State of Texas: Harris sends a message in Houston, amid criticism from state leaders

HOUSTON (Nexstar) - In the first few days as her party's presumptive nominee for president, Vice President Kamala Harris made a stop in Texas, a state that hasn't sent a Democrat to the White House since 1976.

In Houston Thursday, Harris delivered the keynote address at the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) National Convention — the nation's largest teachers union — and made her pitch to thousands in a key voting block for Democrats.

The vice president received standing ovations and thunderous applause, praising educators and vowing to fight for them if elected as president in November.

"You all do God's work educating our children," Harris said. "It is you who have taken on the most noble of work which is to concern yourself with the well-being of the children of America and I thank you for that."

Earlier this week, the executive council of the AFT unanimously voted to endorse Harris for president — the first union to do so.

The Vice President's Houston visit follows a busy start to her campaign, after giving speeches in Milwaukee on Tuesday and Indianapolis on Wednesday. In all of the stops, Harris has begun to pitch herself to the American public as a candidate who would "move America forward," saying another four years of former President Donald Trump would do the opposite.

"As we work to build a brighter future and to move our nation forward, there are those who are really trying to take us backward," she said. "What kind of country do we want to live in? A country of freedom, compassion and rule of law or a country of chaos, fear and hate?"

More than 3,500 members and leaders of the AFT union -- which represents teachers, school staff, higher education workers, nurses and healthcare professionals and public employees -- gathered in Houston to hear Harris speak, according to a news release from the AFT.

Harris kicked off her speech praising President Joe Biden, who dropped out of the race Sunday after facing mounting pressure from Democrats to step aside.

"Over his entire career, Joe has led with grace and strength and bold vision and deep compassion," she said. "I know we are all deeply, deeply grateful for his continued service to our nation."

Harris listed some of the goals she has if she gets elected.

"We who believe in the freedom to vote will pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act. We who believe in the freedom to live safe from gun violence, will pass an assault weapons ban. We who believe that every American should be free from bigotry and hate, will fight to protect our teachers and our students from discrimination and make sure every student can learn America's history, and we who believe in reproductive freedom, will restore the freedom of a woman to make decisions about her own body and not have her government telling her what to do," Harris told the crowd.

The Vice President's visit to the Lone Star State was not welcomed by some of its Republican leaders. On social media Thursday, Governor Greg Abbott criticized Harris for not making a visit to the border.

"Her continued refusal to confront the deadly consequences of her border failures is disgraceful," Abbott wrote on X.

Earlier in the week, Abbott criticized her role in the administration's response to immigration issues.

"She has been the border czar for the United States, and as it concerns what's going on in the border, our fellow Texans have suffered because of it and are angry about it, as well as our fellow Americans," Abbott said Monday during an interview with KXAN News.

Harris has been responsible for some aspects of the administration's immigration policy, but has never had the official title of " border czar."

Harris has not, as that title may suggest, had broad responsibility for border security. She has been focusing specifically on long-term stability in Central America.

Since 2021, Harris has traveled to common migrant origin points like Guatemala and Honduras to address the "root causes" of migration -- the violence, poverty, and corruption that pushes people north.

"I don't know that the work that she did would have an immediate impact on the border, but I do know that it is a piece of a bigger puzzle when we think about how to manage the border and manage our migration system in a way that takes into account the realities of why people leave their homes," Director of the Bush Institute's Economic Growth Initiative Laura Collins said.

In March, Harris announced her "Central America Forward" initiative has spurred more than $5 billion of private sector investment. Her office said this would create more than 70,000 jobs and provide internet access for more than 4.5 million people.

"Most people don't want to leave home, and when they do it is for one of two reasons: because they are fleeing some harm, or because to stay at home means they cannot satisfy the basic needs of their family," said Harris in El Paso in 2021. "We have the capacity to give people hope and the belief that help is on the way."

Her time spent on this side of the Rio Grande has attracted criticism, however. She has visited the Texas border just once. When Republicans were warning of a major migrant surge in the Rio Grande Valley, she visited El Paso.

"It's not even fair to say that she's a day late and a dollar short. She's nearly a hundred days late and a thousand miles short," Senator John Cornyn said on the Senate floor in 2021.

While Biden and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas hold primary responsibility for the day-to-day security of the border, experts say it may take years to know how effective Harris' efforts have been.

"We cannot control why people leave their homes," Collins said. "It really is important for us to think bigger than just what the United States puts in place in terms of laws and enforcement, and think more about motivations for why people are coming, to better understand how we can manage migration and not just fear it."

'We will do better,' CenterPoint CEO apologizes for widespread power outages after Beryl

On Monday, Texas lawmakers will get their first chance to meet and question the leaders of CenterPoint Energy about what happened in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl. The Senate Special Committee on Hurricane and Tropical Storm Preparedness, Recovery, and Electricity will hold a hearing at the State Capitol.

The storm hit the Texas coast near Houston on July 8, knocking out power to nearly 3 million Texans. Many went for days without service as summer temperatures baked the storm-ravaged area. At least 36 people died, many in homes left without air conditioning amid the summer heat.

CenterPoint Energy has faced scrutiny for its preparation and response to the widespread and prolonged power outages. Both Abbott and Lt. Governor Dan Patrick delivered harsh condemnations of the electric provider, suggesting the company could face executive action, legislative investigations, and financial and regulatory penalties.

On Thursday, CenterPoint leaders spoke at a meeting of the Public Utility Commission of Texas. CenterPoint CEO Jason Wells apologized to customers for the company’s response after Beryl and told state regulators the utility was already working to better prepare for the next storm.

“We will do better. While we cannot erase the frustrations and difficulties so many of our customers endured, I and my entire leadership team will not make excuses. We will improve and act with a sense of urgency,” Wells told commission members.

CenterPoint submitted a plan of action that includes adopting new construction standards and retrofitting equipment to harden its system. The utility plans to hire an emergency response leader to improve preparations. Company leaders also announced plans to launch a new outage tracker by August 1.

In the aftermath of the storm, CenterPoint did not have a reliable outage map. Some residents affected by Beryl resorted to checking the Whataburger app, looking at which of its locations were open to determine if areas nearby had power.

Abbott said he is imposing a July 31 deadline for CenterPoint to provide his office with “specific actions that they will take” to address these areas: removal of vegetation that threatens powerlines, actions to reduce future power outages, prestaging sufficient workers for the remainder of hurricane season, fixing poles before the end of the season, and retaining power for senior living facilities.

Abbott threatened an executive order to impose requirements on CenterPoint if they fail to comply with his request before July 31. He will also direct the PUC to reject the company’s request to recover a profit, promising a heavy financial blow.

“Additionally, if CenterPoint is unable to fix its ongoing problems, at some point in time either the PUC or the State of Texas will have to reconsider the territorial region that CenterPoint is managing, or rather, mismanaging,” Abbott said. “Maybe they have too large of an area in order to manage adequately.”

Texas lawmakers target Chinese land ownership

Texas lawmakers on Wednesday convened to consider legislation to limit "hostile foreign organizations" from owning Texas land and assets, pointing to security threats that national security experts testified could stem from Chinese-affiliated companies operating in Texas.

"The United States is under a pervasive threat from the Chinese Communist Party, from Russia, from Iran, and from North Korea," Brian Cavanaugh with American Global Strategies said. "It's not a conflict where we're targeting military versus military. They've actually taken an asymmetric approach where they're targeting civilian critical infrastructure. It's economic warfare, lawfare, and a fundamental threat to the general population."

Nationwide, foreign entities own about three percent of U.S. farmland -- nearly all of them friendly nations. China owns just 1% of that 3%. However, Chinese entities own more land in Texas than any other state, at about 162,000 acres.

Critics pose that land could present risks of espionage and economic influence. Those concerns have led 24 states to prohibit or limit foreign land ownership.

Last year, Texas Republicans tried to pass a sweeping bill to ban property ownership for all citizens from China, Russia, Iran and North Korea. The bill failed after a groundswell of criticism from Asian Americans.

"That is plainly racist, and our community will not stand for it," State Rep. Gene Wu, D-Houston, said. "If they want to talk about critical infrastructure, it's already been addressed. What they're talking about is homeownership, is business ownership. It's basically saying, 'no Asians, no Chinese are welcome here.'"

Lawmakers alluded to avoiding past missteps in next year's legislative session, narrowing the next bill to target entities rather than individuals.

"Any affiliation with any business that's owned or operated by the Chinese Communist Party, that's a state-owned enterprise and it's going to be doing the business of the Chinese government," Cavanaugh said. "I think they're going to tighten up the parameters on this one, probably have some of this more specific and more zeroed-in, and that will hopefully address a lot of concerns that came up last session."

Biden’s withdrawal echoes LBJ’s exit more than 50 years ago

Before Biden announced he wouldn't seek a second term, you had to go back more than 50 years to find an incumbent president who chose not to run for reelection.

"I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your president," said President Lyndon B. Johnson in a famous televised speech on March 31, 1968.

At the University of Texas at Austin, there are echoes of that other presidential exit, which came as a shock to many.

"Of course, this was the blockbuster that made enormous headlines around the world the next day," said the director of the LBJ Presidential Library and Museum, Mark Lawrence, who is also a presidential historian.

Johnson, a Texas Hill Country native, read from a teleprompter script similar to a copy the library has on display. During a 40-minute speech on Vietnam delivered from the Oval Office, he waited until the very end to announce he would not seek a full second term. Anger over the war and falling approval ratings were major factors in his decision, Lawrence said.

"I think he doubted his ability to win the nomination of his party and, certainly, to win the presidency again without a major fight," said Lawrence.

The museum director sees striking parallels between Biden and Johnson: Both served decades in Congress before becoming vice president and then president. Both served as vice president to "very charismatic younger men" -- Presidents John F. Kennedy and Barack Obama. Both also faced pressure from within their own party to step aside and were ultimately praised for exiting their races.

While LBJ had health concerns stemming from a heart attack in 1955, it was the protests over Vietnam that ultimately led to his decision to drop out, Lawrence said.

"Many voices within the Democratic party...wanted [LBJ] to stand aside in favor of Eugene McCarthy or Bobby Kennedy," said Lawrence. "And, of course, LBJ also had many champions as well."

On display in the library are two opposing buttons reflecting the party's tug-of-war: "DUMP JOHNSON IN '68" and "LBJ PLEASE STAY."

"What's easy to miss is how popular a decision this was," said Lawrence, who noted history has "largely applauded" Johnson for not seeking reelection. "And, I think, what we're seeing in the early hours after Biden's decision is something rather similar."

He said Johnson's departure was "more of a shocker" since "many Americans have seen the withdrawal of Biden coming" for the past few weeks.

Lawrence called Biden's abrupt departure "a really remarkable act of statesmanship."

"It seemed to me that he did the right thing for the nation by recognizing a lot of the doubts that were starting to creep in about his viability as a candidate and the risk the election could be lost to his party simply because of the perception that he was not up to the job," said Lawrence. "And, this is the kind of decision that is all too rare in American political life, on either side of the aisle."

That decision was also praised by Johnson's daughters, Luci Baines Johnson and Lynda Johnson Robb, who called Biden a "patriot without peer."

"Once more you have given all a person can for our country. As the daughters of another president who gave his all for America, we are so proud of you again as we have always been," Johnson's daughters said in a statement. "May you know forever and without equivocation how much we love you and thank you for your selfless service to all who love democracy, social justice and the rule of law.”

At the LBJ Library, there is another echo from the past: The original 1964 Civil Rights Act is on loan, and on display, behind glass. The landmark law outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin. It was signed by Johnson three months before Harris was born.

"It's really striking," said Lawrence. "Sixty years ago this summer, Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which demolished the old Jim Crow system in the United States and created vast new opportunities for African Americans and other people of color. And, here we are in 2024, with a Democratic nominee who is African American, who is South Asian, a really remarkable testament to where we've come as a society on matters of race."

"I think that that bill 60 years ago was a major part of how we explain how we got to where we are today," he added.

On Tuesday, the White House announced Biden will visit the LBJ Presidential Library on July 29 to commemorate the anniversary of the Civil Rights Act.

The Austin visit, originally planned for last week, was postponed following the attempted assassination of Trump.