Dear Friends,Since my last letter to you, a lot has happened in this race for US Senate.
Last Saturday I attended the Valencia County GOP Convention and was surprised to hear my opponent say that England had chosen to live in a ‘moral vacuum’ and that as a result, England exports more jihadist terrorists than any country in the Middle East.
Great Britain and the United States have had an unwavering special relationship since World War II. To claim that Britain ?exports’ more terrorists than the long list of countries that actively support and fund terrorism is incorrect. Senators — and people who want to be Senators — should not say things like this about our closest ally in the fight against terrorism.
There have been several news articles – both in New Mexico and in Washington DC ? about Mr. Pearce’s comments and you can read them by going here , here , and here .
While reporters found plenty of non-partisan experts who have refuted Mr. Pearce’s claims about England, including a Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Georgia, a UK expert at the Heritage Foundation, and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, he has not backed up his claims and has refused to admit that he’s wrong.
People make mistakes. We’re human. But when someone makes a mistake this obvious, is corrected by several leading experts and still refuses to admit the error, it starts to raise questions about judgement as well as knowledge.
This primary race is about electing a common-sense conservative who can win in November.
Tom Udall and the National Democrats are going to throw millions of dollars into New Mexico to try and wrest Pete Domenici’s senate seat out of the Republican column. In fact, the Democrats are already following my opponent and me around the state, taping everything we say and storing it for future use.
Campaigns are not like they used to be. Everything we say and do can be recorded and posted on the internet within hours.
Take a look at this video on YouTube.
Mr. Pearce and I are friends, but we both agree that there are clear policy differences between us. He has acknowledged this as well, telling the Truth or Consequences Herald on January 30 that, “We’ve made our decision to run on the issues. We’ll tell how Wilson voted, but I don’t get into the personal stuff. People want to hear the difference in votes. We’ll talk about the issues, we’ll run a clean race.”
Experience on national security and a real understanding of the terrorist threat we face is important when choosing a U.S. Senator.
Here’s an update from Washington DC…
This week, Democrats in the House brought another multi-million dollar tax hike bill to the floor for a vote. I opposed it. The Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act of 2008, a bill that will increase taxes on the oil and gas industry by $17.5 billion, will negatively affect New Mexicans and make us more dependent on foreign oil.
I also tried a procedural motion this week to try to compel Democrat leadership to bring the Senate-passed FISA bill up for a vote in the House of Representatives. The Senate bill will reestablish the procedures we set up in August to listen to foreigners in foreign countries without a warrant to gather intelligence. We are now operating under outdated procedures that are hindering our ability to listen to tips that come in today. We need to pass this FISA bill immediately and I will continue to use every tool I have to get it done.
Thank you for all your help and support,
Heather
Atlanta: 
Citizen Governor 