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Texas: The Issue Is: Congressman Wesley Hunt discusses migrant crisis, battle among GOP
Newly elected Republican Congressman Wesley Hunt insists the deepening immigration crisis along the Texas border is a clear and present danger to America's sovereignty and security. A former U.S. Army combat helicopter pilot, Hunt is joining other GOP lawmakers who label the Mexican cartels "an existential threat."
HOUSTON - Newly elected Republican Congressman Wesley Hunt insists the deepening immigration crisis along the Texas border is a clear and present danger to America's sovereignty and security.
"Two and half million people last year," said Hunt. "About four million total, that we know of. Enough Fentanyl has poured into this country to kill every American five times. It is just flat-out un-American and what we can do in the House is that we fund our border security agents, we actually build a wall and actually implement other parts of border security and actually take this seriously."
MORE: Fentanyl seized in Houston is enough to 'kill everyone in Houston and the surrounding areas'
A former U.S. Army combat helicopter pilot, Hunt is joining other GOP lawmakers who label the Mexican cartels "an existential threat."
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"We have usurped that power to that entity, to basically a terrorist group and we in the House have got to make sure that we take control of our border," said Hunt. "This is a sovereign nation. We need to know exactly who is coming in and out of our country. It's our constitutional right, and we must implement it."
MORE: Biden heads to US-Mexico border as migrant crisis spirals
A veteran of the Texas oil patch, Hunt has also pledged to push back on President Joe Biden's anti-carbon policies.
"Nobody is against renewable energy," said Hunt. "We actually want to get to that next abundant and affordable clean energy source, but you cannot get there without LNG, without oil. We have got to stop the assault on our number one industry, not just in Houston, but in our state."
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"It is also an issue of national security," he continued. "When we wage war against our own industry, we only empower China, empower Russia, empower Iran, and other rogue nations. We have got to make sure that we are the one that can supply our own country and our allies with good clean LNG, fossil fuel oil, you name it because everything we use is a by-product of oil and energy. We've got to get this right, and we have an opportunity to do that in the 118th Congress."
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Hunt says in the newly formed 38th Congressional District inflation is ravaging family budgets, and he blames profligate, government spending by President Biden and Democrats.
"Our inflation continues to spike, and it's only going to get worse with these disastrous policies that we've seen from the Biden administration and if you think a $1.7 trillion bill that just got passed last week is going to remedy the problem, you are sorely mistaken," said Hunt.
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As for who Republicans should choose in their quest to regain the White House, Hunt is siding with the former President.
"That's what we have primaries for," said Hunt. "We have to let this cake bake. We will see how it all shakes out, but right now among primary voters, President Trump is up 20 points, and we'll see how this whole thing shakes out, but I got a pretty confident feeling that it's going to remain that way, especially in a Republican primary."
With his first days beneath the capitol dome immersed in the contentious battle to lead the slim Republican House majority, Hunt says he is completely undaunted.
"This is simply how our system works," said Hunt. "Sometimes democracy is messy, but by God, this is the best system in the entire world and as somebody who has lived in Saudi Arabia and flew combat missions in Iraq I can tell you the last few days, while frustrating, is better than anywhere else in the entire world."