Dear Friend,
Just a few days ago, I returned to East Texas from my first official Congressional Delegation (CODEL) trip overseas, led by Chairman Michael McCaul, to the Indo-Pacific region. Alongside members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, I met with officials from Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. While in the region, we met with foreign leaders and partners in the region to conduct oversight and strengthen U.S. partnerships and alliances in the face of increased aggression from China, especially toward Taiwan.
The consistent theme echoed by each country was their desire to increase diplomatic, economic, and military ties with the United States in a manner that would result in peace, stability, prosperity, and freedom for the region.
Unfortunately, China clearly has set its sights on Taiwan. In just the past few years, China has become increasingly more provocative towards Taiwan, and ahead of our meeting with Taiwan President Tsai, my colleagues and I received official communications from China expressing “deep concern and firm opposition” to our visit.
They obviously don’t understand Texans if they think intimidation will cause us to back down. There is a clear difference in the paths presented by the United States and Communist China – one offers democracy, liberty, and a society based on the rule of law; the other offers communism, tyranny, and a society based on the rule of force.
It is clear that Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan want to choose the path of freedom with the United States. We need to make sure that happens. It’s not only in their national interest, but it’s in ours.
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For seven years, the members of the Mayflower congregation faced intense persecution from the Chinese government – all because of their strong Christian faith. In 2019, the church made the difficult decision to leave their homes to seek the freedom to practice their faith without fear of retaliation from the government.
First fleeing to South Korea and later Thailand, this body of believers has endured countless trials on their journey, but this Easter weekend, Mayflower was successfully resettled in East Texas, where they were welcomed by churches and organizations across our community, including: Freedom Seekers International, ChinaAid, Flint Baptist Church, Grace Community Church, South Spring Baptist Church, Sylvania Church of Tyler, First Baptist Church Tyler, Rose Heights Church of God, and many more.
I was proud to play a supporting role to these groups by working with the State Department and Thai Government to move these believers to safety in the United States, and I look forward to seeing our community rally behind them in the days and weeks to come.
To learn more about the Mayflower Church and their flight from religious persecution in China, please click HERE.
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Upon my return from the Indo-Pacific, I hit the ground running by joining our neighbor in Louisiana, Congressman Mike Johnson, for discussions with elements of the Air Force Global Strike Command at the Barksdale Air Force Base. Many of those who work at the Barksdale Air Force Base are constituents of the First Congressional District – we are inextricably intertwined.
Thank you to the officers who led us through the facility and offered us the opportunity to meet with the brave airmen and women serving our nation. In Congress, I am committed to strengthening our nation’s military and ensuring that our servicemembers have the resources they need – followed by the benefits they have earned during their service.
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The influx of illegal immigrants over the past two years has compromised our national security and depleted our resources. East Texans shouldn’t be forced to overcompensate on behalf of their non-tax paying counterparts.
It is important to note that historically, a major portion of illegal immigrants are made up of individuals who originally entered the United States legally, but overstayed their visas.
While we work to secure the southern border, it is also vital that we work to discourage immigrants from staying in the country past their time limit. To deter this, I recently introduced legislation that would discourage these individuals from overstaying their visa by increasing both civil and criminal penalties for violators. Further, this legislation would jeopardize these individuals’ chance of re-admission into the United States.
To learn more about this legislation, and my efforts to combat the volume of illegal immigrants currently residing in the United States, please click HERE.
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On the morning of Friday, March 31st, our community lost a strong, yet comforting voice with the passing of John Sims. A proud Philadelphia native who called East Texas “home,” John worked as a radio personality for 45 years – 43 of those in the area, most recently with KTBB.
John was a kind and inviting soul – and when he wasn’t filling the radio waves, he was out in our community serving with the church and other groups in the area. He was active in many civic organizations, especially working with those in need and those with disabilities.
In particular, John devoted his time to the Tyler Together Race Relations Forum, in addition to the League of Women Voters, the March of Dimes, the Tyler Church and Community Network, and East Texas Wheelers and Walkers. John was also the former president of Leadership Tyler and the Smith County Community Partnership Council.
My prayers are with his family, friends, the KTBB station, and all who had the opportunity to know him. He will be sorely missed.
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Nathaniel Moran
Member of Congress
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