EARLY – Around 40 constituents, local Republican party members and local elected officials turned out Monday morning to hear from U.S. Representative August Pfluger who represents District 11 in West Central Texas, including Brown County.

After opening the Town Hall with a prayer and pledge to the U.S. flag, Representative Pfluger spoke about the release last week of Trevor Reed, a Texan and U.S. Marine Veteran, from a Russian prison after being held for an anguishing 985 days.

“Late Wednesday night, early Thursday morning, I was there to watch Trevor Reed put his foot on American soil for the first time in over 980 days,” Pfluger said to a round of applause.  Pfluger explained that he worked with Democrat Representative Sheila Jackson Lee of Houston to bring Reed’s plight to the attention of the White House.

“While we may have completely different views on 90% of the issues, we had the same view on this issue and that was bring Trevor Reed home, and she helped me,” Pfluger said.

Pfluger said Reed continues to receive much needed medical treatment in San Antonio before being released to return to his hometown of Granbury.

Pfluger is a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the House Committee on Homeland Security, where he serves as the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Intelligence and Counterterrorism. He discussed the ongoing issues along the southern border of the United States.

“The committee was formed right after 911 to make sure we protect our homeland, to make sure we put patriotism over politics,” Pfluger said, noting that it only took 18 or 19 people to plan and carry out the 911 attacks.

“You know how many people have come into this country in the last fiscal year, from October to May 2nd that popped on the terror watch list? Twenty-seven. Twenty seven people. Twenty three in all of last year which was up from the year before. These are people that are being flagged, that we know about. If you’re a terrorist, are you going through a port of entry if you’re trying to get into this country illegally? No way,” Pfluger said.

Pfluger called testimony before Congress last week by U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas the most shameful in a hearing that he has been a part of in Congress.

“He is telling the American public that our border is secure. He testified that our border is secure. He told the American public that he has a six part plan to keep our border safe and that was introduced a day before our hearing. I said Mr. Secretary, the American public is not buying it. I told him that I think he should resign. I told him that personally. I also told him I hope he is successful in securing our country, because his success is our success,” Pfluger said, adding the U.S. is at a critical point in regards to our border.

A third major point in Pfluger’s talk was on the energy industry.

“This assault that is happening on the energy industry, first off, we’re not in an energy transition, we are in an energy expansion. The world is needing more energy every single day and Texas is leading the charge. We are leading the way in every category of energy. I refuse to use this word “transition” because we are expanding. Our needs are expanding and we have a solution. It’s called the Permian Basin and that solution provides affordable, reliable energy, not just here, but it also provides it to our allies,” Pfluger said.

In mid March, Congressman Pfluger introduced the Energy Freedom Act, the House companion to Senator Ted Cruz’s bill, which will restore American energy dominance. The legislation accelerates federal permitting for energy projects and pipelines, mandates new onshore and offshore oil and gas lease sales, approves pending LNG export licenses, and speeds up all forms of American energy development.

Congressman Pfluger then opened the floor to questions. He also had a second Town Hall scheduled on Monday afternoon in Ballinger.