“I IDENTIFY AS A US CITIZEN”

This week about 4, maybe 5 people sent me  this video of an interview Tucker Carlson did with Catherine Englebrecht of True The Vote.  It is a very concerning situation.  When I first heard it, I thought this has to be a joke, or a mistake, or something!  But no – I looked it up and it’s right there in the US Criminal Code (from Cornell Law School Legal information Institute).  I even consulted a friend who is in a position to know, and he says it's definitely real.

Catherine discovered that the US Criminal Code for voting by aliens actually says if aliens vote in national elections they cannot be prosecuted for voter fraud if they reasonably believed at the time of voting that they were a citizen of the United States.  Clearly this is sending shock waves through the community of conservatives who are working tirelessly to try to make elections secure and transparent.  It seems that citizenship is now a state of mind!  Makes sense, though…. If you are a man who “identifies” as a woman and "becomes" a woman, why not an illegal alien who “identifies” as a US Citizen and "becomes" a US Citizen?  It's like election magic!

Here's the section of the code from the Cornell Law School website:  (note subsection (c) number (3).

18 U.S. Code Chapter 29, $611 – Voting by Aliens

(a) It shall be unlawful for any alien to vote in any election held solely or in part for the purpose of electing a candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, unless— 

(1) the election is held partly for some other purpose;

(2) aliens are authorized to vote for such other purpose under a State constitution or statute or a local ordinance; and

(3) voting for such other purpose is conducted independently of voting for a candidate for such Federal offices, in such a manner that an alien has the opportunity to vote for such other purpose, but not an opportunity to vote for a candidate for any one or more of such Federal offices.

(b) Any person who violates this section shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than one year, or both.

(c) Subsection (a) does not apply to an alien if—

(1) each natural parent of the alien (or, in the case of an adopted alien, each adoptive parent of the alien) is or was a citizen (whether by birth or naturalization);

(2) the alien permanently resided in the United States prior to attaining the age of 16; and

(3) the alien reasonably believed at the time of voting in violation of such subsection that he or she was a citizen of the United States.

I realize that this statute is aimed at the prosecution of an illegal vote, (illegal aliens will not be prosecuted if they really believed they were eligible).  But once the vote is cast, prosecution or not is irrelevant to the outcome of the election.  Enough illegal voting and then claiming ignorance, and an entire election can be thrown. 

Chip Roy and Mike Lee are working on a bill called the SAVE Act that would require proof of citizenship for voting in a national election, which if passed, would head off illegal aliens voting in the first place, but of course with a D majority in the Senate and razor thin R majority in the House, it's an uphill battle.

I asked all of the people who sent me the video “OK, What is the fix to this?”  So far no one has an answer .  Everyone wants to chip in and help, but they want me to tell them what to do.

News Flash:  I don’t have all the answers!  Neither does Julie, or anyone else on our team.  It’s going to be up to all of you.  The only thing I know to do is harass our US Congress Members and Senators and demand that they fix this.  The "State of Mind Citizenship" thing needs to be removed immediately and the SAVE Act needs to pass.   Let's put the pressure on!

ACTION ITEM #1

Contact your US Congress Member and Senator REPEATEDLY, and demand that they fix this by repealing this section of the code and passing the SAVE Act.  Call them out on social media as well.  Raise the roof, call out the cavalry, do whatever you can to force this issue.  And it has to be done FAST!  The presidential election is just 6 months away and apparently, this is what the Biden administration had in mind as they allowed millions and millions of illegal aliens into our country.  I don't usually get involved with national issues because it can be so futile.  But this is worth the try, and maybe if we burn up the phone lines and emails nationwide, we can have an impact.  Share with your friends and family in other states.

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT YOUR US HOUSE REPRESENTATIVE

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT YOUR US SENATOR

WHO’S UP FOR A TRIP TO THE CAPITOL?

You thought the legislature was on vacation until next year?  You would be wrong!  Interim Hearings have already begun in the Senate and will soon begin in the House.  Lt Gov Patrick recently issued  Interim Legislative Charges for 13 committees with specific issues/subjects to be reviewed and studied.

These Interim Hearings are where the Committees review and study issues the Lt Gov or Speaker have identified, as well as provide oversight and implementation of laws passed in the previous year.

Speaker Phelan (yes, he’s still Speaker - even after he loses the run-off - until Jan 14^th, 2025) will probably be issuing Interim Charges as soon as the run off election is concluded on May 28^th.  Then House Interim Hearings will also be scheduled in the coming weeks.

HERE’S WHAT’S ON THE SCHEDULE IN THE SENATE THIS MONTH

May 14:  Sub Comm on Higher Ed 9:00 am (Ban on DEI (SB17); Antisemitism on Campuses; Campus Free Speech)

May 14:  Health & Human Serv  10:00 am (Cancer Prevention; Health Insurance; Monitor SB25 – support for nursing related postsecondary education)

May 15: Vertern Affairs 9:00AM (Vet mental Health; Support Service Database; Strengthen Vet Housing)

May 15:  Water, Agriculture & Rural Affairs 10:00 am (Water System Reliability)

May 15:  Local Government 1:00 PM (Secure Texas Against “Squatters”)

May 29:  State Affairs 9:00 am (Maintaining Election Security; Protecting Texas Land & Assets; Banning Delta 8 and 9 hemp products)

There are also hearings on the calendar for June, August, September and October, but we’ll save discussions about those for a later time.

I’m personally interested in the DEI (SB17) issue on the 14^th, and the Squatters issue on the 15^th, and also the Election/Land thing on the 29^th.  plan to go on the 14th and the 29^th. 

If you would like to go with me either of those days, please email me at [email protected].  Testimony at these hearings is really important because it gives us a chance to weigh in on pertinent issues, and recently passed legislation.  If you've not done this before, don't worry - we'll show you the ropes!

ACTION ITEM #2

Pick a day that you can go to the Capitol (with or without me) and go testify at a hearing.  The squatters thing on the 15^th should be especially interesting to real estate investors/land lords who may have properties unoccupied.  If you have experience or expertise in cancer prevention/health insurance/medical in general, you could offer testimony to the HHS committee on the 14^th.  And I think we all have something to say about election integrity and protecting Texas land assets. So pick a topic that interests you and go for it.  If you can go on either the 14^th or 15^th, email me and help me decide which one.

CONTRACT WITH TEXAS

Have you seen this yet?  Have you talked to your Texas House Representative about it?  If not, read it here, and see which reps and incoming reps have signed it.  Then if yours has not – pester him/her until they do. This agreement, signed by 20+ current or future members, will be the catalyst that changes the culture of the Texas House in 2025! 

SEE YOU AT CONVENTION!

If you are attending the RPT Convention, remember, TTP will have a booth at the exhibit hall.  Be sure to stop by say hello, get one of our 15 Yrs Strong T Shirts, have your picture taken with the Cannon.  (I don’t know if it’s Elizabeth or Eleanor, but they’re twins so you can’t tell them apart anyway).  We will be in booth #311 – see you there! 

LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES FOR THE 89^TH SESSION

I know it seems early to be asking, but it’s really not.  And if you attend RPT Convention, you will be asked to think about this as well.  I want to start researching issues to help us decide on top legislative priorities that we will pursue in the 89^th session.  What are your thoughts?  I’ll be putting Ban Taxpayer Lobbying at the top of my list (again!), and I know we all want to push for closed primaries if the RPT doesn’t accomplish it with a rules change.  Let me know what you think should be on the legislative priorities list for TTP in 2025.  It might be different than the RPT priority list. Email me at [email protected] (my [email protected] address is glitchy. Sometimes it bounces back, so using the Yahoo email til we get that resolved).

ARE YOU TIRED OF WINNING YET?

Conservative activists have had some really good wins lately, and we feel that Overton Window shifting to the right!  It’s getting breezy over here on our side of the political spectrum, with that open window!  Here are some highlights:

1)      Steve Biggers, opposing the Granbury ISD bond, arrested for his activism with his “If You Know, You NO” School Bus campaign. The bond was defeated on May 4^th.  Thanks to Steve and all the Granbury Bond Opposition folks for not backing down in spite of big hurdles from the city, the ISD, and the pro bond folks.

2)      Land Commissioner  Dawn Buckingham fights back against the Biden Administration’s proposal for another off shore wind energy auction. 

3)      Texas Democrats lost another attempt to overturn the state’s election law that limits no-excuse mail-in voting to voters who are 65 years of age or older.  The U.S. Supreme Court denied Democrats’ request to hear arguments intended to force Texas and other states to accept universal voting by mail.

4)      Texas Supreme Court put Harris County’s “guaranteed income” scheme on hold.

5)      The Supreme Court of the United States has denied efforts from the pornography industry to block Texas’ age-verification legislation.  Pron sites now MUST have proof of age for users. (and one of the biggest porn pushers in the country has left the State of Texas because of it - good riddance!)

6)      Gov Abbott has found some courage and ordered Texas public universities to ignore the new Title IX rules by the Biden Administration that add “gender identity” as a protected class.

7)      Many local governments won big in the May 4^th election with grassroots conservatives pushing out liberal leaning incumbents, and defeating bonds.

8)      Voters for the first time ever got the opportunity to elect members to their local County Appraisal District.  We elect these members, and we can UN-elect them if necessary.  That's a win!

SUMMING UP:

1) Contact US House and Senate about that ridiculous rule about “State of Mind Citizenship”

2) Pick an Interim Hearing and go to the Capitol to testify (email Fran about May 14^th or 15^th – which do you prefer)

3) Give thanks always for the dedicated activists who are on the front lines of defending Texas.  Pray for them, help them, join them.

4) Celebrate the Wins!

5) Help True Texas Project continue our mission to educate and motivate citizens to engage in government by giving generously.  Small donations add up to big results.  Click here to donate.  (If you become a recurring monthly donor, we will reward you with a TTP T shirt that declares you are a “True Texan”.)

Stay Engaged!

Fran Rhodes, President