Free Republic

Washington • The state-owned oil company of Azerbaijan secretly funded an all-expenses-paid trip to a conference at Baku on the Caspian Sea in 2013 for 10 members of Congress and 32 staff members, according to a confidential ethics report obtained by The Washington Post. Three former top aides to President Barack Obama appeared as speakers at the conference. Lawmakers and their staff members received hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of travel expenses, silk scarves, crystal tea sets and Azerbaijani rugs valued at $2,500 to $10,000, according to the ethics report. Airfare for the lawmakers and some of their spouses...

CONGRESSMAN RUBÉN HINOJOSA INVITES THE PUBLIC TO PARTICIPATE IN THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT TWO DAY WORKSHOP THURSDAY FEBRUARY 13 AND FRIDAY FEBRUARY 14 IN MCALLEN Congressman Rubén Hinojosa in conjunction with Get Covered America, MHP, Valley Association for Independent Living (V.A.I.L.), Cognosante, and South Texas Health Systems will have a workshop on February 13 & 14 at the McAllen Public Library. The workshops will offer information and assistance in understanding and enrolling into the ACA. ***Attendees are asked to bring their social security number and W2/Tax return income pay stubs*** "We have had hundreds of families attend our workshops and...

Latinos make up 17 percent of the one in six Americans who use food stamps. According to the National Council of La Raza, Latino families experience food insecurity at a higher rate than non-Hispanic white households (23 percent versus 11 percent). SNAP is often a significant buffer from hunger for children, helping to ensure proper growth and development, the group said. Nearly one in three Latino children in the U.S. lives in a household receiving SNAP, according to NCLR. .... On Friday, White House spokeswoman Katherine Vargas said ”These cuts come at a time when many hardworking American families are...

McALLEN — Asked Wednesday about the Second Amendment, longtime U.S. Rep. Rubén Hinojosa fumbled for an answer. “There are so many people in Washington who come and talk to us about the Constitution and the rights that they want kept sacred and that not do anything about them. (sic) That we not change them. That we not amend them,” said Hinojosa. “And I can tell you that — I’m drawing a blank on the Second Amendment, but I think it’s the weapons, isn’t it? The NRA?” Hinojosa recovered after a brief pause, recalling how the 1999 Columbine High School massacre...

Today's Get out the Vote Rally at Veterans Park has been moved and will now be held on the vacant lot across the street from the park. Cameron County Judge Carlos H. Cascos earlier said the rally violates the election code and had asked the county's Election Department to move it because of its proximity to an early voting location. The rally will be moved to the new location because officials do not want to be accused of doing anything unlawful, said Jose Borjon, communications director for U.S. Rep. Solomon P. Ortiz, D-Corpus, Christi, who is organizing the event. In...

HARLINGEN - U.S. Rep. Rubén Hinojosa says he and other South Texas business and political leaders will hire redistricting experts and attorneys to help the region gain an extra congressional seat next year. “We did it the last time and we are going to do it again. We are going to invest in legal advice with attorneys, map drawers, everybody, because this region is one of the fastest growing regions in the country and we deserve to have another member of Congress,” the Mercedes Democrat told the Guardian. New congressional lines will be drawn by state legislators next year soon...

Stenholm to attend Plainview fiesta U.S. Rep. Charlie Stenholm, D-Abilene, will be in Plainview on Sunday for Fiesta Campesina, a festival celebrating and honoring the hard work of laborers. The fiesta will be from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Broadway Park on the south side of Plainview. The free event will have Mexican food, ice cream, traditional Latino music and polka dancing. U.S. Reps. Silvestre Reyes, D-El Paso, and Ruben Hinojosa, D-Mercedes, will join Stenholm to speak about education, family values and rural needs. The music group "Elida Reyna y su groupo Avante" and other local bands will provide...