Good morning!

Texas' independence from Mexico shouldn't have been possible, yet here we are. I end the week reflecting on the fearless and confident faithfulness of our Texian forefathers.

Here is the Texas Minute for Friday, March 3, 2023.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

DEM Chair Won't Allow 'Illegal Immigrant' To Be Used In Committee

• A Democrat committee chair in the Republican-controlled Texas House is trying to implement a “woke” speech code for members of her committee. Darrell Frost has the story.
        

• During the first meeting of the House County Affairs Committee this week, the Democrat chair, Victoria Neave of Dallas, admonished State Rep. Tony Tinderholt (R-Arlington) for using the term “illegal immigrants.” He used it when asking a question of a representative of the Texas Demographic Center. Neave was appointed the committee's chair by Republican House Speaker Dade Phelan of Beaumont.

        
• Neave described the term "illegal immigrants" as "politicized" and said she would not allow it.
         
• Tinderholt said, "I’m not going to have anyone dictate the terms I use or don’t use."
       
• Despite the chamber being dominated by Republicans, Phelan and his supporters refused to allow a vote on a House rule that would have prohibited Democrats from chairing committees.

📺 WATCH: Tinderholt On The Headline

• On this week's edition of The Headline with Brandon Waltens, State Rep. Tony Tinderholt (R-Arlington) explains why the Texas House is dragging its feet in order to avoid passing conservative priorities.
      
• You can watch The Headline on the Texas Scorecard website, YouTube channel, or Rumble page. You can also watch it on the Texas Scorecard apps on Apple TV or Roku. You can also download the Scorecard app for Android or iOS.

Legislation Gives Property Tax Credit To Families With Children

• As more Texas families feel the burden of property taxes, Republican State Rep. Bryan Slaton of Royse City filed new legislation that would incentivize couples to get married and grow their families by offering them a property tax credit. Emily Wilkerson has the details.

       
• His legislation would offer couples who stay married and have never been divorced a 10 percent property tax credit. The bill also gives families of four or more biological or adopted children a 40 percent property tax credit.
       
• “Supporting Texans means supporting Texas families. Strong families are the backbone and building blocks of society,” explained Slaton. “We must support families by making it financially easier for them to have and raise children in a supportive and nurturing way.”

Dallas Abortion Clinic Permanently Closed

• After 50 years in the abortion business, the Dallas-based Southwestern Women’s Center closed its doors permanently on March 2, 2023. As Soli Rice reports, it was the largest abortion facility in Dallas.

      
• The facility's owner, Dr. Curtis Boyd, is a longtime abortion provider and ordained Baptist minister. He has admitted to killing more than 250,000 unborn children on his own. Prior to Roe v Wade making abortion legal, Boyd committed illegal abortions, then opened the Dallas center and another one in Albuquerque. In recent years, his Dallas abortuary was cited for poor sanitary conditions and "sketchy" behavior by the staff. 
      
• With Roe being overturned last year and Texas' pro-life laws taking effect, he has been forced to close the Dallas clinic's doors. 
         
• “Texas Right to Life celebrates the closure of Dallas’ largest abortion facility,” said Rebecca Parma, the organization's legislative director. “For 50 years, Southwestern Women’s Center has been committing abortions. ... It is great news that Southwestern Women’s Center will no longer be in the business of ending preborn children’s lives and harming women.”

Friday Reflection: ‘Fearlessly and Confidently’

When they declared independence from Mexico, most people wouldn’t have bet on the success of that endeavor.

Texas, as an independent republic, should not have been possible. When the delegates to the 1776 constitutional convention gathered in Philadelphia for their convention, they had 13 colonies at their disposal, and the enemy’s leadership was on the other side of the ocean.

For the Texians in 1836, their opponent – the self-styled Napoleon of the West, Santa Anna – was preparing to slaughter the Alamo defenders in San Antonio. And everyone knew it.

The independence declared on March 2 was followed almost immediately by a series of retreats and defeats. The Mexican army was larger, better trained, and better provisioned. The Texians were none of those things.

Any observer would have been right to label it a lost cause. It had no real chance of success… And yet, nearly two centuries later, here we are.

What the people of that time had, as was written in the opening paragraph of the Texas Declaration of Independence, was a desire to ensure government existed to protect the “lives, liberty and property of the people.”

The people of Texas were determined to govern themselves in liberty. To do that, they put themselves “fearlessly and confidently” to the task, trusting not in themselves for success but the “Supreme arbiter of the destinies of nations.”

What about us? Are we fearless and confident in pursuing the protection of life, liberty, and property? Do we trust in the machinations of politicians, or are we willing to fight faithfully for a just cause?

The brightness with which the Lone Star State shines in the world will reflect our answers and our actions.

Quote-Unquote

"We view ourselves on the eve of battle. We are nerved for the contest, and must conquer or perish. It is vain to look for present aid: none is at hand. We must now act or abandon all hope! Rally to the standard, and be no longer the scoff of mercenary tongues! Be men, be free men, that your children may bless their father's name."

– Sam Houston​