Sen. John Cornyn speaks in Pearland

By Jason Smith
The Facts

Published April 29, 2007

PEARLAND — Freda Mullin came to Pearland because she is worried about the flow of illegal immigrants into the United States.

“Immigration is a big issue, and I’m scared we are going to become a third-world country some day,” said Mullin, who lives in Friendswood.

Roy Edwards was there, too, worried about a lack of flow — that from the San Bernard River into the Gulf of Mexico.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, addressed both of their concerns Saturday in front of about 30 people at the Westside Event Center.

“One of the most important issues in our country is our broken immigration system,” Cornyn said.

When he is Texas, he said, people always come up to him angrily, wanting to know why the federal government isn’t doing all it can to secure the country’s borders.

Cornyn said the United States is a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants, and the two have to coincide. He said people who believe everyone who comes across the border is only looking for a job are wrong. Many people who enter the country illegal are smugglers of drugs, weapons and people, he said.

Identity theft and fraud also are rapid because of illegal immigration, Cornyn said.

“We are working together in Congress to restore the integrity to our immigration laws,” Cornyn said.

Edwards, chairman of the River Mouth Committee of Friends of the River San Bernard, would like to have Cornyn’s help with the group’s effort to reopen to mouth of the river. The mouth has accumulated so much sediment through the years that at times it fails to reach the Gulf of Mexico.

U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Surfside Beach, has requested $5 million in federal funding to reopen the mouth.

“There is a lot of competition for funds, but I would be happy to work with Ron Paul on this,” Cornyn said.

The San Bernard question was just one issue of coastal funding Cornyn addressed. He said the Coastal Impact Aid bill passed by Congress in 2005 allocates money to coastal states affected by oil and gas exploration.

Cornyn said $17 million of the $48 million available to Texas in the 2007-08 fiscal year is targeted to helping coastal counties with infrastructure improvement and other projects.

“I am happy to hear about the coastal aid,” Edwards said.

Charles Mills of Pearland came to seek Cornyn’s support for two bills that would bring benefits to people who served in the U.S. Merchant Marines during World War II.

The are about 20,000 living Merchant Marine veterans who operated the ships that supplied the troops during the war, Mills said.

“We need his support,” Mills said.

Cornyn said he would look into the matter.

Cornyn said all citizens need to take part in the government process, whether by seeking office or voting. It is not just the people in Washington, D.C., who can make a difference, he said.

“There are two types of people in this world,” Cornyn said, “those who sit on the sidelines and watch everyone else do the work and those in the game making a difference in the world.”

Jason Smith is a reporter for The Facts. Contact him at (979) 237-0150.