I support immigration - legal immigration. Our current crisis along our southern border is having a devastating impact on our criminal justice and social systems throughout our country, but particularly at home in Texas. We must secure our border first, and then determine the best way to deal with people that are illegally in our country. Amnesty in any form is not the answer.

I regularly travel to the Texas-Mexico border and I have seen the threat to our national security an unsecured border presents. As a nation, we must have the moral will to enforce our immigration laws and protect our country's borders as we do for other nations around the world. I support using the National Guard and other means necessary to uphold our laws and put an end to illegal immigration.

Made simple: this legislation levies a tax on the consumption of energy. If you use any form of energy in your home, car or business you will be required to pay an additional tax on that consumption. I am strongly opposed to this bill and voted against it in the House. However, Cap & Trade passed in the House by one vote and is currently stalled in the Senate. If passed, it will cost thousands of jobs, raise taxes and the cost of energy without making any significant or proven improvements to the quality of the environment.

In an effort to revive the Cap & Trade legislation, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a ruling that will allow this agency to regulate greenhouse gas emissions through any provision under the Clean Air Act. This will result in the creation of an expansive regulatory program that will subject hundreds of thousands of major sources of emissions to the EPA's costly, burdensome, and onerous review process - and cost Southeast Texas untold revenues and jobs.

After months of objections to government run healthcare by Americans across our great country, a slim majority in Congress continued to ignore the will of the people. On March 21, 2010, in the late hours of the night, the House passed the Senate healthcare legislation, H.R.3950, the Patient Protection and Healthcare Affordability Act by a vote of 219 to 212. Additionally, the House passed a package of so-called added "fixes," H.R.4872, the Healthcare and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act, also known as the Senate Reconciliation package.

After listening to folks in the Second Congressional District, I voted NO to H.R.3590 and H.R.4872. These two bills include many backroom payoffs and special deals for special folks. This legislation will cost taxpayers over a trillion dollars, raise taxes, create 111 (or more) new federal bureaucracies and lead to a government takeover of our healthcare system.

I believe the healthcare system needs reform but I do not support the reform that was passed. I believe Americans should have access to quality, affordable healthcare and be able to choose their doctor. There were practical alternatives to the Senate healthcare legislation that were never allowed to come to the floor for debate. I co-sponsored three of those alternatives.

The fight is not over. I will continue to stand strong and challenge the constitutionally of the government mandates in this legislation. I have introduced H.R.4904 that prohibits the use of federal funds for the implementation and enforcement of any federal mandate to purchase health insurance. Our federal government does not have the authority to force Americans to buy anything. I will continue to stand up for meaningful reform that keeps the federal government out of our doctor's office and out of our private lives.

I've dedicated my life to promoting justice. After serving as an assistant district attorney for eight years, I was elected six times as a Harris County felony court judge. As a judge, I ordered creative sentences, which forced criminals to focus on how their crimes hurt their victims. Some of my creative sentences included ordering sex offenders to place signs on their front lawns to warn others and requiring murderers to secure a photo of their victims on the walls of their prison cells to remind them daily of their crime.

It is the first duty of government to protect and to provide a safe environment to live and work. Over 20-years experience as a criminal court judge gave me insight and knowledge of the tragedies of crime victims in our community. Too many courts have excused criminal conduct rather than hold criminals accountable under the rule of law. One of my first accomplishments was founding the Congressional Victim's Rights Caucus to advocate on behalf of victims of crime in Washington, DC. It is important for victims of crime to have a voice in Washington.

My first bill as a U.S. Congressman was the Child Predator Act of 2005. This bill creates a National Sex Offender Registry to track sex offenders across state lines, helps close loopholes in current sex offender notification requirements and includes a Training and Technology Amendment to provide law enforcement with the funding and latest technologies to deal with internet crimes against children. All measures of the Child Predator Act of 2005 were incorporated into the Child Safety Act of 2005 which was passed by the House.

As a Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, I strongly believe America has a role to help spread democracy and the rule of law, and to help open societies across the globe. I am committed to protecting American interests abroad and believe the best way to do that is through a foreign policy that respects the sovereignty first of the United States and secondly that of foreign nations, while at the same time demands adherence to universal principles of liberty and justice.

I travel abroad to visit our troops every chance I get. I believe every member of Congress should visit our fighting men and women and see what they are confronted with on a daily basis. Listening and talking face to face with these brave men and women provide the best education on what they deal with day to day. We live in the best country in the world and we have our freedoms because of our all-volunteer armed forces.

I strongly support economic and military assistance to Israel and other allies and oppose any Middle East peace plan that weakens the security of Israel. Having had the opportunity to visit Israel personally, I understand the importance of a free and safe state of Israel. I support crucial foreign aid to our allies (who support us in the UN and other forums) in order to promote U.S. interests abroad, for overall security of the United States, and for expanding our economic base for increased exports that will lead to more jobs at home.

I believe in limited government, less government spending and increased tax cuts.

I've pledged not to vote for any tax increase while in Congress. And I am true to my word-I have not voted for more taxes on American Citizens and will not vote for tax increases. I was awarded the "Champion of the Taxpayer Award" by Americans for Tax Reform for my steadfastness on this issue.

I support replacing the IRS and the current federal income tax system with a fairer and simpler tax system. The current income tax system costs Americans hundreds of millions of dollars a year just to administer. I support debating the merits of the Fair Tax and Consumption Tax on the House floor and taking serious steps to improve our tax system.

I support the increase in the child tax credit and the permanent elimination of the death (inheritance) tax so people can pass along a lifetime of savings, property, business or farm without their surviving family members having to pay taxes on these assets.

The rate of economic growth is the single most important factor affecting jobs, incomes, the Federal Budget and the solvency of Social Security and Medicare.

With the right economic policies, America is capable of rapid, sustained economic growth. I will continue to fight for these policies.

To fully employ our labor force, America needs 33 million new jobs. These cannot and should not come from government because it is too big already. The additional jobs must come from private businesses.

America is not short of entrepreneurs with ideas. Companies will expand if they are given incentives to invest. Tax rates on savings and investment must be reduced not increased, as the big government elites want. The value of the dollar must be stabilized. The job-killing healthcare "reform" law must be repealed and replaced. The "Cap and Tax" energy bill must be defeated. Secret-ballot elections for unionization must be maintained. Regulators must be required to apply common sense. And, businesses must be given certainty and stability regarding government policies.

I believe that quality education is the key to the door of opportunity for individuals and is essential to the future of America. Our children deserve the best education that we can give them. I believe that parents and educators have the greatest insight on how to meet the educational needs of their children and students. Parents should have more control and greater options in schooling their children and schools should have incentives to turn out strong students or be required to reform their methods.

I believe there must be some oversight when dispensing federal tax dollars to the educational system. Additionally, increased efficiency at the Department of Education would allow for more resources to go directly to the schools and in turn benefit Texas and the rest of the United States.

I am pro-life. The only exception is to save the life of the mother. I oppose government funding for abortion or abortion clinics and also oppose partial-birth abortions.

I feel the separation of church and state has been taken to extremes in certain cases. The U.S. Constitution says the federal government cannot impose state-endorsed religion on its citizens, but religion is under attack in the United States. With lawsuits being filed against a state lawmaker for mentioning religion from the floor of the legislature and the constitutionality of the Pledge of Allegiance being questioned in the courtroom of an activist judge, I believe our nation needs to stand strong and defend our religious heritage.

These efforts have less to do with the separation of church and state and more to do with an effort to remove religious influences from American society. I fully support voluntary prayer in schools as well as efforts to preserve this nation's religious heritage - such as displays of the Ten Commandments or other religious symbols on public property.

As a member of the NRA, Ducks Unlimited and the Texas State Rifle Association, I staunchly support the 2nd Amendment. I am a strong advocate of its protection. I believe the Right to Bear Arms is as important as any other right in the Constitution. It is an individual right. It is not just a right for states to form militias or National Guard units. I am proud to have received an "A" rating from the National Rifle Association for commitment to defending the rights of law abiding gun owners and sportsmen.