Hola. Good morning guys. What a beautiful day in the neighborhood. It’s cold and clear out there this morning but hey we are only a few days from the solstice (my most favorite event of the year) so this is what we expect yah. Okay but on task. Here I am trying to pull off my very first diary to focus your attention for a few moments on Congresswoman Torres-Small. Or Xochitl as we like to say, affectionately.
The basics: Xochitl is an old word, fairly common girl’s name here. It’s a word for flower in Nahuatl -- or Aztec -- used in southern Mexico and pronounced so-chat-l. Torres Small is a water attorney, based in Los Cruces where she grew up. She’s young, the age of my middle daughters and I love that. I am ready for the younger generation, the Title IX generation to lead. BA from Georgetown, JD at University of New Mexico School of Law. Xochitl worked as a field representative for U.S. Senator Tom Udall from 2009 to 2012. She was a federal law clerk in the New Mexico District, 2015-16. And as I stated, worked as a water attorney with the Kemp Smith law firm, Austin, El Paso and Las Cruces. And trust me on this. There is not much more important in New Mexico than water.
Stefan Pearce had long been our Congressperson here in NM-2. In fact always since I been here (ten years) except for one term he was out running for the Senate. And his replacement then was a Democrat placeholder, if you wanta call him a Democrat. I actually always been amazed we had Pearce, who legislated like he was a Mad Dog Republican from the Texas oil patch. I used to call him the gentleman from Hobbes, Texas. (cause he claims Hobbes, New Mexico, as his home) And this the most “Mexican” of the three districts in New Mexico.
So Xochitl had her work cut out for her. And she pulled it off too! You might remember Torres-Small was the last Democrat seated. She barely won in a race that turned very vicious. You can check out what she’s done in office here, at ProPublica. You can see she works hard, rarely missing a vote and serves on some important committees like Immigration and Public Lands. She will (or could) have a major hand in writing any immigration reform, desparately needed. And Public Lands is incredibly important here in southern New Mexico where as we speak there is an incredible fight going on over the headwaters of the Gila River, the most endangered river in the country. And there is actually an easy solution if Congress would only declare the Gila wild and scenic.
So you could see this might be a challenging task for anyone, representing NM2, after all the years of Pearce. This no “Fighting Fourteenth.” (yet) and we could lose this seat and go back into the darkness without a lot of work. Already the dark money is pouring into the state, trying to link Xochitl with Pelosi, etc… and urging we write and call her to vote against impeachment. But just yesterday, Torres-Small announced she she believes “impeachment is the necessary response.” Ours is a district Trump won in ‘16 so you can imagine the pressure.
So I simply come before you today begging that you support and fund Xochitl, for the kids, for the future, for you and me, Congresswoman Xochitl Torres Small. Give her a call, send a dime or two. Gracias for your time and be kind!