Letters to the editor: Border help, Bernie Fisher, cancer detection, ethics committee, insurrection

Border help

As a native Texan, I am compelled to observe that the deployment of law enforcement officers from your state just doesn’t pass the smell test.

I highly doubt a couple of dozen troopers stationed in the Lone Star State for a couple of weeks is going to have any impact on migration patterns.

But, this offer of assistance to help manage the “crisis” at the border raises an interesting question: Why no help till now? Trump announced his candidacy by bemoaning the “rapists, criminals, etc.” coming across the border and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has never missed an opportunity to raise this issue.

So, why didn’t we see Idaho (and Nebraska, Iowa, and now Florida) offer help then? Maybe because doing so with a republican president in office might make him look bad? But, now with Joe Biden as president, well, now we can send help! Maybe another reason could be because then the governors of these states understood it was the responsibility of the federal govt. to handle border security?

This offer of help is just a political stunt — pure and simple.

Joe Pastusek, Pflugerville, Texas

Cancer detection

As an American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network advocate, I’m excited about new technology to improve cancer early detection and save lives.

Several companies are developing new blood tests to detect multiple cancers early. Published data show some of these new tests can screen for more than 50 cancers at once, including rare cancers.

These tests could be life changing, but only if people can access them. That’s where Congressman Mike Simpson can help.

Congress is considering legislation so Medicare can cover this technology once it’s FDA-approved. It would ensure Medicare recipients don’t face unacceptable delays in accessing these new tests once they’re FDA approved. Medicare already covers early detection tests for common cancers including breast, colorectal and prostate cancers, and people on Medicare must have access to new screening options.

Detecting cancer early could be the difference between life or death. I’m grateful that Sen. Mike Crapo has championed these efforts by being one of the bill’s lead bipartisan co-sponsors in the Senate. I urge Rep. Simpson to follow Sen. Crapo’s leadership and help save lives in Idaho.

Anita Sloan, Boise

Bernie Fisher

The Statesman reported that the new elementary school in Barber Valley was to be named for Dallas Harris due to the family’s donation of the land. I believe the naming of a school should be based upon an individual’s ties to Idaho as well as contributions which exemplifies going above and beyond to represent the citizens and military veterans of Boise and our great state.

Such a person is the late Col. Bernard Fisher, the first Air Force pilot to receive the Medal of Honor in the Vietnam War. This in addition to the Silver Star, The Distinguished Flying Cross and many more citations after risking his life to save a downed pilot in the war. After returning to Boise, he joined the Idaho Air National Guard serving the citizens of this great state. It’s time that Boise breaks its pattern of naming schools after political figures and business people and for once name a school after someone who has served his country so heroically. The Harris family already has a park named in their honor so honoring Col. Fisher would also honor all Idahoans who served in our nation’s military.

Paul Fortin, Boise

Ethics committee

Is the House ethics committee a sanhedrin?

Internal discipline is necessary in organizations, but to what purpose is the House Ethics committee: self-exalted virtuosity, or reprimanding a representative for breaking his/her oath of office? As an Idahoan, I can’t control self-exalted virtuosity, legislatures or governors, but I can vote for who I think will best protect my liberties found in the oath of office as represented in the Bill of Rights and Idaho’s Declaratory Rights.

On this subject, I wish I could attend the ethics committee meeting Aug. 2 and ask each member this impromptu question, “Can you name the five liberties in the First Amendment without looking?” I wonder how many would identify all five? Would Rep. Giddings, the subject of the hearing, know them? As a member of the Air Force defending liberties, I believe she would. She could also describe the liberty of “due process” and where it is found. If members of the ethics committee can’t name five liberties of the First amendment, how can they uphold these liberties (and others) they promised to support for Idahoans? If true, are they worthy to judge another, and is sanhedrin a more appropriate name for this committee?\u0009

Scott Perrin, Cottonwood

Insurrection

As a freshly minted college graduate, I was thrilled to land a job with the late U.S. Senator Frank Church at his Washington, D.C., office. One of my duties was to give tours of the U.S. Capitol to constituents from Idaho. That was, of course, more than a few years ago; but I don’t believe tourists have changed all that much over time.

Those ridiculous, shameless, lying members of Congress who refer to the Jan. 6 insurrection as a “typical tourist” day are as bad, maybe worse, than the violent members of the mob that stormed the citadel of our democratic republic.

Betty Richardson, Boise