Newsletter: A Message from Blake

Statement

Stopping the President's Illegal Amnesty

Last Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Andrew S. Hanen, ordered a stay on the President's unconstitutional amnesty plan. This is the same plan that the House voted to defund in the Homeland Security Appropriations bill that is stuck in the Senate. I spoke with MSNBC's José Diaz-Balart about this issue last Wednesday.

Judge Hanen's opinion confirms my belief that the President overstepped his authority when he attempted to grant amnesty to almost 5 million people. The Constitution gives Congress, not the President, the power to set immigration policy. The President must stop trying to work around Congress to unilaterally change laws.

The President must also respect the checks and balances established by our Constitution.

Finally, I believe that the President's policies are making the situation at the border worse. The President's false promises of amnesty is encouraging illegal immigration. Worse yet, I believe the flood of children whose parents risked their lives sending them across the border last year did so in part based on the erroneous belief that the children would able to gain legal status in the U.S. Even under the Presidents illegal and unconstitutional plans, these children will still not be eligible.

Working to Fund Our Security

Funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is set to expire on February 28, 2015. The House has already voted to fund DHS while blocking funding for the President's amnesty plan. Unfortunately, Senate Democrats have held up debate on the DHS funding bill. Oddly, some of the Senators who have publicly spoken out against the President's actions are among those unwilling bring the bill to the floor by not voting for cloture.

I believe the Senate must take up the House-passed bill immediately. I recently joined 169 other Members of Congress in a letter sent to Harry Reid urging him to stop delaying debate and move to fund the DHS. As we continue to work to fund our nation's security, I will continue to defend the Constitution and will urge my colleagues to do the same.

Reducing Government Involvement in Education

My field representative, JD Kennedy, recently met with Bastrop Independent School District Deputy Superintendent, Barry Edwards, and Chief Financial Officer, Sandra Callahan, to discuss H.R. 5, the Student Success Act, which will replace No Child Left Behind (NCLB).

Mr. Edwards and Mrs. Callahan told us that they look forward to NCLB being replaced with something that will return more control of education back to state and local governments. The Student Success Act is a good start. It will do away with the one size fits all approach to education and allow states to enhance accountability in our schools. The Student Success Act will help limit the role of the federal government in our schools by removing the government's ability to coerce states into adopting things like Common Core and other burdensome and costly regulations.

The bill also will help grow our charter schools and allow successful programs, like magnet schools and other school choice options to flourish.

In Texas, current school choice programs in place include intra-district transfers and inter-district transfers that give students the ability to transfer to schools that better suit their needs. In addition, students in "low performing schools" are eligible to attend higher performing schools in the same district or in another district under the Public Education Grant programs.

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