Profile in Courage: Rep. Henry Cuellar

Usually, it is pretty easy (and lazy) to figure out which policy proposals a politician will support or not support. All that needs to be done is to look at the little letter next to their name and that will tell you a lot about their voting record and the kind of rhetoric they will use. This is not so with Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas). On everything from spending increases to energy taxes/exploration issues to workers’ rights, Rep. Cuellar has demonstrated he is more interested in knowing what he is voting for than making friends on his side of the aisle. The man has all the markings of a maverick, even though that status doesn’t exactly lead to popularity in the nation’s capital. And for fighting the tough battles even when it isn’t politically expedient to do so, Rep. Cuellar is a Profile in Courage. 

Rep. Cuellar learned from an early age that success requires hard work and dedication. The Congressman was one of eight children born to migrant farmer parents in a culture where “sweat equity” is the only way to get ahead. His parents were immigrants who had little and knew no English, but were able to provide for their family by traveling thousands of miles from Texas to Idaho to find ranching and gardening work. Watching his parents work hard, the future public servant realized early on the importance of education to climbing the ranks of American society. Rep. Cuellar enrolled in Laredo Community College and after a few years of stellar grades made his way to prestigious Georgetown University. Cuellar became an educator shortly after graduating, teaching International Commercial Law to students at Laredo State University (close to where he grew up). 

It was then that the future lawmaker chose to fully dedicate his life to public service. Rep. Cuellar rapidly rose the ranks from Texas State Representative to Texas Secretary of State to U.S. Congressman. His ascent into the public arena was far from smooth. The 2004 election that propelled Cuellar into the House of Representatives was particularly nasty, with plenty of name-calling and allegations of political opportunism. Ultimately, Cuellar won the confidence of voters with a bold governing vision and eked out a 58-vote victory in the Democratic primary for Texas’ 28^th district. A less-than-competitive general election ensured that Cuellar would soon be headed to Washington, D.C.

Ever since arriving in the nation’s capital more than 15 years ago, Rep. Cuellar has rejected the bitter partisanship that unfortunately came to dominate political discourse. And unlike most lawmakers, he actually wants to see what is in a spending bill before voting on it. When asked by Politico about the ongoing debate over infrastructure spending, Cuellar noted, “Some of the folks from my party are saying, ‘Oh, but we got to add all those things.’ I want to know what we’re looking at there before I can commit.” Maybe if more lawmakers had that mentality, the national debt wouldn’t be $28 trillion and counting. 

A pivotal part of keeping the national debt at bay is encouraging economic growth and efficient tax collection. Lawmakers have often proven downright hostile to pro-growth policies and have championed measures making it difficult to produce energy. Rep. Cuellar hasn’t hesitated in pushing back against these harmful proposals, urging Congressional leadership to lower energy taxes and reduce barriers to oil and gas exploration. 

Rep. Cuellar has also opted to buck party lines by opposing the PRO Act. Under this disastrous piece of legislation, a contractor would be considered an employee unless the service they are performing is “outside the usual course of the business of the employer.” But as the Authors Guild explains, “a journalist writing for a newspaper, magazine, blog, etc. is generally performing a service that is core to the ‘usual course of business of the employer.’” As a result, countless freelancers would be reclassified as employees and become too costly for newspapers and media companies to continue to work with. According to the American Action Forum, the PRO Act would add billions of dollars in annual compliance costs on employers and harm millions of small businesses.

Cuellar has bravely endeavored to explain why the PRO Act would harm workers and threaten thousands of jobs. To quote the Congressman: “This bill would destroy small businesses and thousands of Texas jobs in our communities who are struggling to stay alive during this pandemic.” That is certainly an unpopular opinion for a Democrat. But, Rep. Cuellar knows a thing or two about workers’ rights and isn’t afraid to tell it like it is. 

For being a rare voice of sanity in an insane political environment, Rep. Cuellar is a Profile in Courage. 

Ross Marchand is a Senior Fellow at the Taxpayers Protection Alliance.