Tag Archives: 2nd district

Rep. Jake LaTurner speaks-out following tour of southern border

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Part 1: Southern Border

Part 2: Afghanistan Withdrawal

WASHINGTON – Kansas 2nd District Rep. Jake LaTurner joined Michael Hayslip on the KOAM Morning News to discuss his recent trip to the U.S.-Mexico Border and the planned withdrawal of troops in Afghanistan. The first-term Republican congressman visited parts of the southern border in McAllen and El Paso, Texas.

“It is absolutely a crisis,” said Rep. LaTurner. “I interacted with young unaccompanied children that had just gone through weeks of travel with drug smugglers. The drug cartels get paid every time there’s a border crossing illegally. They control the Mexican side of the border so well, that you have to pay them to get across. And so children are going through a terrible, harrowing journey.”

Rep. LaTurner called on the President Joe Biden to resume construction of the border wall and appropriate more funds for border patrol.

“They need more manpower, they need more equipment. They are being asked to do jobs that they were never trained to do. They are being asked to be social workers right now in many instances. They are detaining these unaccompanied children and meanwhile we have the drug cartels slipping fentanyl and methamphetamines across the southern border,” said Rep. LaTurner.

The congressman was also asked about President Biden’s announcement to withdraw all troop from Afghanistan by September 11.

“We have been in Afghanistan for almost 20 years now,” said Rep. LaTurner. “It is something the American are hungry to end, and you’ve seen a bipartisan effort to do it. The Trump administration negotiated an earlier date. I wish the Biden administration could have stuck with that, and I’m hoping that they’ll keep their word. It’s time to bring our troops home. We can not be the policemen for the world. As you’ve see on our southern border, we have issues we need to deal with right here and right now.”

Ex-Kansas Rep. Watkins enters diversion over voter fraud

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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) – Former Congressman Steve Watkins of Kansas has entered a diversion program to avoid trial over allegations that he voted illegally in a 2019 municipal election.

Watkins, a Republican from Topeka who served only one term in the U.S. House, was facing three felony charges. He was accused of listing a postal box at a UPS store as his home on a state registration form when he was living temporarily at his parents’ home. He was also charged with lying to a detective who investigated the case.

The Shawnee County district attorney filed the charges just weeks before the August 2020 primary, and Watkins lost to now-Rep. Jake LaTurner.

“I regret the error in my voter registration paperwork that led to these charges. I fully cooperated from the beginning and had no intent to deceive any one, at any time. I am glad to resolve the ordeal,” Watkins said in a statement Tuesday.

Watkins acknowledged he lied to the detective when he said he did not vote in the Topeka City Council election, The Kansas City Star reported.

Under the diversion agreement entered into Monday, Watkins’ prosecution will be deferred for six months. If he meets the terms of the agreement, the case will be dropped by September.