Thread: Congressmen fighting Chertoff’s right to waive environment

Congressmen join legal challenge against Chertoff’s right to waive environmental laws

By Steve Taylor and MarÃ*a González-Escareño
U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, chair of the House Homeland Security Committee.


McALLEN, April 8 - The chair of the Committee on Homeland Security is joining a legal effort that challenges a law that gives Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff the right to waive environmental laws in order to speed up construction of a border wall.


U.S. Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, D-Miss., announced Monday he would file an Amicus Curiae brief along with 13 other Democratic House members, including seven other House chairs. Among them are two Texas border congressmen, Solomon Ortiz, of Corpus Christi, the Dean of the Texas Congressional Delegation, and Silvestre Reyes, of El Paso, chair of the House Intelligence Committee.


The brief relates to a petition filed with the U.S. Supreme Court on March 17 by Defenders of Wildlife and the Sierra Club which challenges the constitutionality of the REAL ID Act, which grants the Homeland Security secretary sweeping authority to waive environmental laws and regulations in the name of homeland security.


“This waiver by the Secretary of Homeland Security is a direct challenge to Congress’s Constitutional role,â€

Tamez: Border congressmen should be demanding Chertoff’s resignation

Tuesday, April 8, 2008


Last Updated: 7 April 2008


Tamez: Border congressmen should be demanding Chertoff’s resignation

By MarÃ*a González-Escareño
Anti-border wall activist Eloisa Tamez stands outside St. Ignatius Church in El Ranchito, Texas. (File photo: RGG/Steve Taylor)


LAREDO, April 7 - A riverfront property owner who had her day in court with the Department of Homeland Security over the border wall is asking members of Congress from South Texas to pay more attention to the issue.


Eloisa Tamez, a University of Texas at Brownsville-Texas Southmost College professor of nursing, said border congressmen need to pay a visit to grassroots activists fighting the border wall proposal, especially since Homeland Secretary Michael Chertoff issued legal waivers to expedite border wall construction.


“We put them in office, we vote for them, their first priority is to represent us and mediate for us. That's their first priority and they need to understand that. If they fail to do that, then we need to think about getting somebody else that will represent us,â€

The American people entrust Congress to ensure that the laws of this land are faithfully executed not excused by the Executive Branch.â€

“This waiver by the Secretary of Homeland Security is a direct challenge to Congress’s Constitutional role,â€