Congresswoman Beth Van Duyne also discusses her plan to strip federal funding from “sanctuary cities.”
DALLAS — Congresswoman Beth Van Duyne, R-CD 24, says the world hasn’t seen Iran this vulnerable in decades.
And since the United States and our allies in the Middle East do not want to see a nuclear-armed Iran, the Republican says now is the time to act.
“If we’ve got an opportunity to take that out, we absolutely should,” the lawmaker told us on Inside Texas Politics. “And I think that the Iranian people, the very people, want to have peace. I think it’s the government, it’s the regime that the Iranian people would be more than happy to get rid of. And if that would cause peace in the region, then I think we need to take advantage of the situation.”
This interview was conducted before President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. took military action in Iran early Sunday.
There is no doubt the situation is causing division within the Republican party, with the mere fact President Trump was considering joining Israel’s assault on Iran opening a rift between those who favor Trump’s campaign promise of keeping America out of foreign wars, and war hawks who want the U.S. to go all in to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
Congresswoman Van Duyne suggested the party is on the same page in terms of the end result, but acknowledged the difference in strategy in terms of how to get there.
The Republican also discussed legislation she just filed, known as “The Recouping Funds from Sanctuary Cities Act of 2025.”
It would punish a sanctuary city that restricts or limits information sharing on status, or if they ignore Department of Homeland Security (DHS) detainers for people in the country illegally, by taking back unobligated federal funds. And it would apply retroactively to five years prior, so some cities could stand to lose hundreds of millions of dollars.
The legislation does allow for a brief grace period for municipalities to change sanctuary city policies before any federal funding is yanked.
“If you can’t do your job, and you can’t protect your citizens, you can’t follow the law, you can’t enforce the law, then put your money where your mouth is. If this is so important to you that you’re not going to change your behavior, fine, then we’re going to claw back your federal monies,” argued the Republican.
Van Duyne is also excited about her annual job fair, which has grown significantly over the years.
This year’s event will be held from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. on Aug. 7 at Globe Life Field. And it will feature many companies looking to hire, from American Airlines and AT&T to SMU and Toyota.
“We had over 500 businesses last year that participated. And we had between 25,000 and 30,000 people that came out,” the lawmaker told us proudly. “A lot of those jobs last year, a lot of those jobs were paying over $100,000. So, we’ve got government sector jobs, we’ve got law enforcement, we’ve got tech, we’ve got healthcare, we’ve got aviation. You name it, it’s going to be there.”
For more information on the job fair, head to: www.myntxjobs.com