EDINBURG, Texas - U.S. Sen. John Cornyn was guest of honor at a luncheon hosted by the RGV Hispanic Chamber of Commerce on Monday, Oct. 9.
The event was held at the Edinburg Conference Center at Renaissance and its ballroom was filled with elected officials and business and community leaders.
Along with the luncheon, Julian Alvarez, senior vice president at Lone Star National Bank, sat down for a Q&A with Sen. Cornyn. In the time allotted, Alvarez was able to pitch five questions to the senator.
The subjects were: Israel, the economy, workforce development, border security, and impediments to legitimate trade and travel.
Here in text form are the exchanges between Alvarez and Cornyn on those five questions.
Alvarez:
Now we're gonna go ahead and start. Senator, the first question is, and I think we were... this is something that's on everybody's mind. We know you've been a longtime champion of Israel. We all know that. You have visited there many times and helped lead multiple initiatives in Congress to strengthen Israel's ability to protect itself. Senator, given the horrific events over the weekend and Israel's formal declaration of war against Hamas in response, what do you think the most important thing is for the United States should do during this time?
Cornyn:
Thank you, and thanks to all of you for having me. Like all of you, I was shocked to see this invasion by Hamas, which the US government has designated as a terrorist organization for many years now. Which has been basically occupying the Gaza Strip which if you look at the map of Israel, you'll see this little block of land, which is essentially ceded to the Palestinians, who were seeking their own, basically, their own state to govern themselves. And Israel as a gesture of peace, agreed to that. But unfortunately, Hamas which is armed and supported by Iran, which is busy trying to build nuclear weapons to threaten not only Israel, but peace in the entire Middle East, they use Hamas as in as they do Hezbollah, in Lebanon, which again, is right next door to Israel, as a proxy. So they understand that if it was Iran invading Israel, it would be a far different response than it is if you use a proxy force.
But sadly, I think Israel is going to have a protracted period of military conflict as they attempt to defend their homeland and their people against assaults against innocent civilians, men, women and children. So this is a really a terrible development. But it's also another reminder that the world continues to be a dangerous place and the United States has an important role to play supporting our friends and allies around the world.
I know we have a lot of challenges here at home, which we'll talk about more sure in a moment. But one of the prices that we pay for being the most powerful, most prosperous nation in the world is that we're the indispensable partner. In all of these operations. We can’t, as Bob Gates, the former Secretary of Defense told me one time, we can't pick and choose where we're going to demonstrate that leadership. We don't have to do it by ourselves. We don't have to… we don't have to put the burden on US taxpayers exclusively. But we when we're not there, things tend to unravel and tyrants and dictators, and in this case, terrorists will fill that void. So I wish the Israelis well. The United States government… I was pleased to hear President Biden make an unequivocal commitment to supporting Israel. They are the only democracy there in the Middle East which is very dangerous neighborhood.
Alvarez:
Senator, as you know, the Rio Grande Valley's business community has been through a lot over the past few years, especially with the pandemic. From the dark days of the pandemic to business closures supply chain challenges, worker shortages, we all know about that, inflation, government regulations, and much more. The men and women in this room have had to overcome one hurdle after another. You've championed a number of measures of both to provide relief as well as help get Washington's boot off the neck of our job creator. And we greatly appreciate that. In your view, Senator, how is our economy recovering going? And then I'll follow that up by, are you optimistic about where things stand today?
Cornyn:
Well, first of all, we whether you realize it or not, whether we realize it or not. We have all won the lottery. We live in Texas, not somewhere else in the United States. (Applause)
Texas remains remains the economic engine that really drives the rest of the country and you see people voting with their feet coming from places like California and elsewhere to Texas because we are truly still the land of opportunity, where the American Dream is still alive and well.
Now that's not to say we don't have our challenges. We are not perfect. We know we have we continue to have a lot of work to do. But I believe that the federal government has gotten too big and spent too much money that it didn't need to need to spend after COVID was over. And that's helped fuel inflation which had been up to a four-year high. And of course, this is not just something that that people in businesses feel, they do feel it, but every one of us feel it when you go to the grocery store when you go to fill up your gas tank. Let's say when you're paying your rent or if you're lucky enough to be able to buy a new house in the price of the house that you buy and inflation is sort of a silent tax. And but it still bites just like a regular tax. So that's been a big challenge. Because after the COVID 19 pandemic, the federal government continued to spend money on something called the American Recoveries Act, and on the Inflation Reduction Act, which I call the Inflation Non-Reduction Act. And, you know, look it's you can look at the where the money goes and say well that's doesn't sound bad, and no, it's not necessarily bad. But the question is, is it a priority? Is it important enough that the federal government should take the money out of your pocket and spend it or rather should the federal government let you keep more of what you earn and spend it the way you see fit? Well, I think the latter approach is a better approach. And there are some things of course, like national security pandemics, where the federal government does play a critical role. But as we remember our history and our civics, the federal government was created as just that, a federal amount of national government, the states to play continue to play a critical roles as sovereign states. Obviously, all the power that's not delegated to the federal government is retained by the states of the people. But unfortunately, we also see the federal government not doing its job in so many areas, which I guess we'll talk about here in a minute, particularly right here along the border.
But it's encouraging to me to see that some of our great educational institutions, plant a flag and grow here in the Rio Grande Valley, and our colleges and universities are able to do so much. So much good to help train people to create the workforce that you alluded to that's critical to be able to qualify for these great jobs are being created. And then the entrepreneurs that are here in the Rio Grande Valley that just causes place to boom. I've been coming to the Valley for many years now. And I've never cease to be amazed at how prosperous and how vivid the region has become and now that it's getting the attention that it deserves, not only from Washington, but also Austin, it’s great to see all these good things happening. But again, we're not perfect. We understand we've still got a lot of work to do a lot of areas. But our economy is the envy of the rest of the nation.
Alvarez:
As you know, a major challenge many of the folks in this room have faced over the past few years is the labor shortage. They've struggled to find workers to fill those jobs across virtually every industry from hospitality to healthcare, to high tech and manufacturing. This issue has a negative impact not only on business owners, but also in the broader economy, as you alluded to. I know we've seen you around the region visiting a number of universities, community colleges, and even high schools that are working hard on initiatives to address this challenge. But in this issue, the folks in Washington, what are they watching for? What kind of action might we see in the forefront?
Cornyn:
Well, I'm actually very proud of the state of Texas and the leadership that has created this continuum, basically from high school, to community colleges to four-year colleges. People worry a lot about accumulating a lot of debt for college, and certainly making it possible through our community colleges for our kids to earn college credit while still in high school is, I think, part of the answer. And then, of course, when you think about workforce, when I think about workforce, I think about our community colleges, because they work with the employers in the community to say, okay, what sort of skills do you need people to learn so you can then hire them? So it's a collaboration between education and the employer, and it's been a resounding, resounding success.
But I think you know, obviously after COVID hit or people were isolated, and we were all Zooming way too much, and going stir crazy, not being able to see our friends and neighbors and family and not do simple things like, you know, young people getting married or having go to their graduation. It was a very traumatic time. But I know part of the problem that particularly the federal government has had is getting people to come back into work. And people some people would retire when they could retire. And so it's a big challenge. But I know, you understand, particularly like in the healthcare field, how important educating the next generation of caregivers is, I know that you worked with the DHR and South Texas College on an apprenticeship program for nursing students, and there's nowhere else where we need the workforce more than in healthcare. Unfortunately, or fortunately, as the case may be, we're all getting older and putting more and more strain on our healthcare system, among other things, and so I was just mentioning also the challenge of mental health, treatment access to community based mental health care. And the fact is that we don't have the professionals, whether it's a psychiatrists that Alonzo was telling me about, trying to train and develop that workforce, that highly educated professional workforce, or just the people who are the nurses and the caregivers, that various facilities. So it's, it's a huge challenge. In a way it's a nice problem to have. It means we have a growing booming economy and a lot of demand, but we got to continue to make those investments. And the federal government plays an important role when it comes to the workforce grants and money that comes to the states. But as you know, a lot of that hard work occurs at the state level that you did for a while now. And it continues to be very high on our list of things we need to continue to pay attention to.
Alvarez:
The next question I have is it's probably something that's on everyone's mind and that is border security. The border is an issue that continues to make national headlines as we know. News reports indicate that September was the busiest month for border crossings. on record. You've been and you continue to be on the forefront of issues related to border and immigration issues at the Senate. We saw you recently down here visiting so we appreciate that. You sit on the powerful Judiciary Committee and serve as the top Republican on Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship and Border Security or Border Safety, I should say. Senator, what are your thoughts on the situation at the border? And do you foresee any legislation on the forefront moving through Congress this year?
Cornyn:
Well, how long do we have? So, Monica De La Cruz can attest to this as well. I was at the lunch. The Texas delegation meets every Thursday, but this week, we had lunch on Wednesday, and they were interviewing candidates for the next speakership. Steve Scalise and Jim Jordan were there, who look like the two principal candidates. And those were the words on everybody's lips. What are we going to do about this? I know there's some people who think that, well, you know, the politicians just talk about it, but they never actually do anything about it. But obviously we know that the border has paid a heavy price, and the country has paid a heavy price as a result of uncontrolled illegal immigration.
Let me say very clearly, legal immigration, has been a blessing to our country. It has been a blessing, an unequivocal blessing. It has helped us allow the best and brightest, the hardest working people in the world to come to our country and seek a better life. But when we turn over our immigration system to transnational criminal organizations, they're sometimes called the cartels. As the judge was just saying, the people that come in front of him, he asks them how much money did you pay to get here and, you know, they paid large sums of money to come here. And, of course, the cartels, these organizations continue to get rich as more and more people come across the border. The last few years has been roughly seven million people come across the border. That includes one and a half million what the Border Patrol calls got-aways. And we know that they're probably not up to a lot of good if they're evading law enforcement. And of course we also know that is where the source of a lot of the fentanyl and synthetic opioids that are killing our kids in our high schools (come from). Seventy-one thousands American kids died last year as a result of fentanyl, which is made to look like it's a counterfeit pill. It looks like a standard pharmaceutical but people take it they don't know they're taking it and then they end up dying as a result. Seventy-one, last year alone. We know where it's coming from. We know where it's manufactured. And that's part of the story too because my strong belief Julian, and is that despite the great efforts being done by our Border Patrol and CBP, DPS, and others, that we are fighting a losing battle. And we're going to continue to see more and more people coming across. It's only now that, when the mayor of New York says, enough, we're going to destroy New York City if they have another couple of hundred people. Whereas, we've had millions come across our border.
So what's going on? Well, one of the things that is going on it's very different from the past is, these are not just core people who are fleeing violence from Central America or Mexico. These are literally people coming from around the world and claiming asylum. So, recently, I went to the Yuma Border Patrol sector, which is in a sleepy little Ag community in southwest Arizona with some of my colleagues, Democrats and Republicans. The acting Border Patrol chief said to us, welcome to the Yuma sector. We encountered people from 147 different countries, speaking more than 200 languages last year. And we thought how in the world could that possibly be true? So Mark Kelly, one of the senators from Arizona, pointed out that Mexicali is a city in northern Mexico with an airport and that literally people were flying in there. And then Uber-ing over to the Border Patrol and turning themselves in and claiming asylum, knowing that their asylum hearing in front of an immigration judge would be years in the future.
And, as I used to say, it's really an intelligence test. Because the people who show up for their court hearing, they flunk because the people who don't show up are not going to see any consequences associated with it. So, we're enriching the cartels that are inflicting misery on a lot of these migrants are some of whom don't survive. Young women are raped and assaulted. And it's just a it's a terrible situation. So, we need to say, number one, that if you transit, a safe third country, you don't you can't qualify for asylum in the United States. You may recall I think it was last year 15,000 Haitians showed up in Del Rio, Texas, a little town of 35,000 people. Can you imagine in any one of the cities around here 15,000 people show up and say, here I am, I'm ready to come into the into the interior of the country. But, of course, they've been living in South America for the previous few years. A perfectly safe environment or certainly not like Haiti. So that's an example of the kinds of things that I think we could do.
Finally, let me just… I went back and read some of the testimony by Secretary Chertoff, who was Department of Homeland Security Secretary under George W. Bush, and he pointed out one time the testimony I was reading. He said, when, all of a sudden, we had a spike in the number of Brazilians who would show up at the border. What's going on here? And then he said, Well, we finally realized that unless we were willing to detain them, and to repatriate those individuals, we would actually send the right message that don't come and try to get into the country illegally, you need to come through legal pathways. And he said at work. All of a sudden, that pipeline of Brazilian was more or less dried up. But, we don't have that message today. Basically, the message, what people see on TV or when they talk to their relatives back home, is, you know, I made it come on, come on, too. And so, it's a mess, but I'll close… I know it's a big topic.
So one of the reasons why I have invited a number of my colleagues to come to the Valley and to the border in particular, is because you hear some pretty crazy things, when people talk about the border. Occasionally I'll hear senators from other states say, we need to seal the border. Well, I always ask them, do you know how many jobs are created in the United States based on binational trade with Mexico? (Applause) We actually have a treaty. And then I hear some people say, well, you need to build the wall? Well, okay, you know, I've learned from the experts, which are the Border Patrol. This is a three legged stool. It's technology, it’s people, and, yes, in some hard to control locations it's infrastructure, something we used to call a fence that was supported on a bipartisan basis. Now everybody calls it a wall. But you can't just put up a piece of infrastructure and expect the the border to be safe or the control the flow of people and drugs coming into the country. So it's a huge topic, but it's also one that I think is really important for Senator Cruz, myself, Monica and others to invite our colleagues to come down here so they can see it for themselves and so they can learn. And so as policymakers, we can come up with policies that make sense and not just are interesting sound bites for cable TV.
Alvarez:
Thank you, Senator for saying that. We know that's such an important topic. And thank you for sharing that and we know that when you are down here or even prior to your visits to South Texas, you visit with the county judges, you will call them. You'll talk to folks about what's happening, boots on the ground, I want to know what's happening, whether it's Border Patrol, or whether it’s DPS. We mentioned earlier, some of the leadership that's in this room. So we appreciate that. We appreciate you listening to us, and you've always been a champion on that.
So the next thing is something that's really important to you and I know all these topics were but this one I know that you're specifically really just love it because of some of the people you work with like Pete Sepulveda, who represents the port. And we know how important the ports are not just in South Texas but throughout the whole country. Each year, all of us know that the migration surge also impacts legitimate trade and travel. Earlier this year, the Gateway International Bridge was closed for several months due to a mass crossing of migrants. Communities along the Texas-Mexican border have been impacted by similar closures. The most recent being a couple of weeks ago in Eagle Pass, which you referenced earlier. You've been a champion for the port improvements. And again, we see (Eddie) Campirano here and the other folks who represent the port and we're very grateful that you're here and they provide you with really good advice and border infrastructure projects. In light of new challenges we're seeing at the port of entries what more can be done.
Cornyn:
Well, you're right Julian, when I do come here I do listen. My father really drilled into my brain growing up. He said when you're talking, you're not learning anything. You need to learn to listen and particularly listen to the people who know it best, which are the people who live and work in these communities and the people perform these critical jobs. So that's really an important part of my job, to listen and learn. And then to be able to tell the story in the halls of Congress in Washington and what I call the the Forward Operating Base in hostile territory known as Washington DC. Those are important debates and battles and a lot of important stuff happens there or doesn't happen that really affects all of us.
But, yeah, I mean, it's back to what I was talking about earlier, just the number of jobs and that depend on that travel across the ports of entry. We know the federal government is way too slow in providing the infrastructure, the ports and the technology associated with it. So I was pleased to work at the time with Congressman Henry Cuellar and others, on allowing local communities to joint venture basically with the government to help staffing and to help build that infrastructure. But to your question earlier, hordes of people coming across the border not only interferes with the ability to detect and interdict illegal drugs that are coming across the border, it also has a tendency to overwhelm legitimate trade and travel and which is the lifeblood I know of our border communities and very important not just to Texas, but to the rest of the country as well. And when I visited with President López Obrador - I was just telling the folks at the table - I took a delegation, a bipartisan, bicameral delegation of House and Senate members down to Mexico City to visit with President Lopez Obrador, which was quite a unique experience. But trying to figure out how do we educate people about the region and about Mexico and then the challenges we face. But I also pointed out to President López Obrador, with the problems in China these days, with the crackdown they're making on business people there, even detaining some business people, not letting them leave the country. And just the more hostile President Xi has become, you're now seeing a lot of the jobs that were in China now coming back to the United States. Some of those, we've tried to incentivize like, advanced semiconductors and things like that. But, what better place for them to go than to go to Mexico? And to sort of become a part of that existing supply chain and binational trade and travel between our countries. Unfortunately, Mexico, because of the challenges it faces, is not, I think, able to live up to its potential. It could be a booming place. I know the economy there is pretty good, but unfortunately, because of organized crime and everything that goes along with it, it's not it's not living up to that potential. But, I do think we just have to keep at it and try to figure out how to make sure that those those bridges, those permits are issued to develop those bridges, and that legitimate trade and travel continues because of this whole region, Mexico, the United States and Canada is going to do nothing but continue to be more and more important and obviously, safe, legal, immigration policy, humane immigration policy and increased trade is I think got to be part of the answer.
Ends
