This is a great opportunity to receive legislative/redistricting updates and meet Harris County Republican elected officials, candidates and party leaders, so mark your calendars for June 6th and show up with your list of public policy and campaign questions.

I look forward to seeing you at 6:30 p.m. at Tracy Gee Community Center on Monday, June 6th as we continue working together towards victory in 2012!

Sincerely,

Jared Woodfill
Chairman, Harris County Republican Party

On behalf of your Harris County Republican Party, I would like to wish you and your family a happy and safe Memorial Day weekend.

As we enjoy our freedom and spend time with our friends and families, let us take this day to honor those who paid the ultimate price for our freedom and liberty.  Let us also give thanks for the members of our military who continue to stand in the breach in defense of this great nation and pray for their safe return to their families.

Info on the Houston National Cemetery event follows:

On Memorial Day, Monday May 30th, the ceremony begins at 9 a.m. at Houston National Cemetery, 10410 Veterans Memorial, Houston, TX 77038 (map). The guest speaker will be retired Air Force Colonel Ann M. Testa, who currently is the federal security director for George Bush Intercontinental Airport.

Officials are urging those who will attend to arrive early as the Houston National Cemetery is currently under construction and it has curtailed some parking. Attendees should use the Temporary Access Entrance at Aldine Western (info). Metro will provide service from the North Shepherd Park & Ride (info), 7821 N. Shepherd, to the cemetery from 7 a.m.-1 p.m. on Memorial Day. The one-way fare is $1.25 and the bus leaves every 20 minutes. For more information, call 281-447-8686.

May God continue to bless these United States of America.

Chairman, Harris County Republican Party

Thanks to the legal efforts of the Liberty Institute, as well as the thousands of calls and e-mails sent by concerned citizens, the U.S. Justice Department abandoned their unconstitutional position and will allow Pastor Scott Rainey to pray according to his faith at Monday’s Houston National Cemetery Memorial Day service.

This should serve notice that an organized, impassioned citizenry can still make a difference.

Thank you for standing up for liberty and thank you for heeding our call to action.

All concerned citizens are encouraged to attend and military veterans are asked to wear their uniform.

Earlier today, the Liberty Institute filed a lawsuit (view release) in Federal Court seeking a Temporary Restraining Order regarding the Houston National Cemetery’s refusal to allow Pastor Scott Rainey to pray (according to his faith) at the upcoming HNC Memorial Day remembrance (view Pastor Rainey’s prayer).

Fortunately, the Judge granted a Temporary Restraining Order against Obama’s Department of Veterans Affairs and local cemetery Director, Arleen Ocasio (view the order).  Although this is a first victory in the fight, we must continue the effort; attend tomorrow’s rally, call and e-mail until this injustice is overturned.

Please call Arleen Ocasio today at 281-447-8686 (extension 206) and e-mail her @ Arleen.ocasio@va.gov and respectfully ask her to let Pastor Scott Rainey pray according to his faith.

While this battle rages, let’s never forget to honor the brave men and women who paid the ultimate price so we could be free.

Thank you for your immediate action and I look forward to seeing you at the rally tomorrow

We’ve heard about it in other parts of the world; even in other states, but now it’s come right here to Harris County Texas; the wild-eyed left refusing to let a local Pastor pray according to his faith.

Respected Houston Pastor Scott Rainey, who has delivered invocations before the Texas State House of Representatives, the Harris County Commissioners Court, and for the past two years, at the Houston National Cemetery’s Memorial Day Ceremony, was denied the permission to pray according to his faith.

During each invocation (including the past two at the Houston National Cemetery), Pastor Rainey has ended his prayer, as he believes he is instructed to do by his faith, by praying in Jesus’ name.  This year, for the first time Pastor Rainey was asked to submit his prayer before the ceremony (click here to read prayer). Subsequently, Ms. Arleen Ocasio (Director, Houston National Cemetery) gave Pastor Rainey an unconstitutional demand to edit his prayer to be more “inclusive.”

Upon this outrageous request, noted defender of religious freedom, the Liberty Institute, filed a brief with the VA (click here for brief) demanding that this unconstitutional position be reversed.  As of yesterday evening, Obama’s Veteran Affairs department has refused to rescind the decision.

The Obama Administration is trying to socialize the American economy and now they’re also coming after our religious liberty.

Enough is enough!  We must take a stand.  Please call Arleen Ocasio today at 281-447-8686 (extension 206) and e-mail her @ Arleen.ocasio@va.gov and respectfully ask her to let Pastor Scott Rainey pray according to his faith.

Throughout the legislative session we will be doing regular legislative updates, letting you know what is going on inside the Capitol. Here is the latest update on the state and national level, and upcoming HCRP events

State Legislative Update: Voter ID Bill Passes in the Senate

During the campaign season, Republicans campaigned on, among other things, balancing the budget without raising taxes, voter identification, border security, sanctity of life, and protecting private property rights. The first weeks of the session prove that Republicans are serious about these campaign promises. Specifically, Gov. Perry has given “emergency” status to voter identification, sonogram bill, sanctuary cities, private property rights, and a federal balanced budget amendment, fast-tracking these important pieces of legislation.

The state Senate recently passed the Voter ID bill, SB 14, down party lines. Despite the overwhelming number of Texans who support the bill, over the past few legislative sessions, Democrats have done everything they can to kill voter ID. We are now one step closer to passing this common sense legislation. However, Democrats continue to make specious arguments regarding its constitutionality. Don’t be fooled…a similar bill was passed in Indiana, went to the U.S. Supreme Court, and was held to be constitutional.

Most Texans believe it is reasonable that the Texas Legislature close loopholes that encourage election fraud.

It should be noted that SB 14 contains the following provisions:

Current state law allows a voter to produce a fraudulent voter registration card, without any photograph, and be permitted to vote in-person. Conversely, Senate Bill 14 mandates unexpired identification containing photograph (four choices): driver’s license or personal identification card issued by the DPS, a military identification card, a U.S. citizenship certificate or a U.S. passport. Additionally, voters can buy a personal identification certificate for $5-$15. The bill waives the fee for anyone who is seeking the certificate to meet the voter ID requirement. Moreover, under SB 14, if you arrive to vote without the required photo identification, the voter will be provided a provisional ballot and a future opportunity to meet the photo requirement. SB 14 also provides that violators can be charged with a second-degree felony, as opposed to the third degree felony under current law.

Democrats will continue to argue that photo ID laws will reduce turnout. However, the Indiana legislation, which was approved by the US Supreme Court, tells a different story: overall turnout increased by 2 percent after the Voter ID law was passed.

Congratulations to Lieutenant Governor Dewhurst and the Republican majority in the Senate. Onward to the state House!

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FOX Faceoff: Photo ID Required for Voting: MyFoxHOUSTON.com

National Update

This week we witnessed two very different visions for the country: President Obama’s State of the Union address and Rep. Paul Ryan’s Republican response clearly define the difference between the Republicans and Democrats agenda for the country.

For Democrats, the economy will improve if we will just trust the government to spend our money in the manner they see fit. This stimulus spending binge has left us in serious debt and failed to curb an unemployment rate that is currently 9.4%. Additionally, it appears that the language of government spending has changed. Gone are the days of stimulus, replaced by the word “investment.” In the Democrat lexicon, the words are interchangeable, and the philosophy remains the same-give us your hard earned money and trust us to spend it.

Despite serious Democrat losses in 2010, the Obama agenda remains the same, calling for additional spending on high-speed rail and other projects. President Obama did propose a five-year freeze on nondefense discretionary spending. However, past promises show that, again, these are empty promises. Remember, last year President Obama promised to push for a three-year freeze that was never acted upon by the Democrat majority.

According to Karl Rove, “The president’s proposal would save $400 billion over 10 years. But that is on a federal budget that’s increased 25% in two years, raising government’s share of GDP to 25% from roughly 20%. Freezing government at the current record levels is insufficient. And to their credit, Republicans have proposed cutting $100 billion from this year’s budget. This would save $1.5 trillion over the next 10 years. The GOP already made a $42 billion down payment on their $100 billion in cuts from the president’s budget by deep-sixing the Democratic omnibus bill during the lame-duck session.”

Polling shows that voters believe the government should tighten its belt and reduce spending to lower deficits. This is a clear contrast to the Obama administration’s attempt to spend us out of the huge deficit they have created.

In the Republican response, Congressman Paul Ryan made it clear that our budget issues cannot be fixed by slashing nondefense discretionary spending-$666 billion of a $3.5 trillion federal budget. To deal with our massive debt, we must reform the mandatory spending (over $2 trillion of the current budget), i.e., Medicare, etc.

Upcoming Events

Back by popular demand, we are hosting our next Town Hall Meeting on Tuesday, February 1st. As part of our effort to organize and strategize for the 2012 election cycle, we will be hosting a series of Town Hall meetings throughout Harris County.

The county-wide elected officials who have confirmed to come and speak about county government are County Clerk Stan Stanart, District Clerk Chris Daniel and County Treasurer Orlando Sanchez. Additionally, we will be providing a legislative update/agenda and discuss preparations for the 2012 election cycle. Please plan on attending this informative event.

On Saturday, March 19th your Harris County Republican Party will host our 2011 Lincoln-Reagan Day Dinner with Special Guest, Governor Mike Huckabee, at The Hilton Post Oak located at 2001 Post Oak Blvd.

To view the complete event details, please visit our event page at the Harris County Republican Party

Click here to download an event form.

By: Jared Woodfill
Chairman, Harris County Republican Party
3311 Richmond, Suite 218
Houston, TX 77098
713-838-7900 – FAX 713-838-7901

]]> http://blog.harriscountygop.com/wpblog/2011/02/harris-county-republican-party-online-newsletter-2/feed/ 0 http://blog.harriscountygop.com/wpblog/2011/01/watch-harris-county-republican-party-jared-woodfill-on-fox-26-face-off/ http://blog.harriscountygop.com/wpblog/2011/01/watch-harris-county-republican-party-jared-woodfill-on-fox-26-face-off/#comments Tue, 25 Jan 2011 02:22:25 +0000 Richard Dillon http://blog.harriscountygop.com/wpblog/?p=1428 Watch Jared Woodfill promote the priorities of the Republican agenda for the 2011 Session of the Texas State legislature

Aviation enthusiasts and adrenaline junkies take note – The jet’s owner and pilot has even agreed to allow the winning bidder to take the stick and pilot this cold war classic if they are a licensed and meet his skill requirements. This is an opportunity for one lucky bidder to have the ride of their life.

The first production Delfin rolled off the assembly line in April 1963, and production continued for more than 11 years, a huge statement of its success. More than 2,000 were eventually supplied to the Soviet air force, and 400 more to the Czech air force. Others were supplied to Bulgaria, East Germany, Hungary and Romania.  Straightforward, rugged and easy to fly, the L-29 was ideal as both a primary jet trainer and as an advanced combat/weapons trainer. The Delfin was later exported to several other nations including Egypt and Indonesia.

This amazing flight, and many others great auction items, will be available on February 5th 2011 at the “Carl Pittman for Harris County Sheriff Campaign Fundraiser” held at Steamboat House Steakhouse – 8045 N. Sam Houston Parkway West, Houston Texas  77064. Admission to the dinner and auction is $350. For more details call (281) 849-1336 , or visit www.CarlForSheriff.com