TX Reps Toth & Simpson: Texas Will Arrest Feds Enforcing Obama Gun Orders and TSA Gropers

Texas has a history of taking a bold stand. Anyone Remember the Alamo? At the Alamo, Texans took a stand knowing they might lose their lives. They could have surrendered or they could have retreated. They instead stood their ground. They lost their lives but standing for what was right was more important. Their stand inspired other Texans to rally together and attack Santa Anna near Houston. Santa Anna had more soldiers and they were all well trained. Texas came with just a group of Texans (fathers, brothers, regular guys) and their guns. Texas attacked Santa Anna’s army and Texas won independence from Mexico. Texas became a new nation, the Republic of Texas. The battle of San Jacinto went down in history as one of the most decisive battles in History. The Texas side had few death and injuries while the well trained Mexican army lost hundreds. The battle only lasted 18 minutes.

The point I am trying to make is that you Don’t Mess With Texas. We will take a stand and not back down.

Two Texas Lawmakers are introducing bills that would allow for the arrest and prosecution (jail time) of any federal official who tries to enforce Obama’s unconstitutional gun restriction executive orders and also any TSA agent who gropes the private parts of anyone at a Texas Airport without reasonable suspension that the person is hiding something.

Texas State Rep. Steve Toth Introducing the Firearms Protection Act

According to 1200 WOAI News, A Texas lawmaker says he plans to file the Firearms Protection Act, which would make any federal laws that may be passed by Congress or imposed by Presidential order which would ban or restrict ownership of semi-automatic firearms or limit the size of gun magazines illegal in the state, 1200 WOAI news reports.

Republican Rep. Steve Toth says his measure also calls for felony criminal charges to be filed against any federal official who tries to enforce the rule in the state.

"If a federal official comes into the state of Texas to enforce the federal executive order, that person is subject to criminal prosecution," Toth told 1200 WOAI's Joe Pags Tuesday.  He says his bill would make attempting to enforce a federal gun ban in Texas punishable by a $50,000 fine and up to five years in prison.

Texas State Rep. David Simpson Re-introducing Anti-TSA Groping Bill

Simpson first introduced this Anti-TSA bill last session when the heat was really on the TSA due to videos of strip searches and private part groping TSA agents were doing to children and grandmas. It is not that we do not believe in security down here in Texas. We do. There just comes a point where you have traded too much liberty for security and you end up with neither. You see, the bad guys will find a way to get around any security measure you put out there. So you have to ask yourself, is groping a little girl really going to stop a terrorist and isn’t groping all little kids terrorism itself? If a terrorist knows you are going to grope them looking for bombs then they will find another way to take down a plane, like for instance they could compromise a TSA agents and get them to do the dirty work. With TSA groping, the terrorist have already won because anyone who flies on a plane is already terrorized and violated by getting sexually assaulted by TSA agents. There are other measures we can do that molest little kids. We are smarter than that.

Simpson’s Bill had the overwhelming support of Texas State Reps and Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said it would pass muster, but after bouncing back and forth between the House and the Senate, it was eventually killed by moderate Texas Speaker Joe Straus who called the bill a “publicity stunt” and said he would never let it get passed. I guess not all Texans are brave enough to take a stand against tyranny. Straus was scared because the DOJ said they would shut down all flights in and out of Texas if the bill was passed. Sounds like a good old fashioned Texas showdown to me! Obama would have lost that one too because, well, Texas has major hubs where people from all over America have to fly in and out of so America would have been outraged that Obama grounded all flights and Obama would have conceded and changed the TSA rules. But hey, Straus was too scared.

The following press release from David Simpson is from regarding his re-introduced TSA Bill:

Representative David Simpson (R-Longview) pre-filed House Bill 80 (HB 80), entitled the “Texas Travel Freedom Act.” HB 80 aims to restrict unconstitutional violations of travelers’ persons and dignity — particularly by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which has made itself infamous for intrusive and humiliating pat-downs of innocent travelers.

Specifically, the bill would make it illegal for a government agent to intentionally touch the private areas of a person without probable cause as a condition of travel. HB 80 would also, under the same conditions, prevent the separation of minors from their parents or guardians and prevent the harassment of travelers for refusal to submit to such unconstitutional violations of their person.

“Intrusive, physical touching of travelers’ sexual organs without cause clearly violates the privacy, dignity, and freedom of our citizens,” said Simpson today. “The Constitution protects the civil liberties of the people against government overreach — in this case quite literally — and it’s time to put a stop to the TSA’s abuse of power. Security at the expense of liberty is no security at all, for it licenses government tyranny and abuse.”

After unanimous passage out of the Texas House during the previous regular session, the previous “TSA bill” was sent to the Senate. Foreseeing the bill’s imminent passage, the federal Department of Justice resorted to absurd threats of shutting down air travel, temporarily stopping the bill in the regular session. Realizing the importance of protecting innocent Texans from violations of their person, Governor Rick Perry called the bill into the special session at the request of Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst. This time versions of the bill passed both the House and the Senate; however there was not time to reconcile the two versions of the bill before the end of the special session.

“Travelers’ freedom and dignity are issues that we can unite behind,” said Simpson. “I am hopeful that with the leadership of our state and legislators from both parties we can intervene on behalf of our citizens and stop these unconstitutional searches without probable cause. Texans are calling for their legislators to protect them. I am confident that the Legislature will again heed the call.”

Representative Simpson was recently re-elected to his second term by a large margin. In his first session, Simpson earned the “Taxpayer Champion” award from Texans for Fiscal Responsibility and the “Freshman of the Year” award from Young Conservatives of Texas; he was also named “Co-MVP of the Freshman Class” by Capitol Inside for his effectiveness as a legislator.

All Texas TSA Anti Groping Bills in Texas Special Session are DEAD - Rep Simpson Blames Leadership Failure

This Just In:

Today was the last day of the Special Session, Wednesday June 29th, 2011, and any hope for the Texas House passing a TSA Anti Groping Bill has failed due to the House not having enough members show up and vote to suspend the rules and pass the Texas Senate version of the bill.

According to the Texas Tribune, after it became apparent the bill was dead, Simpson spoke before the House and openly criticized leadership in both chambers. With House Speaker Joe Straus, who just last week referred to the TSA bill as a publicity stunt, standing behind him, Simpson said he believed House leadership had thwarted his effort to stop the "routine" touching of private parts by federal agents. He said he is "fed up with phonies" and politicians who take credit for bills they try to kill.

During his 15-minute speech, Simpson quoted Churchill by saying, "Never yield to force... never yield to the overwhelming might of the enemy." On the TSA legislation, he declared, "I'm not giving up."

State Senator Says TSA Anti Groping Bill is Dead. It Will Not Pass Due To Speaker Straus's Bad Timing

State Senator Says TSA Anti Groping Bill is Dead. It Will Not Pass Due to Speaker Straus's Bad Timing

As I predicted, the State Affairs Committee bailed out again and cancelled their meeting Monday morning. This left the TSA and Sanctuary Cities Legislation looking pretty dead.

Then the unexpected happened on Monday when Speaker Joe Straus, who just recently mocked the Anti Groping Bill by calling it a publicity stunt, did a shocking 180% turn around and revived the TSA bill by ending his block and letting it some to the House Floor for a second reading.

Everyone Start Celebrating right?

To be honest, I actually got very excited at first and was thankful that Joe Straus did the right thing.

But then I got this personal email from a State Senator explaining to me that the TSA Bill will most likely not get passed and was Dead on Arrival.


Here is the email message I got from this State Senator:

The TSA Anti-Groping Bill will most likely not get passed by the end of the session tomorrow. It all comes down to timing. Timing is a matter of Constitutional requirements. One is a House Bill the other a Senate Bill. House still has to vote out on third reading tomorrow.   Even though they are similar, one of them must go back to the other's committee, then back to floor to be voted on separate days after posting for 24 hours in between. Clock will not permit without suspension of rules which Dem's will not give. Sanctuary city Senate bill has been sitting in House for thirteen days with no action.

So all of this for nothing!?  It was all just a show?

It seems like the real Publicity Stunt is Speaker Joe Straus waiting till the last minute to bring the bill to the house floor for a vote and doing so with the knowledge that it does not stand a chance to pass because it was brought to the floor too late. I suppose it makes sense though. The Speaker gets a win win. He kills the bill that he didn't like by waiting to bring it to the floor, and at the same time he gets to say that he actually tried to get the bill passed.

This State Senator also makes another very interesting point. The Senate PASSED the Sanctuary Cities Bill and it sat in the House State Affairs Committee for13 days with no action! The Sanctuary Cities Bill was an emergency item this session and is actually part of the Republican Party platform and yet a Republican controlled House could not get it passed.

The State Affairs Committee was in charge of the TSA and Sanctuary Cities Legislation. It is headed up by Byron Cook who was part of the Gang of 11 Republicans who joined forces with the Democrats to get Straus elected as Speaker. Straus could have gotten whatever bills he wanted out of that important committee.


The Bottom line is that, at the end of the day, a Republican Dominated House could not get these important Republican Bills passed in this Special Session, and it all comes down to the leadership of Speaker Joe Straus and his elaborate "publicity stunt".

I sure hope I am wrong and I hope that something miraculous will happen so that these bills can get passed. It can only be possible if the rules are suspended and this is not easy to do so is not looking good... I hope they can do it though

Don't get me wrong. Overall this was a good session and the super-majority of Republicans were able to get some good bills passed. But these special session stunts, and even the regular session stunts like some of the strongest conservatives getting hurt in redistricting, took everyone by surprise and they reflect poorly on the Speaker

Texas to Pass TSA Anti Groping “Resolution” not Bill - PLUS Rep. James White Confirms State Rep Standoff Over Sanctuary Cities

See Interview with Texas State Representative James White at end of this Article

Texas State Rep White Says AWOL Members of State Affairs Committee are Holding Up Voting in Special Session Over a Sanctuary Cities Standoff. Plus he says that the Texas Legislature on Monday might only pass an Anti Groping “resolution” instead of a bill. I guess I am not surprised when Rep White told me this because, after all, Speaker Joe Straus will personally not allow an anti groping bill go to the floor for a vote and has even openly mocked the Majority of Texans by calling it a “publicity stunt.”

In my previous article, see here, I reported that there is a standoff in the Texas Legislature. There were over 50 State Representatives missing in action on Friday June 24th and the Special Session had to come to a halt because there was not a Quorum. A State Representative source told me that as long as SB 9 (the Sanctuary Cities Bill) was in play, many State Reps would not show up and there would not be a quorum.

The TSA Anti Groping Bill is being considered as a reason for the standoff. This is just not true. The TSA bill is being used as a distraction to keep from people seeing the real issue which is a standoff over the Sanctuary Cities Bill.

Today I spoke with State Rep James White and he confirmed that the standoff is over the Sanctuary Cities Bill and the talk about the standoff being over the TSA bill is just a distraction from the Sanctuary Cities battle because the majority of the House supports the TSA legislation. He went on to explain that the standoff is even simpler than I originally thought. The Standoff, and the reason why the Special Session has come to a halt, is originating out of the State Affairs Committee.

Before the House Session began on Friday, there was to be a State Affairs Committee meeting earlier Friday morning. Several members of the State Affairs Committee did not show up on Friday morning and that prevented that State Affairs Committee Meeting from having a quorum. When the State Affairs Committee did not have a quorum the 8:45 AM committee meeting was cancelled. This carried over into the 10AM House session with the Speaker of the House having to adjourn on Friday because there was not a quorum. But it all started earlier that morning in the State Affairs Committee. If the members of the State Affairs Committee showed up to do their job by getting these bills out of the State Affairs Committee, then the rest of the Texas State Reps would have been there too.

So what was on the agenda for Friday that caused members of the State Affairs Committee to not show up and prevent a Quorum? The State Affairs Committee was to consider pending business (the Sanctuary Cities Bill) on Friday Morning.

So that is it folks. The Standoff is most certainly over the Sanctuary Cities Bill and is has been narrowed down to originating out of the State Affairs Committee

So what happens next? Well, Monday the State Affairs Committee has scheduled a meeting to discuss the TSA Anti Groping legislation. Don’t get too excited though, the Speaker of the House Joe Straus has personally killed that bill and mocked the majority of Texans by calling the anti groping bill a “publicity stunt”, so what will be proposed in the Monday meeting will not be an anti groping bill and instead will only be an anti groping “resolution”. Yep, if this anti groping resolution passes we are gonna really stand up to the TSA by “passing a resolution that will tell the TSA that we are not happy with them”

It is interesting to note that the Monday Meeting does not include taking up their pending business, also known as the Sanctuary cities bill. The picture is starting to get clearer.

But, even though the Sanctuary Cities Bill has not been put on the agenda for Monday, the bill could still be brought up when the State Affairs Committee meets on Monday when they take up the TSA Resolution.

One of two things will happen Monday. The State Affairs Committee members will continue to have a standoff to prevent a quorum and there will not be a State Affairs Committee meeting on Monday, OR the State Affairs Committee members will actually show up and swiftly pass the weak, do nothing TSA Anti Groping Resolution but then adjourn before the Sanctuary Cities bill can be brought back up.

Even if the Sanctuary Cities Bill does not make it out of Committee, it is still sure to get interesting because there is talk that a State Rep will add the Sanctuary Cities Legislation onto SB1 as an amendment with no debate and just an up or down vote.


East Texas State Rep James White was elected as a conservative, no nonsense, get things done kind of guy. After I heard about the standoff I knew I could call him and he would give me a straight forward opinion of what is going on without trying to just make a biased attack against any other State Reps.

Here is my Full Interview with State Representative James White:

David Bellow: What important legislation do we still have on the table?

James White: SB 1 is the big fiscal matters bill that will help ensure that our budget is certified and that schools are funded. SB 9 Sanctuary Cities bill. Many East Texas are very concerned with safety in their communities and on the border. TSA anti groping bill. People elected last election as a statement that they want us to push back against excessive federal abuse and the TSA groping is certainly an abuse of federal power and East Texans want us to stand up against it. SB 7 is the healthcare fiscal bill that is important because it has the healthcare compact provision in it to allow Texas to opt out of Obamacare and form our own health care system that works for Texas. Basically the bills we have left are the ones that push back against big Federal Government.

David Bellow: When will the TSA Bill and the Sanctuary Cities bill get to the house floor for an up or down vote?

James White: The TSA bill made it out of committee and will most certainly get passed if brought to the floor for an up or down vote. You have to understand that there is not really any opposition to the TSA bill from the members of the Texas House of Representatives because it passed nearly unanimously this year out of the house, it is very popular with constituents, and over 100 state reps are sponsors of the bill.

The Sanctuary cities bill is held up in the State Affairs Committee. The committee heard testimony on the bill earlier in the week and was supposed to finish taking up the Sanctuary Cities Bill on Friday June 24th but they didn’t.

David Bellow: Why didn’t they take up the bill on Friday?

James White: They did not take up the bill on Friday because the State Affairs Committee did not have a quorum and cancelled the meeting.

David Bellow: Do you believe that there are members of the State Affairs Committee who purposely did not show up because they do not want to sanctuary cities bill to get passed?

James White: Yes I do. This Sanctuary Cities Bill is what is causing the most turmoil behind the scenes in the House.

David Bellow: So what is coming up next?

James White: Monday the State Affairs Committee will hear a proposed resolution, HCR 5, against TSA groping. They will not be considering an Anti Groping Law and will only be considering a Resolution. A resolution does not have the backing of the law and is only a statement

If the State Affairs Committee meets on Monday to do this resolution then they have an obligation to also finish up the Sanctuary Cities Bill but I do not think that will happen.

If the State Affairs Committee does not pass the Sanctuary Cities Bill then a possible Sanctuary Cities Amendment could be tagged onto SB 1 and would be an up or down vote with no discussion.

All of this boils down to the members of the State Affairs Committee. They are hand picked by and will follow the directives of the Speaker of the House. This is one of the most important committees and the Speaker could ask them to do something and they will do it. But they are not doing anything, and unless these State Reps have VERY important matters they need to attend to, they have an obligation to be here and finish business.

David Bellow: Is there anything else you would like to add?

James White: I was one of the first signers onto the TSA Anti Groping Bill. I am a former Infantry Officer so I know about security. Some of the things we are doing in airports is just downright wrong and not more effective than other less intrusive measures. This is Texas! How is it possible that we have non elected bureaucrats telling us what we can and cannot do? This non elected bureaucrat thinks he is going to tell 150 members of the Texas House of Representatives what we can and cannot do? We have to stand up against this. When I was sworn in I swore to uphold the US Constitution AND the State Constitution. East Texans are mad and they cannot understand why TEXAS State Reps are backing down and letting out State Constitution be run over by these appointed, non elected officials.

David Bellow: Thank you for taking time to let us know what is going on!

James White: You’re Welcome.