Stop Austin Scanners!

Despite mainstream media silence, popular outrage has spurred Gov. Perry’s office to start a public opinion survey on whether or not to push ahead to resubmit “restrain-the-TSA” anti-groping bill HB 1937.  Demand that the Governor add HB 1937 to the legislative agenda for the upcoming special session.

If you are a Texas resident and support this bill, call (512) 463-2000 or (800) 252-9600 (toll free number) NOW and tell them you are IN FAVOR of HB 1937, relating to the prosecution and punishment for the offense of official oppression by the intrusive touching of persons seeking access to public buildings and transportation and providing penalties.

Tell TSA to “Come and Take It!”

The U.S. Dept. of Justice threatened the Texas state legislature with hand delivered letters on Tuesday this week.

Gov. Perry, TX legislators, and all  public officials in Texas take an Oath of office to uphold and defend the Texas and U.S. Constitution (Article 16, Texas Constitution)

ARTICLE 16. GENERAL PROVISIONS

Sec. 1.  OFFICIAL OATH.  (a) All elected and appointed officers, before they enter upon the duties of their offices, shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:

“I, _______________________, do solemnly swear (or affirm), that I will faithfully execute the duties of the office of ___________________ of the State of Texas, and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States and of this State, so help me God.”

The hour has arrived for our state officials to step forward and execute that Oath of Office they swore to.

Please call Gov. Perry’s office and voice your support of HB 1937 at (512) 463-2000 or (800) 252-9600 (toll free number).

Last week, over a critical 20 hour period, StopAustinScanners redirected 1255 emails from Texans to our State Senate and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst that expressed outrage over the cowardice shown by the Senate’s failing to stand up to the U.S. Department of Justice threat to turn our state into a “no-fly zone”. 

This outburst was sufficient for State Senator  Dan Patrick (SD-7) to challenge the Lt. Governor to reintroduce, HB 1937 (the anti-groping “restrain-the-TSA bill), which later died by procedure due to the threat of a filibuster led by Democrat Senators Kirk Watson and Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa at the behest of Republican Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst.

The following is one “battle cry” sounded by a woman in Fredricksburg, Texas

Owing to the very short legislative session, the battle against the TSA’s “despicable policies” came to its head last night when Senator Dan Patrick (SD-7) re-introduced HB 1937 on the Senate floor, but threats of a filibuster past midnight by Democrat Senators Kirk Watson (SD-14) and Juan Hinojosa (SD-20), which would kill other pending legislation by procedure, were sufficient to doom the bill. 

Texas subscribes to very limited government, and our state legislature only meets for 5 ½ months every two years.  This system has its benefits, as Texans are often saved from bad legislation “by the bell” when time runs out.  Last night, the good guys lost to the real culprits who were cowed by threats from the Department of Justice to turn Texas into a “no-fly zone”.

State Representative David Simpson, author of HB 1937 and its companion bills HCR 80 and HB 1938, posted the following on his Facebook page immediately affterwards:

     “Lt. Gov. Dewhurst allowed Senator Patrick to bring up HB 1937, but there were not 2/3rd of the members present to do it even after several amendments were considered. The Texas Sam Houston fought for and governed apparently is learning submission.”

StopAustinScanners had more web traffic yesterday than the entire time the website has been up.  Yesterday’s views accounted for over 57% of all the web traffic in its short 3-month history.  Our visitors bombarded our Senators and Lt. Governor with 50 emails an hour, unleashing a total of 1255 emails that implored them to resist DoJ subversion.  Dan Patrick needed 1,000 to force Dewhurst to “reconsider” the bill.  You delivered, but it seems the fix was already in.

Ordinarily, a Lt. Governor is not supposed to lobby for or against a bill.  In an article reported today in the Austin American-Statesman, Senator Patrick’s dismay by Lt. Gov. Dewhurst’s breach of protocol by actively lobbying against the bill was so profound, Patrick asks the public the following question:  ”Someone [Dewhurst] who will not stand up to the federal government, you have to ask yourself, is that the kind of person we need in the U.S.Senate?” 

Yesterday, Sen. Watson’s office was insisting that he was only “following orders” from Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, whose own office was insisting Watson was acting independently.  Your classic Texas political two-step!

While this battle may be lost, the war is not over.  HB 1937 was pulled, so it may still come back in special session with a strong enough public outcry. Either way, StopAustinScanners will re-tool the website to direct your passion to the Congress, where a bi-partisan caucus is now forming to take down the TSA. 

Please subscribe to our RSS feeds and email list so you can be aware of action alerts that will give your voice the power of a true representative Republic and take down this absurd modern day Gestapo.

ACTION ALERT: Come And Take It!

Richard Diamond, Washington Times Senior Editor and former Spokesman for the U.S. House Select Committee on Homeland Security, admonishes the Texas Senate and Lt. Governor David Dewhurst for being “so easily cowed”.  In his OpEd piece, TSA Messes with Texas Privates, Diamond urges the state to grow a backbone and start living up to its reputation for rugged independence.

The former spokesman for the House Select Committee on Homeland Security aptly points out that any attempt by the TSA to force the cancellation of air travel from the State of Texas will prompt “every domestic airline [to] be in court to challenge any move to cut off Texas just because TSA’s feelings were hurt”.

Our aviation industry is ailing and its pilots and flights crews are protesting because of the “despicable policies” of the TSA.  It was truly a gutless act to by a handful of State Senators and a misguided Lt. Governor to torpedo a legislative process that had unanimous support at every level until the DoJ threatened to turn Texas into a “no fly zone” at the very last minute.

Recognizing that Texas is late in the 11th hour of its legislative process and that the federal government did nothing to consult or advise the Texas legislature during the 4 months the bill was being formulated and debated, Mr. Diamond urges that ALL MEASURES must be taken “to deliver a message to TSA and the Justice Department that they work for us, not the other way around”.

Please encourage the Texas Senate and warn David Dewhurst (our loud talking but meek Lt. Governor) that this is an historic Come and Take It moment for Texas by using our web-based email tool.

ACTION ALERT: Come and Take It!

Besieged by public outrage, the principals that conspired to torpedo Texas’ “Restrain-the-TSA” legislation (HB 1937) are now pointing fingers at one another.

HB 1937 proposed to make it a felony for low-wage, untrained TSA bureaucrats to grope your person without probably cause.   The bill received a unanimous recommendation in all House and Senate committees, was passed by a unanimous vote in the Texas House, and had oral commitments of support from all senators immediately prior to its scheduled vote. 

When presented for final debate in the Senate, State Sen. Dan Patrick was forced to pull the bill he sponsored when 12 Senators withdrew their support due to threats leveled by the Department of Justice.   The federal government’s deliberate interference in the deliberative process of a state government triggers a constitutional crisis.

An Austin American Statesman news story late last night reported that State Senator Kirk Watson organized the revolt at the behest of Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst.

This morning, Senator Watson’s office is stating that the senator was only following “orders” from the Lt. Governor, while David Dewhurst’s office claims the “turn-around” was led by Watson and that the Lt. Governor had nothing to do with the Senators’ last minute decision-making. 

The Lt. Governor’s statement is contradicted by Senator Patrick, as reported by an overnight report the Dallas Morning News, and David Dewhurst is not using his bully pulpit to rally support for the bill.

Both the Lt. Governor’s and Senator Kirk Watson’s office are experiencing heavy call volumes.  Hold them both accountable by calling:

     Senator Kirk Watson @ (512) 463-0114

     Lt. Governor David Dewhurst @ (512) 463-0001.

Use our web tool to email the Texas Senate to remind them this is a Come and Take It moment!

ACTION ALERT: Texas’ Come and Take It Moment

Around 9:30 PM Central Time, State Senator Dan Patrick (SD-7) pulled “Restrain-the-TSA” anti-groping legislation (HB 1937) from the Senate floor.  Earlier this evening, this bill was poised to pass the Texas Senate with a unanimous vote. 

This maneuver was done in response to threats issued by the U.S. Department of Justice, which included: filing an immediate injunction against the statute that would include “the cancellation of any flight or series of flights”.   This direct threat was issued in a letter by United States Attorney John E. Murphy.

Throughout the day (Tuesday, May 24th), the Texas State Capitol was besieged by a swarm of TSA and Department of Justice (“DoJ”) lobbyists, which is unlawful.  It is not known what additional threats or inducements were bandied about by these federal agents behind closed doors, but their presence represented a clear indication that the TSA may no longer be as confident in resting its fate on the federal supremacy clause. 

Article VI, Section 2 of the United States Constitution establishes the U.S. Constitution, U.S. Treaties, and Federal Statutes as the “supreme law of the land”.  The fly in the ointment for the TSA is that while it and the Department of Homeland Security were enacted by federal statute, their ”naked” body scanners and their “enhanced” pat-downs for those who opt out of the scanners are not law, but “administrative policies”.  

This makes it very difficult to argue that low wage federal bureaucrats are permitted to touch you in ways that are unlawful for a properly trained law enforcement officer, particularly when the administrative policies are a clear violation of the U.S. Constitution’s 4th amendment. 

The 4th amendment, enshrined in the Bill of Rights, guards against unreasonable searches and seizures and requires any search warrant to be judicially sanctioned and supported by probable cause.

Our desire to travel freely does not constitute intent to commit a crime, nor does it justify suspicion of a crime, as the TSA universally asserts.  The contention that an offensive administrative policy trumps the U.S. Constitution is laughable.  However, the threat of a statewide economic disruption triggered by massive flight cancelations was painfully clear to our Texas Senators who are clearly contemplating their modern day “Come and Take It” moment.

What terrifies the social engineers in Washington to such an extent that they must exert such drastic measures to defeat a bill that strives to restore sensible security measures to the traveling public?

Click here to encourage our Senators, Lt. Governor David Dewhurst and Governor Rick Perry to proudly stand up in the “Come and Take it” moment and force the federal government to show the nation its true colors.

Background on HB 1937

HB 1937 was initially filed by State Representative David Simpson (HD-7, Longview, TX) on March 1, 2011.  It was referred out of the House committee on Criminal Jurisprudence on April 12th with a unanimous recommendation for passage in the House with a vote of 8 ayes, 0 nays, and 1 absent. 

Due to the limited term of the Texas legislature, the bill had to complete its second reading on the House floor by midnight May 12^th. HB 1937 passed the Texas House with a unanimous vote of its representatives in the 11th hour and 95 authors/co-authors.

HB 1937 was passed out of the Senate committee on Transportation and Homeland Security with a unanimous recommendation with a vote of 9 ayes, 0 nays, and 0 absent.