Glenn Beck – Congressman vs. Mr. Sheriff
Posted on Nov 10, 2007
in Media & Talk Radio by PMC
Saying he will defend his district against anybody trying to portray it as a “war zone,” U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar defended Thursday the statements he made during a heated exchange with Webb County Sheriff Rick Flores on national television.”He cannot expect to attack me, to attack my city that I care so much about, and portray it as a war zone,” Cuellar said during a videoconference Friday.
“(People) are going to think Laredo is a bad place to come to.”
The exchange occurred Thursday during a taped interview on CNN’s nightly news show featuring Glenn Beck.
Cuellar said he was invited to the show to talk about Laredo’s missing Americans, but was instead asked questions about federal spending and how much money had been appropriated to fight crime along the Texas-Mexico border.
Flores did not return repeated phone calls requesting comment about Thursday’s events.
During the program, Flores took issue with a proposed aid package to Mexico the federal government says will help combat crime that may spill over into the United States, indicating Cuellar’s support of the package was an affront to local law enforcement.
“I want to ask the congressman, who is he representing: President Calderon or his district here in Laredo, Texas, where we haven’t received any resources at the local level to be able to combat the problems at the border?” Flores said, according to CNN transcripts.
The congressman responded by saying the sheriff should stick to his duties, and that plenty had been allocated to local authorities to help fight crime.
“Well, first of all, let me say this, Mr. Sheriff, what we’re looking at is you have got more money than you’ve ever gotten in the past, and you’ve got to keep in mind that the border will be patrolled by the Border Patrol and by the federal agencies,” Cuellar responded. “We will work with the local law enforcement … but your job is to be a county sheriff, not a U.S. congressman, which is a big difference. My job is to look at the big picture. Your job is to look at the little picture.”
Beck then admonished the congressman for his comment.
“That was the most belittling response I have ever heard,” Beck said. “Shame on you.”
No mention was made of the fact that Cuellar’s brother, Martin Cuellar, is running against Flores in the upcoming county elections; something the congressman spoke about Friday.
“Without mincing words, that’s what came about,” Henry Cuellar said, indicating the exchange was politically motivated.
The debate came just a year following Flores’ endorsement of Cuellar, when he said the congressman had increased “security and vigilance along the border.”
Cuellar said Friday that during his tenure as congressman, local law enforcement had received millions in monetary assistance, and said the proposed foreign aid to Mexico and domestic spending come from two different budgets.
Cuellar also took issue with the show itself, saying Beck needed to respect his guests. He also questioned some of the information the news channel presented.
“They are making the border an area that they are attacking,” Cuellar said. “Why did they have to say that Laredo is 90-percent Mexican-American?”
Asked if he may have lost his temper during the segment, Cuellar said that he hadn’t.
“I kept pretty cool,” he said. “I just said his (Flores’) job is to be the sheriff. He talked about who answers 9-1-1. We all have different jurisdictions.”
Mindy Casso, the congressman’s communications director, said that since Cuellar took office, $1.8 million had been appropriated for law enforcement in Webb County, and $9.8 million for the entire district.
Before the exchange, Beck said he’d had enough with what he called Mexico’s corrupt political system.
“We bend over backwards for that fucking country, and I’ve had it up to here. And most of America has as well,” he said. He prefaced that by saying the media had shut their “pieholes” about the violence along the border.
Flores added that the sheriff’s department had evidence that indicated the Zetas were teaming up with Guatemalan jungle fighters. Friday, Cuellar said he hadn’t heard any of that information from the federal agencies he works with.
Tags: Glenn Beck, Henry Cuellar, Rick Flores
With 35 years in the trucking business, 15 years making my homes in Mexico and being very outspoken about issues I believe in, makes me uniquely qualified to present Mexico Trucker Online & Mexico Verdad to the blogosphere
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