As a new Legislator, I have hit the ground running. My office has been working hand in hand with the community and statewide leaders to develop solutions on Border Security, Water, the Local Economy, Education, Transportation and more.
In a short period of time we are having a tremendous impact and pushing forward a number of policy proposals on the issues my constituents have told me are critical. During the campaign, border security and homeland security were the #1 issues after I knocked on thousands of doors and talked with thousands of constituents.
In order to further understand the threat of Radical Islamic Terror on our border and beyond, I held a forum with Legislators and subject matter experts. The Fredericksburg Standard Newspaper took extreme objection.
After reading the diatribe penned by local Fredericksburg Standard Editor, Ken Esten Cooke, you would assume that the Editor had attended the forum, taken notes or reviewed the over 2 hours of taped testimony? He didn’t. According to Gallup, trust in America’s news organizations has sunk to a new low. Sadly, we only need to open our local paper to see why.
While we invited the paper they did not send a representative, nor did the Editor call any of the witnesses or myself for first hand accounts. After all, why should this paper confuse a good story with the facts? The liberal Austin American Statesman was there and gave this account:
“Rep. Kyle Biedermann, who styles himself a rock solid Republican conservative, held an impromptu and cordial meeting with more than a dozen Muslims in his Capitol office Tuesday afternoon.
Biedermann insisted that no religion was singled out in the forum, a statement that was met with skepticism in the crowded reception area of his office. ‘The purpose is not for us to be making determinations about your faith,’ he insisted. ‘We believe in religious freedom, we believe in human rights, we believe in civil rights, we believe in women’s rights. And as long as those are protected, then we’re on the same page and I am grateful that you are here.’
Told that many Muslims feel a rise in persecution, Biedermann said he invited Muslim leaders to attend his forum, but they chose not to participate.
Biedermann also urged Muslims to speak out against radical Islamic terrorism…”
If a liberal paper from Austin can take the time to do their homework and take a more balanced approach, why not our own editor Ken Cooke? We should all strive to seek and report the facts. Political correctness is not a substitute for truth.
On the topic of Border Security, our office has been extremely vigilant, as are our local law enforcement and TX DPS, and we will continue to be so. We will not seek editorial approval but will always do the right thing to keep Texas strong and safe. While we are blessed to live in the gorgeous Texas Hill Country, we are still only hours from the U.S. — Mexican border.
After 8 years of a President who refused to act and a Congress that treated the border like a political football, our Southern Border is a sieve that allows drugs, illegal guns, illegal aliens and yes, Ken Esten Cooke, terrorists to cross over freely. In fact, the U.S Border patrol has witnessed and detailed accounts of tens of thousands, and sometimes over 100,000 illegal aliens crossing the border illegally from countries other than Mexico. That’s right, thousands of illegals crossing from countries like, China, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran and others.
The public should have the right to truth from the press, and while the Editor may have a more liberal bent than the community his paper serves, he should fulfill a basic obligation to his readers to report the facts.
As your representative my success is based on my integrity, listening to my constituents and working with my colleagues in the legislature. This forum has opened up a positive dialogue with the muslim community as well as my democrat colleagues in the legislature to strengthen and ensure women’s rights, civil rights and religious freedom and to protect us from any and all threats to our way of life.
Please find full Austin Statesman Article at: http://www.mystatesman.com/news/muslims-confront-kyle-biedermann-cordial-meeting/s57ifHKsVGV8NPqfmn6wDN/
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