National Security
Texas Democrats joining in support of the deal included U.S. Reps. Al Green and Sheila Jackson Lee of Houston, Joaquin Castro of San Antonio, Henry Cuellar of Laredo, Lloyd Doggett of Austin, Rubén Hinojosa of Edinburg, Eddie Bernice Johnson of Dallas, Beto O'Rourke of El Paso, and Marc Veasey of Fort Worth.
The delegation will then travel to Ukraine to meet with leaders in Kiev to discuss political and economic reforms. In addition to DeLauro and Pelosi, the group includes: Reps. Anna Eshoo of California, Chellie Pingree of Maine, Cedric Richmond of Louisiana, David Cicilline of Rhode Island and Marc Veasey of Texas.
The travelers on this whirlwind six-day junket are Rosa DeLauro (Conn.), Anna Eshoo (Calif.), Chellie Pingree (Maine), Cedric Richmond (La.), David Cicilline (R.I.) and Marc Veasey (Tex.).
Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi will travel to Italy and Ukraine starting Thursday on a congressional delegation intended to underscore the U.S. commitment to security in that region.
Democratic Reps. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, Anna Eshoo of California, Chellie Pingree of Maine, Cedric Richmond of Louisiana, David Cicilline of Rhode Island and Marc Veasey of Texas will accompany Pelosi. Republican Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin was scheduled to join the trip but was forced to cancel because of family matters.
"Oh, God," Rep. Marc Veasey (D-Texas) replied, lowering his head to the side when asked about the operation.
Veasey said that based on his time in the Legislature in Austin and "watching how sort of reckless and right and radical that the leaders down there have become … sadly, I'm not surprised" by the reaction.
Concerns about the exercise have persisted despite repeated statements from the Defense Department and Army leaders.
In Texas, all was mostly quiet on the Democratic front. Most in the party were reluctant to comment, saying they wanted more time to study the 109-page agreement.
"I'm not ready to weigh in right now," U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth, said at the U.S. Capitol.
Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas— Congressman Marc Veasey, TX-33, member of the House Armed Services Committee, issued the following statement commemorating Memorial Day:
Washington, D.C. — Congressman Marc Veasey, TX-33, member of the House Armed Services Committee released the following statement after voting in favor of H.R. 1735, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016:
In order to send the message that what is happening right now at the ICC cannot be tolerated, Reps. Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.) and Marc Veasey (D-Texas) have introduced House Resolution 209, which makes it clear that what the Palestinian Authority is doing is both a corruption of international law and a national security threat to America and its democratic ally, Israel.