Randy's Roundup: Hosting our Nation's Heroes

Hosting Our Nation’s Heroes
It’s important for us to care for and honor our veterans who have sacrificed so much to keep us all safe – it’s the least we can do.  On Friday, I was honored to host a group of almost 100 U.S. veterans in the U.S. Capitol.  The Texas South Plains Honor Flight organizes a trip each year for South Plains veterans to visit the memorials in their honor and the U.S. Capitol Building.  My staff, Dana, and I got to give the group a tour of the Capitol Building.  We got to hear great stories of their times in combat, and how support and prayers from home kept them going during tough times.  We even had the chance to speak with a few WWII veterans – heroes from “the Greatest Generation.” 

You can check out more pictures from Friday here. 

Nominating Students to Military Academies
For high school students who’d like to follow the footsteps of these heroes, I’d like to point out one of the many ways you can serve our nation.  We have five service academies that that teach young students like you the honor, discipline, strategy, and bravery of serving as an officer in the U.S. military: the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, the U.S. Naval Academy, the U.S. Air Force Academy, the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point.  These service academies provide an excellent education, and open the door to many rewarding opportunities.  Four of these schools require an authorized congressional, presidential, or military service nomination.  I’m proud to nominate multiple TX19 candidates to these academies each year.  Any interested high school student should check out the information on my website.  Applications for my nomination will be due to my office by November 15th.  Please share this information with anyone you think may be interested.  And mark your calendars with the due date: November 15th!

Celebrating National 4-H Week
This week we celebrate an organization close to the hearts (and heads, health, and hands…) of many families in Texas’ 19th District.  4-H began more than 100 years ago, and has now become the nation’s largest youth development organization.  It teaches our kid the valuable lessons of community engagement, leadership, and responsibility.  And most importantly, it teaches our young citizens real life skills they’ll use throughout their lives.  In West Texas, I’ve enjoyed watching the 4-H kids of TX19 show animals at county and state fairs over the years, and I always look forward to the Gold Star Banquet in November to highlight the winners.  4-H helps build communities, helps strengthen our future economy, and empowers young children.  I’m proud to celebrate such a great organization this week.