In the News
Texas Democrats are pushing back against armed militias gathering at the southern border.
In a letter to Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, the lawmakers warn that the presence of the vigilantes — many clad in military-style fatigues and carrying assault rifles — will only exacerbate the problems facing authorities, as they try to manage the wave of child migrants who have crossed into the state in recent months.
Washington (ABC) -- In a partisan vote that marks a new escalation in the Republican confrontation with President Obama, the House of Representatives approved a resolution to authorize Speaker John Boehner to initiate litigation against the president.
Five Republicans joined a unanimous Democratic Caucus in opposition to the resolution.
President Barack Obama signed two executive orders Monday, July 21, barring companies with federal contracts from discriminating against LGBT employees. The move drew praise from a wide variety of local and national leaders and put a large local federal contractor under fire.
Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth, a member of the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus, said he welcomes the president's action. But he also chastised Congress for failing to vote on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, of which he is an original co-sponsor.
WASHINGTON D.C. — House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi hosted a meeting with Congressman Filemon Vela (D-Brownsville), Congressman Xavier Becerra (D-Los Angeles), Congressman Ruben Hinojosa (D-Mercedes), Congressman Joaquin Castro (D-San Antonio), Congressman Beto O'Rourke (D-El Paso), Congressman Marc Veasey (D-Fort Worth), South Texas elected officials and faith-based organizations to discuss their opposition to lessening due process rights for unaccompanied children and the recent deployment of National Guard troops to South Texas.
DALLAS (CBS 11 NEWS) - Tens of thousands of unaccompanied children from Central America who crossed into Texas are overwhelming Border Patrol Agents.
Bill Holston heads the Human Rights Initiative in Dallas, which helps the children gain legal status in the U.S. "These are traumatized kids. They've made an arduous journey from Central America."
But immigration courts are backlogged, which means it often takes years before the children can go before a judge and find out whether they can stay or must leave.
As the congressman for a district with unemployment that's higher than the state average, and income that's lower, Rep. Marc Veasey has made jobs his top priority. Not just creating jobs, but raising salaries for the people who live in Congressional District 33 which stretches from West Fort Worth to West Dallas.
On the construction site for the Dallas Horseshoe highway project bulldozers move mountains of sand and rock while the thermometer hovers around 97 degrees.
During my tenure in public service, first as a state legislator and now as a United States congressman, it has been painful to watch our broken immigration system prevent Texas from reaching its full potential.
It's been more than a year since the Senate passed a bipartisan immigration bill, yet House Republican leadership has refused to bring comprehensive immigration reform to the floor for a vote.
The Transparent Airfares Act would help bring clarity to airline advertising and, in turn, help the industry ward off unnecessary economic pain. For this reason, it has strong bipartisan support in Congress - among cosponsors in the U.S. House are Texas Reps.
FORT WORTH, Texas — Texas is running out of room to house the thousands of Central American children who illegally crossed the border.
And Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas, says the solution is not to continue piling them into bus stations and other makeshift shelters — including unused schools in North Texas — as officials try to find the best way to return the children safely to their families in countries as far away as Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.