IAPAC Hosts Lt. Gov. Dewhurst for a Friendly Discussion

By Jawahar Malhotra

SUGAR LAND: It was mid February when 13 members of the Indo-American Political Action Committee made a road trip to the State Legislature in Austin to make a case for recognizing the presence of the large number of Indian Americans in Texas (see IAN, Feb. 22, 2013). It was the first such effort by the IAPAC and they promised to host the Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst at a meeting with the community in the Houston area.

IAPAC delivered on the meeting this past Saturday, April 13 at the Madras Pavilion where about 40 people sat in front of a podium to hear Dewhurst speak about the state of affairs in Texas. He was preceded by Indian Consul General P. Harish who was, as always, eloquent and brief in his welcoming remarks expressing pride for the contributions of the Indo-American community in the US, before leaving for another event.

IAPAC President Sujeeth Draksharam emceed the 2-hour event and Sugar Land Councilman Himesh Gandhi introduced Dewhurst with a short biographical background. The proceedings were wrapped up by Karan Sreerama, who spoke of his admiration of the work Dewhurst has done, followed by a presentation of a glass-etched plaque to him.

“I work for you. I serve you.” opened up Dewhurst, “And I’m very proud of the Indian population here. I’m also very aware that, in this country, we’re all from someplace else.” He then listed the reasons why Texas was rated the number 1 or 2 state in the Union to live and do business in.

“Texas has 8 per cent of the US population but has created more jobs than the rest of the US. This is because we are a “can do” state,” emphasized Dewhurst, as he went on to enumerate other supporting statistics.

Dewhurst maintained that Texas would slip from its lofty ranks if it didn’t work hard to “protect our freedoms, tighten our spending, make the state irresistible to come to and create jobs and get government out of your way.”

The tall, handsome and poised Dewhurst is not a native Houstonian, but lives here with his wife and daughter and has a business on the northside. “Most of my life till I was 50 years old, I was sitting where you are,” he said about his career in politics. “That’s why I am always thinking what would you need.” Dewhurst has been the Lt. Governor since 2003 and as President of the Senate has the power to decide which bills come up for discussion and vote.

Dewhurst fielded some questions about the State’s lack of funding the 503 projects that have been identified for ensuring adequate water for its growing population, school testing, inadequate Medicaid reimbursements to physicians, repealing the Franchise Tax and the project funding process of the Texas Dept. of Transportation. While he acknowledged the State’s lack of dealing with the drought conditions, he contended that $2 to $3 billion could be available for funding water projects in this legislative cycle.