Today I submitted testimony to the Texas House Govermental Oversight Committee relating to the boundary dispute between Texas and New Mexico:
Chairman Vasut and Members of the Committee,
My family came to Texas in 1835 for the promise of liberty, and fought to oust Santa Anna from this sacred soil. Four of my ancestors are on the San Jacinto Monument. Texas is my home, and has been my family's for nearly 200 years.
When Texas joined the United States, we received a loan of $10 million for the land that became parts of future New Mexico, Oklahoma, Colorado, and Wyoming. Today, that loan would be worth approximately $430 million. In other words, we let go of 67 million acres for, more or less, the price of a duplex in downtown Austin.
Somehow, in 2024 alone, the balance of funds between what our citizens sent to the federal government and what we received in federal services was a net negative $2,000 per Texan – $68.1 Billion in total. Ironically, New Mexico receives a net positive of $15,000 per resident from the federal government, or over $33 Billion.
Perhaps it's time for us to ask for some of our land back in exchange for our extraordinary generosity. At the least, if anyone in New Mexico wants to come join our bastion of liberty here in the State of Texas, we must let them do so.
Frankly, it's a more than fair trade.
God Bless,
Jess Fields