LETTER: Heller falling out of line with voters

To the editor:

Sen. Dean Heller has become a disappointment of epic proportions to me and no doubt a large percentage of GOP voters in this once fiercely independent state. I had high hopes for Sen. Heller and the future of the nation when he was first selected by the governor to fill John Ensign’s vacated Senate seat.

Sen. Heller won the seat outright in 2012, and in 2014, the people of Nevada and most of the rest of the country sent a resounding message to Congress that we want President Barack Obama stopped. We want his lawless executive orders nullified, we want his overreaching, corrupt agencies defunded, we want the ethically challenged bureaucrats brought to justice, and we want our elected officials to stand up for the people who depend on them to follow the Constitution.

Sen. Heller’s mandate from the people was to neutralize this rogue administration, which is relegating Congress to irrelevancy. When I read that Sen. Heller was the only Republican senator who voted against the resolution to defund the immigration arm of the Department of Homeland Security — a resolution to stop the president’s unlawful amnesty — my jaw hit the floor (“Heller takes firm stand on Homeland,” Feb. 4 Review-Journal).

Sen. Heller is obviously trying to reach out to the Hispanic-American community with his pandering foolishness, but let me suggest another tack to take: Reach out to Americans of Hispanic descent as you would to any other American whom you are elected to represent. “Hyphenated-Americans” terminology is a ploy invented by Democrats decades ago to divide and conquer. Americans of Hispanic descent are Americans first — they’ve fully assimilated and most want what is in America’s best interests. Sen. Heller should try articulating that when he speaks to naturalized citizens. Legal immigration, yes; illegal immigration, no.

Sen. Heller has four years left in his first full term. Do the job that we elected you to do. If you lose in 2018 to a politician without a conscience, then so be it. But at least you’ll know that you didn’t compromise your principles for your own benefit.

STUART MILLS

GARDNERVILLE