Brett Cross, the father of Uvalde victim Uziyah Garcia, will attend the State of the…
Dozens of Texans are heading to Washington this week to attend President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address on Tuesday — including Brett Cross, who lost his 10-year-old son Uziyah Garcia in the Uvalde school shooting last year.
Cross has been an outspoken critic of Texas’ Republican leaders in the aftermath of the May 24 shooting, which claimed the lives of 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School. He has advocated heavily for gun safety measures and police accountability both in Texas and Washington over the past seven months.
U.S. Rep. Greg Casar, an Austin Democrat, invited him personally — and “it means a lot,” Cross said.
“It means that there are still people out there that haven’t forgotten about Uvalde, that haven’t forgotten about our kids,” he said. “A lot of people have tried to just sweep it under the rug, (say) it happened and move on. But for us — for the families that have lost children and for the survivors — we’re not going to let them just forget about it.”
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While in D.C., Cross plans to meet up with other family members who have lost children to gun violence. U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost, a Florida Democrat, is bringing Manuel Oliver, whose 17-year-old son Joaquin was killed in the 2018 Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland.
“It’s always good to get to reunite, because we’re the only ones that know what this feels like,” Cross said. “These representatives — they don’t know what it feels like, and I’m glad they don’t. But that doesn’t mean that just because it didn’t happen to you that you shouldn’t do anything about it.”
Republicans, both in Texas state government and in Congress, have resisted any legislation that would roll back firearm access. U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, faced criticism from members of his own party last summer after he spearheaded a bipartisan bill that bolstered background checks, increased scrutiny of young buyers and closed the so-called “boyfriend loophole” that allowed people with a history of dating violence to sometimes purchase firearms.
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“No child, no parent, no community should have to go through what Texans suffered in Uvalde,” said Casar, a progressive Democrat whose district stretches from San Antonio to Austin. “I’m joining with Brett to honor his son, Uziyah Garcia – and to call for ending assault weapon sales, passing red flag laws and universal background checks, and ending permitless carry.”
State lawmakers passed the permitless carry bill in 2021, allowing most Texans age 21 and up to carry a handgun in public without a license. Gov. Greg Abbott called that bill “the strongest Second Amendment legislation in Texas history.”
Since the Uvalde shooting,Republicans have focused primarily on bolstering mental health resources and fortifying school buildings. They say firearm restrictions are unconstitutional and would unfairly impact law-abiding gun owners who use those weapons to hunt or protect their families.
This is not the first time a Texan who lost a child in a mass shooting will attend the State of the Union. Rhonda Hart, whose 14-year-old daughter Kimberly Vaughan was killed in the Santa Fe massacre, was a guest of Rep. Lizzie Fletcher, D-Houston, in 2019.
Other Texans attending the speech include Olivia Julianna, a 20-year-old progressive activist and the director of politics and government affairs for the advocacy group Gen Z for Change. She is a guest of U.S. Rep. Nanette Barragán, a California Democrat and the chairwoman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
Barragán said she invited Julianna because she is a “strong Latina leader who represents the next generation.”
“A lot of young people and a lot of Texans can lose hope at times about the state of our state and make you feel like there’s not a lot of people there who are pushing and moving towards progress,” Julianna said. “My goal is to constantly remind people that Texas is worth fighting for, and there are a lot of people just like me in that state who really do love and care about all the people there and want to do right by all of my fellow Texans.”
Other Texas Congress members plan to bring a wide array of guests, from local officials and political staffers to family members and law enforcement officials.
A sampling: Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio, will bring his chief of staff, Cesar Prieto; Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, picked his wife, Libby; Rep. John Carter, R-Round Rock, invited Burnet County Sheriff Calvin Boyd; and Rep. Colin Allred, D-Dallas, will be accompanied by Richland Elementary School Principal Pharah Hogan.
Like Barragán and Casar, some have invited individuals whose presence can be seen as a political statement.
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, will bring Levi Beaird, a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy. Beaird, of Fort Worth, was threatened with a discharge from the Navy after he decided not to get the COVID-19 vaccine, even though he filed a Religious Accommodation Request.
Though the involuntary discharge was blocked through a lawsuit, Cruz said Beaird has still faced serious consequences for refusing the shots. The lieutenant was denied a position that he was otherwise qualified for and had to return $75,000 of bonuses he previously received, Cruz’s office said.
Cruz has spoken out repeatedly against COVID-19 vaccine requirements for members of the military and has filed legislation that would repeal the mandate.
Republican U.S. Rep. Chip Roy of Austin will bring Scott Smith, a Virginia father who was the focal point of a political firestorm in 2021 over gender-inclusive bathrooms in public schools. Smith’s daughter had been sexually assaulted by a male student in the girl’s bathroom in a Loudoun County high school in May, and her parents said the attacker was “gender fluid.”
The accusation prompted backlash against a county policy allowing transgender students to use bathrooms aligning with their gender identity, though the policy was enacted after the assault. Local authorities did not comment on the student’s gender identityat the time, and it did not come up in juvenile court when the student was tried for sexual assault.
A judge found sufficient evidence to sustain the charges in October, The Washington Post reported. Smith’s daughter testified that she had previously had two consensual sexual encounters with the youth in the girls’ bathroom, but in May, the student forced her to the ground and assaulted her.
Jeremy Blackman and Benjamin Wermund contributed reporting.
cayla.harris@express-news.net