This afternoon, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said it was not Joe Biden’s job to secure our Southern and Northern Border when asked why he doesn’t take executive action to address the crisis. Pierre also admitted that Biden created the Biden border crisis through his executive actions, which he is now refusing to take to secure our borders. 
 
TRANSCRIPT: 
 
REPORTER: In the beginning, you opened up the briefing by saying it's up to Republicans to do something to solve the problem or continue to use it as a political issue. The President has the authority to do something about this unilaterally. Congress is in a divided government right now. Why isn’t he doing anything? 
 
JEAN-PIERRE: Why should he have to do it unilaterally? Why shouldn’t we do it in a legislative way? And let's not forget that negotiated—
 
REPORTER: He took unilateral actions before to undo some of –
 
JEAN-PIERRE: I know, wait, so you’re right. He took many executive actions before.
 
MAKE NO MISTAKE: The number one job of the President of the United States is to ensure the safety and security of our homeland. But for the past three years, Joe Biden and Far Left Democrats have worked to implement their failed Far Left Democrat open border policies that have endangered the safety and security of every American. They do not care about securing our borders. 

House Republicans know that border security is national security, and we know the best way to secure our borders is by reimplementing President Trump’s successful policies. That is why we passed H.R. 2, the Secure The Border Act of 2023. This is the strongest border security bill in history. It would reimplement President Trump’s successful border policies and put an end to Joe Biden’s border crisis. 

Over the weekend, my beautiful bride and I attended the Epilepsy Foundation Dog Walk and Costume Contest at Walter Hall Park in League City. It was a great event to raise awareness of those impacted by epilepsy in our community. During the week, Team Weber attended the National Maritime Day in Galveston County, where they presented a certificate of recognition. We celebrate the seven vital ports in TX-14 and the dedicated sailors, captains, shipbuilders, and port workers who drive our local, state, and national economy. They attended the TPC Mark of Excellence Scholarship lunch, where three students from Port Neches-Groves High School were awarded a scholarship. Congrats to Camryn, Ryan, and Jaxon. Good luck as you head off to college! Team Weber also attended a First Responders Breakfast at Ron Carter in Alvin, where they presented a letter of appreciation and a challenge coin to Tim Miller of Texas EquuSeach for his incredible work in the community to provide resources and volunteer search efforts for missing persons. 

Saturday marked the 6-year anniversary of the shooting at Santa Fe High School, where 10 innocent lives were lost at the hands of evil. We will never forget that tragic day that forever changed Santa Fe, Texas.

My heart still goes out to the family and friends of those we lost, and I remain immensely grateful to the law enforcement officers who responded to the scene. There is no reason why our schools should be soft targets. We clearly have the resources and means to protect the most precious – our children and our teachers.

We should do everything we can to help the school districts; we can hire armed professional police officers there to help protect our schools, the kids, their teachers, and the staff. Following the shooting in Santa Fe, I participated in roundtable meetings to discuss school security.  I heard about the need to emphasize safety in school architecture and design, ways to encourage gun owners to responsibly lock away their weapons, and the ways school marshal programs can ensure that armed and trained personnel are present on campus.  

So, in response, I introduced a school safety package…

The first bill in the package is the Protect Our Children School Act which would allow the Secretary of Education to use unspent COVID-19 funds designated for schools and localities to reprogram those funds to make our schools safer against attacks. This money would be used to strengthen and enhance security systems already in place at schools.

The second bill, the Protect Against School Shootings (PASS) Act, would allow qualified law enforcement officers, retired law officers, and those permitted by state law to carry a firearm in an otherwise "gun-free" school zone.

Then there is the School Resource Officer Compensation Act, which would incentivize school districts to hire retired law enforcement officers to serve as school resource officers (or SROs), by exempting the respective school districts from the additional expense of having to pay matching social security contributions to anyone desiring to serve in this critical safety role.  It’s a WIN-WIN-WIN:  schools get an armed (and trained) professional; the schools enjoy additional savings; and the law enforcement professionals can continue to serve their communities without financial penalty (i.e., a higher tax bracket).

And the last bill in the package is the Securing Our Schools Act would enhance school security, including doubling school resource officers, hiring more school-based mental health counselors, and expanding the nonprofit security grant program.

We need to secure our schools to ensure another senseless crime doesn’t happen in our communities. And today…I pray for Santa Fe High School and the families who lost their loved ones. May 18, 2018, will forever be ingrained in my heart.

Official registration for the 2024 Congressional App Challenge is now open. Create and submit your original apps for a chance to win!  

In 2013, the U.S. House of Representatives and Internet Education Foundation partnered to raise appreciation for computer science and STEM among school children. The product was the Congressional App Challenge. 

This competition encourages middle and high school students to pursue careers in tech through a nationwide coding challenge. 

Students entering the competition must submit their app’s source code online by October 24, 2024

Eligibility 

The CAC is open to all middle and high school students in the 14th congressional district, or who are eligible to attend public school in the district. View a complete list of rules and additional information here. 

• Students must be in middle or high school by the time the competition ends on October 24, 2024.
• Students can participate in teams of up to four.
• Students must either live or go to school in the registered district they wish to compete.
• Student submissions are due on October 24th, 2024.
• Apps can be coded on any platform, on any language, on any theme.

Registration 

To enter, the student must register on the App Challenge’s website. All entries must be original in concept, design, and execution. 

Judging Process

A panel of local judges will choose the district’s winner. The winning app will be featured on the House.gov website and the CongressionalAppChallenge.us website.

Contact 

For any questions about this Congressional App Challenge please contact:

Christine Thigpen by calling 979-285-0231.

Visit the CAC’s website for further information.