thedrifter
02-03-06, 08:26 AM
Posted on Thu, Feb. 02, 2006
State lawmaker called up for Marine duty in Iraq
T.A. BADGER
Associated Press
SAN ANTONIO - State Rep. Frank Corte Jr., a Marine Corps Reserve colonel, said Thursday he will deploy to Iraq for seven months starting in mid-February, turning his House seat over to his wife for a special session likely to be called this spring.
Corte, 46, said he will also run for an eighth term in the Legislature while serving until September as operations officer for the Marines' 3rd Civil Affairs Group in Iraq's dangerous Anbar province, west of Baghdad.
He was activated last month and has been training at Camp Pendleton, Calif., and in Qatar to prepare for deployment. Thursday's announcement came while he was on a short leave to visit his family in San Antonio.
"As a Marine, this is what I signed up to do," Corte, R-San Antonio, said, sporting the Corps' standard high-and-tight haircut. "And as an individual, the possibility to contribute so vitally to this effort in Iraq makes me passionate about this call. I will serve this role with great vigor and steadfastness."
He will be the second state legislator deployed to a Middle East war zone in the past two years.
Rep. Rick Noriega, D-Houston, returned in August after a year in Afghanistan with the Texas National Guard. While Noriega was gone, his wife Melissa filled his legislative seat. She performed well enough in Austin to be named "Freshman of the Year" by the Texas House Democratic Caucus.
Corte also said Thursday it was likely that state Rep. Carl Isett, R-Lubbock, the only other reservist in the House, would receive orders to deploy soon. Isett is a lieutenant commander in the Navy Reserve.
Robin Blanchard, Isett's chief of staff, wouldn't confirm an imminent deployment, saying "It's just too early to comment or know anything. We just don't know what's going to happen."
Corte said he chose his wife Valerie to replace him because he trusts her most to represent him in an anticipated 30-day special session to try to create a new tax system for public schools that would shift some of the burden away from property owners.
The state Supreme Court ruled last year that the current school finance system is unconstitutional and gave the state a June 1 deadline to fix it.
"Valerie understands the issues that will be discussed in the special session, and I have complete confidence in her ability to step into my place," Corte said.
A state constitutional amendment approved in 2003 allows lawmakers who are called to active military duty to designate their replacement until they return or their term expires.
Valerie Corte said she's qualified for the seat because she shares her husband's values and commitment to the northern Bexar County district he has represented since 1993.
And so far as any challenge the temporary job might present, "It's nothing more than another military wife stepping up the plate and getting the job done," she said.
Corte said his aides and others would oversee his re-election campaign for District 122 and that he would check in as he could from Iraq via the Internet and telephone. He faces no primary opposition within his party, but Democrat Larry Stallings has signed up to run against him in November.
Gov. Rick Perry, who visited Iraq last month with three other governors, appeared with the Corte.
Perry wouldn't say when he might call a special session, but he praised Corte in advance for his willingness to serve in Iraq.
"It is an historic opportunity for one of San Antonio's own to be intimately involved in the further creation of freedom and democracy in a part of the world that until recently had not tasted it," Perry said.
Corte said the 3rd Civil Affairs Group's mission will be to act as an intermediary between Iraqi civilian leaders and U.S. commanders as that nation works to develop policies on economic development, property rights and other governmental issues.
Associated Press writer April Castro in Austin contributed to this story.
Ellie
State lawmaker called up for Marine duty in Iraq
T.A. BADGER
Associated Press
SAN ANTONIO - State Rep. Frank Corte Jr., a Marine Corps Reserve colonel, said Thursday he will deploy to Iraq for seven months starting in mid-February, turning his House seat over to his wife for a special session likely to be called this spring.
Corte, 46, said he will also run for an eighth term in the Legislature while serving until September as operations officer for the Marines' 3rd Civil Affairs Group in Iraq's dangerous Anbar province, west of Baghdad.
He was activated last month and has been training at Camp Pendleton, Calif., and in Qatar to prepare for deployment. Thursday's announcement came while he was on a short leave to visit his family in San Antonio.
"As a Marine, this is what I signed up to do," Corte, R-San Antonio, said, sporting the Corps' standard high-and-tight haircut. "And as an individual, the possibility to contribute so vitally to this effort in Iraq makes me passionate about this call. I will serve this role with great vigor and steadfastness."
He will be the second state legislator deployed to a Middle East war zone in the past two years.
Rep. Rick Noriega, D-Houston, returned in August after a year in Afghanistan with the Texas National Guard. While Noriega was gone, his wife Melissa filled his legislative seat. She performed well enough in Austin to be named "Freshman of the Year" by the Texas House Democratic Caucus.
Corte also said Thursday it was likely that state Rep. Carl Isett, R-Lubbock, the only other reservist in the House, would receive orders to deploy soon. Isett is a lieutenant commander in the Navy Reserve.
Robin Blanchard, Isett's chief of staff, wouldn't confirm an imminent deployment, saying "It's just too early to comment or know anything. We just don't know what's going to happen."
Corte said he chose his wife Valerie to replace him because he trusts her most to represent him in an anticipated 30-day special session to try to create a new tax system for public schools that would shift some of the burden away from property owners.
The state Supreme Court ruled last year that the current school finance system is unconstitutional and gave the state a June 1 deadline to fix it.
"Valerie understands the issues that will be discussed in the special session, and I have complete confidence in her ability to step into my place," Corte said.
A state constitutional amendment approved in 2003 allows lawmakers who are called to active military duty to designate their replacement until they return or their term expires.
Valerie Corte said she's qualified for the seat because she shares her husband's values and commitment to the northern Bexar County district he has represented since 1993.
And so far as any challenge the temporary job might present, "It's nothing more than another military wife stepping up the plate and getting the job done," she said.
Corte said his aides and others would oversee his re-election campaign for District 122 and that he would check in as he could from Iraq via the Internet and telephone. He faces no primary opposition within his party, but Democrat Larry Stallings has signed up to run against him in November.
Gov. Rick Perry, who visited Iraq last month with three other governors, appeared with the Corte.
Perry wouldn't say when he might call a special session, but he praised Corte in advance for his willingness to serve in Iraq.
"It is an historic opportunity for one of San Antonio's own to be intimately involved in the further creation of freedom and democracy in a part of the world that until recently had not tasted it," Perry said.
Corte said the 3rd Civil Affairs Group's mission will be to act as an intermediary between Iraqi civilian leaders and U.S. commanders as that nation works to develop policies on economic development, property rights and other governmental issues.
Associated Press writer April Castro in Austin contributed to this story.
Ellie