[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 39 (Wednesday, March 1, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H1006-H1008]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         CELEBRATING THE 200TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE TEXAS RANGERS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 9, 2023, the Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas (Mr. 
Roy) for 30 minutes.
  Mr. ROY. Madam Speaker, I am proud to rise here on the floor of the 
United States House of Representatives as we celebrate the 200th 
anniversary of the Texas Rangers, Texas' oldest law enforcement agency.
  I am proud to represent a number of Rangers personally. I am proud to 
live in a county named after one of our most famous Texas Rangers. I am 
proud to be the descendent of a Texas Ranger. I will have more to say 
about all of that in a moment.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Moran), my 
friend, to offer his thoughts on the Texas Rangers.
  Mr. MORAN. Madam Speaker, I am honored to join Representative Roy and 
so many from the Texas delegation today to recognize 200 years of 
history--the 200th anniversary of our most prolific investigative law 
enforcement agency in Texas, and one of the most prolific law 
enforcement agencies in this Nation and worldwide, the Texas Rangers.
  In 1823, Stephen F. Austin assembled a small collection of brave men 
in a call to arms. Over the past two centuries, this small group 
numbering less than 200 today, has undertaken almost every aspect of 
law enforcement in Texas.
  Let me pause there and reinforce that, less than 200 Rangers on the 
job today. By the amount of work that they do, you would think there 
were hundreds, even thousands across Texas, but indeed it is a small 
elite force.
  From investigating murder to conspiracy and every crime in between, 
they have protected our borders, both in the 19th century and here 
again in the 21st century. They have protected our Governor and our 
historical Alamo.
  The Texas Rangers are an esteemed symbol of the Lone Star State. They 
are guardians of the highest order. They are the cream of the crop. 
Because of that, they have been praised and storied again and again in 
poem, in song, in movies, and in television--from the Lone Ranger to 
Walker Texas Ranger. You see replications of these Texas Rangers over 
and over again because of their unique toughness, but also because of 
their compassion. They make sure that there is swift and sure justice 
in Texas, but also fair and impartial justice.
  Like so many other law enforcement agencies, it is not just the 
possibility of ultimate sacrifice that sets them apart from so many 
others, it frankly is their daily sacrifice. Each day when they get up, 
they kiss their kids and their wives and their spouses goodbye, and 
they head off to work. They set themselves apart by sacrificial service 
to their communities, putting their life on the line day in and day out 
for each of us in Texas.
  As I did when I was a county judge in Texas, I am proud to back the 
blue. I am honored to stand here today in recognition of the Texas 
Rangers' 200 years of dedication and service to our communities.
  To all of our officers: We honor you, we thank you, and we are 
indebted to you. This Congress should look at the example of the Texas 
Rangers and the examples set by so many law enforcement officers across 
this country, and remind ourselves of what is truly important and who 
we should indeed support when it comes down to it. We should always 
back the blue.
  Congratulations, Texas Rangers. Keep leading the way, keep setting 
the standard, and keep making us proud.
  Mr. ROY. Madam Speaker, I appreciate my colleague's remarks about the 
Texas Rangers. They are such an important organization in the world of 
law enforcement. I say that as someone who served in the Office of the 
Attorney General of Texas as the first assistant attorney general where 
I had a large number of law enforcement, including former Texas 
Rangers, working for me.

[[Page H1007]]

  I worked in the U.S. Attorney's Office in law enforcement. My 
grandfather was the chief of police in a small Texas town, Sweetwater, 
Texas, in the 1940s. My great-great-grandfather was a Texas Ranger.
  As my colleague from Texas just discussed with respect to the 
history, in 1821, Stephen F. Austin, the father of Texas, brought 300 
families to settle land in modern-day Texas. There was no regular Army. 
Austin assembled a fighting force to provide protection from Comanches 
and eventually Mexican raiders, giving rise to the Texas Rangers.
  Texans did what sovereign States have done throughout history, 
stepping up and protecting our communities. We stood up for the rule of 
law when there was none. Much of the action seen by the early Rangers 
involved bloody conflicts with Comanche Tribes and gangs of bandits who 
threatened the safety of Texans.
  In years following, the Rangers proved indispensable during major 
events such as the Mexican-American War; the pursuit of the criminals, 
Bonnie and Clyde in 1934; and Hurricane Harvey rescue and recoveries 
recently in 2017 and now currently today.

  As local law enforcement slowly assumed much of the day-to-day 
peacekeeping role that the Texas Rangers held before the turn of the 
20th century, the Rangers now operate as a key investigative body for 
the State of Texas.
  Rangers were known for conducting major criminal investigations, 
suppression of organized crime, border reconnaissance, SWAT, bomb 
squad, Special Rapid Response, crisis negotiation, joint intelligence 
center management, and investigation of unsolved crimes.
  The impact of the Texas Rangers on the Lone Star State cannot be 
understated. My home county, Hays County, is named for John Coffee 
Hays, a renowned Ranger, appointed by Sam Houston, who fought one of 
the most notorious battles against the Comanche near what is called 
Enchanted Rock, in the district I represent a little west of Austin in 
Gillespie County.
  My great-great-grandfather, John Vaughn Roy, served as a Texas Ranger 
in Hays, Travis, and Blanco counties--all three counties I represent 
today, protecting my future home where I live now in Hays County, and 
holding the line against lawlessness.
  To the west, Captain Charles Schreiner of Kerr County, served with 
distinction and went on to donate land for the Schreiner Institute 
Military School in my district.
  Today, I am honored to represent Ranger Ray Martinez, a living legend 
in New Braunfels with a long history of heroism and service. The Ranger 
spirit is alive and well today in my friend and long-time Texas Ranger 
David Maxwell, who I worked with in the Office of the Attorney General 
of Texas. He solved the over 35-year-old cold case in the unspeakable 
murder of his own sister. That is the spirit of the Texas Rangers.

                             {time}  (1415)

  They were men who could not be stampeded. That is how former 
Department of Public Safety Director Homer Garrison, Jr., described 
them.
  They have certainly lived up to that.
  With so many other great figures of our history, some today wish to 
rewrite the legacy of the Texas Rangers focusing only on the harshest 
of narratives from the comfort of modern-day America--a comfort bought 
by the sacrifice and the blood of Texas Rangers--all while ignoring 
those sacrifices that they made to settle the West and establish the 
rule of law.
  The Scripture reminds us that greater love has no man than this, that 
he lay down his life for his friends.
  These heroes wake up every morning and put their lives on the line to 
serve and protect their fellow Texans as did their predecessors.
  The Texas Rangers are owed a debt of gratitude that cannot be fully 
repaid, but today we do thank them, and we congratulate them on 200 
years of selfless service.
  Tomorrow will be March 2. That is Texas Independence Day.
  On February 23, a Mexican force numbering in the thousands and led by 
General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna began a siege of the fort. The 
Texas forces held out for 13 days outgunned and outnumbered. They were 
driven by the cause of liberty and their desire for a free Texas.
  William Barret Travis wrote this about the siege:

       I am besieged by a thousand or more of the Mexicans under 
     Santa Anna. I have sustained a continual bombardment and 
     cannonade for 24 hours and have not lost a man.
       The enemy has demanded a surrender at discretion, 
     otherwise, the garrison are to be put to the sword, if the 
     fort is taken. I have answered the demand with a cannon shot, 
     and our flag still waves proudly from the walls. I shall 
     never surrender or retreat.
       Then I call on you in the name of liberty, of patriotism, 
     and everything dear to the American character to come to our 
     aid with all dispatch.
       The enemy is receiving reinforcements daily and will no 
     doubt increase to three or four thousand in 4 or 5 days.
       If this call is neglected, I am determined to sustain 
     myself as long as possible and die like a soldier who never 
     forgets what is due to his own honor and that of his 
     country--victory or death.

  This week also includes Texas Independence Day as I said. The Texas 
Declaration of Independence reads:

       When a government has ceased to protect the lives, liberty, 
     and property of the people, from whom its legitimate powers 
     are derived, and for the advancement of whose happiness it 
     was instituted. . . .

  The Texas Declaration of Independence states that:

       In such a crisis, the first law of nature, the right of 
     self-preservation, the inherent and inalienable rights of the 
     people to appeal to first principles and take their political 
     affairs into their own hands in extreme cases, enjoins it as 
     a right toward themselves and a sacred obligation to their 
     posterity to abolish such government and create another in 
     its stead calculated to rescue them from impending dangers 
     and to secure their future welfare and happiness.

  But what did they declare independence for?
  What did Travis and the rest of the Alamo sacrifice for?
  A Federal Government that opens our borders to cartels?
  A group of Republicans who campaign on securing the border but who 
run away in abject surrender refusing to actually do it?
  That is the question before us right now. That is the question for 
every Member of the Republican Conference.
  I am speaking to you: If you do not secure the border now--now--you 
are giving up any argument you have for the American people to put 
their faith in you.
  Will Republicans honor their campaign commitments to secure the 
border? Yes or no?
  What I am seeing right now from my Republican colleagues does not 
give me faith that they will stand up in the breach as did those men 
who stood on the wall of the Alamo.
  I am tired of words. Things are going to change in this body. If my 
Republican colleagues believe that they are going to be moving through 
relatively meaningless provisions doing precious damn little for the 
very people who sent us here to change things and they think that some 
of us are just going to go along for the ride, then they are sorely 
mistaken. We will not.
  There will be no more games as I saw unfold today on the floor of the 
House of Representatives where lies and misrepresentations were made 
about legislation, specifically for personal reasons, to take down an 
amendment.
  This amendment, by the way, was designed to ensure that the executive 
orders that are driving up inflation that this majority said they 
wanted to expose out of the current President and our Democratic 
colleagues on the other side of the aisle would exempt emergency 
executive orders and exempt national security-related executive orders, 
which are the very kinds of emergency executive orders that have been 
killing this country for as long as I can remember and specifically for 
the last several years through the COVID pandemic and emergency 
responses.
  These executive orders force needles into the peoples' arms. They say 
``no'' but then they can't carry out their livelihoods.
  This in turn will shrink the labor supply and drive up the cost of 
goods and services by shutting down the greatest economy in the history 
of the world.
  My colleagues on this side of the aisle today ran away--ran away--
from actually holding the executive branch responsible.
  Why?
  For petty, personal, and political reasons. That ain't gonna fly. 
That is not going to be the way this works.

[[Page H1008]]

  Leadership is something that is observed and followed. It is not an 
anointed position. We did not come to this Chamber to continue to allow 
the executive branch to run over the American people.

  Sitting today is a young man who served his country and is being 
denied his commanding officer job and is being forced to try to pay 
back student loans because he dared to say ``no'' to a vaccine mandate 
that was politically driven.
  What is this side of the aisle doing about it?
  Not a damn thing.
  What is this side of the aisle doing about open borders?
  Nothing. Nothing.
  What is this side of the aisle doing about an ATF rule about to make 
felons out of 10 million Americans or more?
  Nothing.
  What is this side of the aisle going to do about spending?
  Lip service.
  We have a debt ceiling approaching, and we are running around like 
chickens with their heads cut off. We should say something right now. 
We should pass a bill off this floor saying that we will raise the debt 
ceiling but only--only--if you end the disastrous student loans that 
are going to cost $400 billion and drive up the cost of higher 
education, only if you rescind the $91 billion of unobligated COVID 
money, only if you go rescind the $80 billion designed to increase the 
IRS to go after taxpayers--including, by the way, more often the 
poorest among us and minorities--only if you will return spending to 
2022 levels getting our spending back to preCOVID levels and make sure 
that we cap spending so we stop funding the woke, weaponized 
bureaucracy that is going after the American people.
  Do that.
  Send that over to the Senate. Send that over to the Senate and make 
Chuck Schumer and the President of the United States choke on it 
because the American people want us to cut spending right now. They 
don't want us dillydallying around going out to focus groups and 
talking to Frank Luntz and talking about what the hell we are going to 
do with the American people. But that is too often what this body does 
and particularly this side of the aisle.
  We are not going to have 2 more years of the usual crap that this 
body continually engages in.
  No more spending money we don't have.
  No more allowing lawlessness.
  No more open borders.
  No more mandates killing the American people.
  No more mandates driving up the price of energy by subsidizing 
unreliable energy and driving up the cost of that energy.
  No more.
  We are $32 trillion in debt.
  Wide-open borders cause little girls to get sold into the sex 
trafficking trade. The New York Times finally wakes up and writes a 
story about it this week.
  What do we do?
  We pass a 3-page bill asking the Democrats to say that we will give 
you reports on inflation but not if there is emergency spending, 
because everybody has got to have their precious emergency spending.
  Oh, gosh, there is a hurricane.
  So who cares if it is inflationary?
  So you dump $40 million.
  Who cares if it is COVID and you dump $5 trillion out in the name of 
an emergency crushing the greatest economy in the history of the world?
  No, no. We can't have a report like that.
  The American people are sick and tired of the same old same old. So 
far, 2 months into the 118th Congress, I am not seeing it a hell of a 
lot different than the same old same old.
  The American people gave Republicans the majority. We ought to darn 
well use it. It is time to stand up for the American people, and that 
time is now. That time is not tomorrow. That time is not after another 
retreat to go figure out how you are going to raise more money. That 
time is not after another retreat to go look at poll testing.
  Come down to the floor of the House of Representatives, stand up for 
the American people who sent you here, and stop playing games with the 
election certificate you were given to represent them.
  Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________