Ohio Valley Politics

Rep. Zack Space held his second Renew Ohio work group today, and this time the topic was agriculture. The event took place in Coshocton and was lead by Adam Sharp from the Ohio Farm Bureau.

“We have a long and distinguished agricultural heritage in our region, and I am confident that this industry will continue to play a vital role in our economic future. We must continue to find new and innovative ways to expand this staple of our economy.”

“In the United States today, we enjoy the safest, cheapest, most abundant food supply of anywhere in the world, and we owe that to the hard work of our agricultural producers. The ideas generated today will help ensure we are able to expand this necessary industry as we find ways to create jobs for our region.”

– Rep. Zack Space

Space also sent out a column to area newspapers about his view on illegal immigration. You can find it after the jump. Continue Reading »

Congressman Zack Space has sent a letter to President Bush urging him to include almost $1 billion in his next budget to reimburse local police forces for costs related to the fight against illegal immigration.

“Local law enforcement is bearing an unfair and overwhelming burden due to our illegal immigration problem. We cannot continue to expect them to help stem this tide and fulfill their normal duties without proper financial assistance.”

“The fact remains that we have not properly secured our border – a problem I have been working to solve in Congress.  But, until we can effectively close off the sieve we call a border, we have an obligation to support local law enforcement to combat this crisis.”

– Rep. Zack Space

You can find the text of Space’s letter after the jump.

Continue Reading »

Congressman Zack Space has returned from his trip to the United States -  Mexico border with other members of the House of Representatives.

“Illegal smugglers and Border Patrol agents play a game of cat-and-mouse every day – an occurrence that will only continue to grow until we make this crisis a top priority. Our Border Patrol agents are doing an amazing job with the resources they have, but they are being overwhelmed by the enormity of this crisis.  They simply do not have the tools and support necessary to stem the tide of people wishing to enter our country illegally.

“The U.S.-Mexico border is much more porous than I had imagined.  My experiences there have shown me the need for more fencing, more agents, and more technology.  If we cannot stop the flow of people across our border, we will never be able to secure our country from those who wish to do us harm, take jobs Americans need, or drain our public resources.”

– Rep. Zack Space

It’s interesting to note that after returning from the border Space said that he feels that the 700 mile fence we’re building along the border is necessary.  I’ve never really bought into the saying that good fences make good neighbors, but rather that building a fence was just a way around dealing with a bigger problem.  No matter how big or well guarded a fence is, there will always be ways to get around it.  The Berlin Wall should have taught us that. I’m not saying illegal immigration isn’t a problem, but in the long term I see a fence as nothing more than a stopgap solution. We need to come up with some sort of comprehensive immigration reform plan.

I also can’t help but laugh at the irony of the situation.  Free trade allows companies to leave the United States to take advantage of cheap foreign labor.  That “cheap foreign labor” then comes to the United States seeking better paying jobs.  I’m no expert on the topic but I don’t really see how this can last in the long term.

Rep. Zack Space will be traveling to Texas and Arizona over the weekend to tour the United States - Mexican border.

Space, along with several other members of the House, will be touring several locations such as Tucson, Arizona and El Paso, Texas in an effort to gain a firsthand view of the problems surrounding illegal immigration.

There’s a big news story circulating around anti-immigration blogs- apparently a leftist Hispanic group has taken credit for setting the fires in California. They even link to a CNN story titled “Separatists claim responsibility for California Wildfires” that starts out:

ORANGE COUNTY, California (CNN) — Radical Hispanic separatist organization MEChA (”Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan”) is taking responsibility for setting the wildfires in California, confimed Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

California officials received a letter earlier today containing photographs of individuals holding Molotov cocktails, then throwing them into dry brush. The faces of the individuals appeared to have been digitally distorted.

Also included was a rambling manifesto, stating that the reason for the act of arson was that “Aztlán belongs to indigenous people, the Chicanas and Chicanos of Aztlán. We are sovereign and not subject to a foreign culture.”

Sharp eyed readers, however, will notice that the domain for the story is http://www.cnnheadlienews.com, a misspelling of CNN Headline News. The domain is actually registered to:

Bleachboy Heavy Manufacturing
701 Arbor Creek Way
Nashville, TN 37217-5053
US
(615) 260-4931
bboy@bboy.net

Now I’m no expert, but that doesn’t strike me as Ted Turner company.

Source: Anti-Immigrant Sites Link To Fake CNN Story Claiming Hispanics Started Wildfires - Politics on The Huffington Post