Posted by
Terry Hestilow on Friday, January 02, 2009 5:58:19 AM
In my inaugural blog, I responded to editorial writer David Horowitz who was complaining about conservatives who insist that President-elect Barack Obama produce a valid official birth certificate documenting that he was, indeed, born in the United States of America (Hawaii) and is constitutionally authorized to hold the office for which he campaigned and was subsequently elected November 4, 2008. Horowitz complained these individuals were “…Birth Certificate zealots…arguing that 64 million voters should be disenfranchised because of a contested technicality as to whether Obama was born on U.S. soil” (emphasis mine) rather than Kenya (his fathers home). You may have already read my blog. If not, you should find it included in the “Combatsoldier” blog dated 13 December.
The final portion of my blog article included the letter that I had sent to my own congressional representative, Kay Granger, of the 12th Congressional District of Texas. I also noted that similar letters were mailed to Senators John Cornyn, (R) Texas, and Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, (R) Texas.
Because I invited you to similarly call upon your own U.S. Representatives and Senators to honor their oath of office and insist that the United States Constitution be upheld in the matter of this “technicality” concerning the constitutional requirements to fill the office of the president, I thought that you deserved to know how my own congressional representatives responded to my letters, and my subsequent response to them. Their responses to me are contained below. A copy of my response to each of them follows at the end.
Email response from Congresswoman Kay Granger to me:
Dear Terry:
Thank you for contacting me with your thoughts about the 2008 election. I appreciated hearing from you.
Now that the election is over and the campaigns have ended, I think it is important that the politicians and the citizens of our nation put the fierce partisan rhetoric aside so that we can work together to come up with real solutions to our country’s challenges.
We in the Congress have a long list of important issues that we must deal with in the coming year. The unemployment rate is rising, too many Americans don’t have health care, our military is fighting two wars abroad, the federal deficit is growing exponentially, and we rely too heavily on foreign countries for our energy supply. You can be sure that I will always fight for the residents of the 12th District as legislation makes its way through the House of Representatives.
The people of our nation have a strong tradition of banding together to overcome whatever hurdles we may find in our path, and I believe that we will rise to the challenge once again.
Thank you again for contacting me. I hope you will continue to keep me informed on the issues that are important to you. For more information on my work in Congress or to sign up for weekly updates, please visit the 12th District’s website, http://kaygranger.house.gov.
Sincerely,
[with typed name of Kay Granger, Member of Congress].
Email response of Senator John Cornyn to me:
Dear Mr. Hestilow:
Thank you for contacting me regarding President-elect Barack Obama. I appreciate having the benefit of your comments on this matter.
As you know, on January 20, 2009, Barack Obama will be sworn in as the forty-fourth President of the United States of America. As we enter the 111th Congress, our nation faces many challenges. We are in the midst of tough economic times, and the federal government must stand on the side of taxpayers and small businesses. Now more than ever, we need fiscal discipline in Washington. I welcome President-elect Obama’s commitment to reform the federal budget process and rein in wasteful government spending, and I will hold the President-elect accountable as Congress works to quickly identify and eliminate inefficient, ineffective, and outdated federal programs.
Families across Texas and the nation are forced to make tough financial decisions each day—the federal government should be no different. But year after year too many government programs are funded because there are small—but vocal—special interest groups backing them with little Congressional oversight to determine when ideas have run their course. The American people have a right to know how their hard earned dollars are being spent, and I will continue to support making our government more transparent, accountable, and efficient.
While strengthening the economy must remain a priority, we must also find bipartisan solutions to address other critical issues facing our nation while continuing to advance conservative principles such as limited government, lower taxes, family values, and fighting against those who seek to destroy the American way of life. The consequences of continued inaction are too great. It is imperative that Congress act quickly to secure our borders, reform our country’s immigration laws, modernize healthcare, and promote energy independence. You may be certain that I will continue to pursue conservative initiatives that reinforce the principles upon which our country was founded while holding the new Administration accountable to the American people.
I appreciate having the opportunity to represent the interests of Texans in the United States Senate. Thank you for taking the time to contact me.
Sincerely,
JOHN CORNYN
United States Senator
[Virtual copy from email to Microsoft Word]
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, who is seeking election as Governor of the State of Texas in the next gubernatorial election has not responded to my letter in any way.
My response to Congresswoman Granger, Senator Cornyn, and Senator Hutchison follows:
Dear Congresswoman Granger, Senator Cornyn, and Senator Hutchison:
On December 3, 2008, I wrote to each of you concerning matters of national security and constitutional consequence regarding the refusal of President-elect Barack Obama to produce a valid birth certificate verifying that he meets each of the minimal requirements under the U.S. Constitution for him to serve in that office. My request was not partisan in nature; it was not mean in spirit; and it did not ask any one of you, nor anyone else, to do anything not already required by the United States Constitution. My request to each of you was that you honor the oath of office that you took when you were sworn to duty in the United States House of Representatives and United States Senate respectively.
Only two of you had the courtesy to respond to my letter. I expect that the rigors of getting ready to run for office as Governor of the State of Texas kept Senator Hutchison from writing.
What is most significant of any of your responses (or non-responses) is that none of you made any mention of the issue about which I had communicated to you in the first place. Of course, I know that none of you actually read or respond to letters sent to your office; but rather, have aides who tend to such matters. However, I must conclude that your aides communicate to your constituents what you, yourself, think and how you intend to deal with the subject of the letter! Apparently, none of you have aides that can respond “on subject”!
Congresswoman Granger, after thanking me for writing to you, you began to piously chide, “Now that the election is over and the campaigns have ended, I think it is important that the politicians and the citizens of our nation put the fierce partisan rhetoric aside so that we can work together to come up with real solutions to our country’s challenges.”
You went on to inform me, a retired Army Vietnam veteran who returned from duty in Afghanistan in April of 2008 (82nd Airborne), “We in the Congress have a long list of important issues that we must deal with in the coming year. The unemployment rate is rising, too many Americans don’t have health care, our military is fighting two wars abroad, the federal deficit is growing exponentially, and we rely too heavily on foreign countries for our energy supply. You can be sure that I will always fight for the residents of the 12th District as legislation makes its way through the House of Representatives.”
While I am well aware of the importance of each of these issues, and feel their impact personally and deeply, and also, since I have presented my own body as a target for the enemy in Afghanistan in the defense of this nation, I must protest that none of that is what I wrote to you about! I didn’t write out of “fierce partisan rhetoric”! I wrote about public officials and their responsibility to ensure that even the most powerful, especially the most powerful, in our nation, those called to enforce the U.S. Constitution, would ensure that the person elected to be the leader of this nation, Barack Obama, would do the simple act of providing proof that he is qualified for office by producing his official birth certificate! None of you were willing to do that! None of you showed the strength of character, the courage, to stand for the rule of law and demand that the United States Constitution be enforced!
It probably does not matter to any of you that I have lost respect for you. It does not matter to me who runs against you in the future, no one can be a poorer candidate for office than one who has sworn to uphold the Constitution, and then, in the heat of politics, to abandon your commitment to our founding document, the rule of law, and integrity with those who have paid with the last full measure to defend this nation and our way of life. It probably does not matter, but it should. I probably represent more of your core constituencies than you would like to believe!
No, I have always honored my commitment to uphold and defend the U.S. Constitution. I will never support a political office holder who has demonstrated a lack of integrity with that principle. You have received my last vote. Unless you find the courage to stand for the Constitution and demand that Barack Obama produce his official birth certificate, proving he is qualified to serve as president, I shall never support any of you again.
And, oh by the way, Representative Granger, to your guarantee that you “will always fight for the residents of the 12th District as legislation makes its way through the House of Representatives”; and Senator Cornyn, when you assure that you “will continue to pursue conservative initiatives that reinforce the principles upon which our country was founded while holding the new Administration accountable to the American people”; I say that I will believe it when I see that you are willing to fight for the uncomfortable “technicalities” of the United States Constitution. As of today none of you have shown that kind of courage and character.
Sincerely,
Terry M. Hestilow
Fort Worth, Texas