EDINBURG, TEXAS - U.S. Sen. John Cornyn made his last campaign swing through the Rio Grande Valley in the company of the National Border Patrol Council.
“The Border Patrol Council, they have become like brothers and sisters,” Cornyn said, as he acknowledged the council’s endorsement.
“It was heartbreaking to see how our professional law enforcement, who dedicate their lives to this nation, were abandoned by the administration during the previous four years, by the Biden administration.
“I continue to do everything that I can make sure that our brave men and women in the Border Patrol can actually use their training and their skills to do the job and not be diverted providing shelter, clothing, transportation, while being overrun by a tsunami of humanity and which has overwhelmed many of our border communities.”
Cornyn continued: “In Texas, we believe in supporting our men and women in uniform, no matter what color that uniform is, because the alternative is chaos and anarchy.
“And it's shocking to me to see in Washington, DC, and other places, where people say, well, we shouldn't enforce our laws, and we shouldn't support our law enforcement officials who are doing nothing more than their duty enforcing laws that Congress has passed, and the President has signed into law.
“So, what we've seen depicted on our TV sets in places like Minnesota are tragic, but they're also shameful, and accusing law enforcement of being the problem rather than the solution is just exactly wrong.”
Cornyn also spoke about the 1944 U.S.-Mexico Water Treaty. He gave a shoutout to Bret Erickson of the Texas International Fresh Produce Association, who was there to endorse him.
“We worked with (U.S. Rep.) Monica De La Cruz to work on this 1944 Water Treaty with Mexico. I still remember being in Mexico City many years ago, when I was attorney general. We were still talking about that water treaty with Mexico hoarding water, denying it to our farmers and ranchers here in the United States. And we have said enough is enough.
“Thank goodness, President Trump and (Agriculture) Secretary (Brooke) Rollins and Congress have come together to make sure that we get regular disbursements of that water so it will not only support our folks in the Ag sector but also provide for the economy and the prosperity the Rio Grande Valley deserves.”
Cornyn then spoke about the primary election. He is in a primary battle with two other high-profile Republicans - Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt.
“Here's my message to you today, and that is, complacency is a killer. Complacency kills relationships careers. It kills countries and kills great political parties. And what I mean by that is, when people don't show up… showing up is critically important. I think it's really easy sometimes to take for granted what we have here in Texas.”
Cornyn said he does not take what Texas has for granted because he has to work in “hostile territory,” namely Washington, D.C. “What we have here is envy of the nation. And of course, other nations envy what America has,” he said.
“And so complacency is a terrible mistake, and I'm here today to encourage all of you, not only to vote personally yourself, hopefully during early voting in the Republican primary, I would hope, but to get your friends and family and everybody that you're associated with and encourage them and tell them why this is so important.”
Cornyn said he is proud of the fact that he has worked with President Trump and voted with him 99.3% of the time. “That may sound like a lot. That's actually more than Ted Cruz, but don’t tell Ted I said that,” he quipped.
Cornyn then spoke about border security.
“Thanks to President Trump's leadership and the work, the heroic work of these men and women behind me, the border is now secure. It's amazing. President Biden said, well, we need to pass some new laws. Well, what we found out is we needed a new president who was willing to enforce the law so these professionals could work more safely.
“They can do the work they're trained for, and we don't have to worry about the influx of unvetted and unknown individuals coming across into our country. Because we know while there are people who come across who want a better life, and we that's always been the case, unfortunately, when you have open borders, bad people can come in.”
Cornyn then spoke about immigration.
“I believe that legal immigration has been a blessing for our country. It's made us who we are today, because all of us have come from somewhere else, at some point in our family history.
“But if we do it the right way, we know that these are people who want to share our values, want to become assimilated and part of our great state and our great nation.
“Thanks to a secure border, crime in America, it's down 20%, our communities are safer.”
Cornyn then spoke about international relations. The event was held before the U.S. launched air missiles against Iran.
“The United States is finally, once again, feared by our enemies and respected by our friends. And I know when President Trump's on the phone talking to (Mexican) President (Claudia) Sheinbaum, those are some interesting negotiations taking place. They seem to be getting along pretty well.
“We're seeing increased cooperation, as we know there needs to be between our countries. Just thinking a little bit about some of the things we've been able to do in recent years, through the legislature, working to bring jobs back to America. We made a real mistake watching manufacturing go over to China all of a sudden. You need to bring that back.”
Cornyn lamented that Texas taxpayers had to pay for border security during the Biden administration, by utilizing DPS on the border.
“They (Texas taxpayers) had to pay for the National Guard to do the job that the federal government should have done. It should have paid for (by the federal government). So, we were successful in getting $11.1 billion reimbursed to the Texas taxpayers. We've also worked to try to enhance the bridge permitting process. Trade between the United States and Mexico is very important.”
Cornyn also spoke about the importance of technical education.
“One of the things I think is most significant as we begin to bring more of those jobs back to America is we need more and more trained people to perform jobs with their hands. In other words, we have enough people that sought four-year liberal arts college degrees. They're going to all be replaced by artificial intelligence. Maybe not exactly, but people don't really know where that's going to take us. But even Elon Musk, the head of SpaceX, now Starbase, formerly Boca Chica, he said, if you make things with your hands, you're going to have a job. You're going to have job security.”
Cornyn said he has visited Texas State Technical College in Harlingen, where they're teaching diesel mechanics. After obtaining a one- or two-year certification, such students are making really good money, Cornyn said. Likewise, welders, HVAC engineers and electricians.
‘We expanded the Pell Grant program so you can get financial assistance to get one of those certifications, so you can get a good, well-paying job. You don't need to go to a four-year college unless you want to, in order to get a good paying job. And we need more people who can work with their hands, work in the building trades to help us bring that manufacturing here in the United States.”
Cornyn said he would close his speech where he started it, by taking about the dangers of complacency.
“I'll close where I started and say complacency is not our friend. It is critical that all of us get out to the polls and vote, and in Texas, we make it really easy to vote.
“Most of us, perhaps, aren't used to voting in primaries, but in a state of Texas, that's where the action is, because you don't vote in the primary, you're pretty much going to be out of luck choosing the candidate of your making, the candidate of your choice in November.”
Editor's Note: Here is an audio recording of Sen. Cornyn's remarks at the GOTV event:
