we report from Congress they don't care about unless it affects them directly.
But I can tell you what I believe: When tens of thousands of innocent souls have perished in Darfur-when 11 million children are without health insurance-when our colossal debt subjects our economic future to the whims of Asian bankers-no one can tell me that faith demands this Senate spend its time arguing over a handful of judges. No one with those priorities can use my faith to intimidate me.
We're trying to convey how much easier it is than most people think, especially young people, to turn the country around if they focus on the levers, if they focus on Congress, and state legislatures.
The legislator should direct his attention above all to the education of youth.
Caring for our nation's veterans and investing in Picatinny are some of my top priorities in Congress.
We have depended on government for so much for so long that we as people have become less vigilant of our liberties. As long as the government provides largesse for the majority, the special interest lobbyists will succeed in continuing the redistribution of welfare programs that occupies most of Congress's legislative time.
If the Congress is going to spend its whole time hauling up regulators and bureaucrats and looking like they're focusing on tiny, trivial things, instead of jobs and the economy, it could be a problem for them.
The media, the polls and our legislatures fortunately have short attention spans.
My priorities in Congress are shaped by the needs and concerns of our community, and I value the opportunity to hear directly from my constituents about the issues that matter most to them.
Safety has been my top legislative priority. I'm driven by the idea that safety is really a core function of government.
Each day I wake up and check the news. Nearly every day it's merely to make sure I did not miss anything wildly controversial. Who said what, what are the implications of that comment, what was the context of what was said? Some days are slow, which is great. We can focus on a particular policy issue or piece of legislation.
My colleagues have expressed confidence in my ability to articulate our conservative message and to provide new focus to our efforts in the General Assembly.
Although Senate Bill 1556 has received attention for its perceived focus, my job is to look at the actual substance of the legislation.
