On January 8, 2024, I will join 143 other citizens from around Louisiana and be sworn in as a member of the Louisiana Legislature.   I’ll be one of 105 House members alongside 39 Senators who will comprise  the State’s bi-cameral legislature.   I will raise my right hand, with my wife Carolyn at my side holding my mother’s Bible, and take the Oath of Office of a State Legislator.

This will be the 8^th time in my life I have taken an oath of office.   I took six oaths of office in the United States Air Force—once upon enlistment after high school, and once for each rank earned, retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel.   I took my first Oath of Office as a legislator 4 years ago, also with my wife at my side, and also with my hand on Gloria’s Leach Owen’s Bible.        Over the course of my military career, I administered dozens of oaths to other service members who were enlisting, re-enlisting, being commissioned or advancing in rank.

In each of these instances, the sobering words of the Oath rang loudly and poignantly in my psyche.   In taking an Oath, I am committing to perform duties to the best of my ability with all the commitment I can muster.   I am affirming I will do my duty.

Yes, I take this job very seriously.   I take my duties seriously.  I always have.

During a 35 year affiliation with the Department of Defense, I held a security clearance.  I held a number of security clearances, in fact.   Some involved great levels of scrutiny, background checks, and things like polygraphs before the clearances would be granted and entrusted.  I safeguarded our nation’s secrets for 35 years, both as a matter of duty but also as a matter of following the laws of the United States of America.   I took on these responsibilities willingly, without mental reservation or purpose of evasion, as the oath so describes.    It was ingrained in me to be on watch for things that might jeopardize the security of the United States of America.

I studied our nation’s known and potential enemies for the entirety of my professional life.   I was trained to be on the lookout for real and potential adversaries and things that might give our nation’s enemies the slightest advantage.     To this day, my eyes are wide open, and my internal antennae are up, and on the watch.

As a legislator, my duties are myriad.  I’m committed to safeguarding the State of Louisiana through obeying the laws of our State and Republic.  I ask a lot of questions to government entities in our state and I expect the government to do its job, to serve and protect the citizenry of our state.   I said all that to say this:  I see things right now that concern me.   I’ve been asking questions about them for some time and I’ve made some inquiries with government organizations and entities for the past 4 years.  I’ve asked for things to be studied and have asked for answers to things that truly give me pause.

A recent inquiry into the university systems in the State of Louisiana revealed things that concern me greatly.    We have citizens from other countries—-places some call enemies—who are on faculty at our universities.    In a couple of universities, there are a majority of citizens from these enemy or threat nations in senior positions in particular departments in those universities.  Let me say that again:   In more than one location, we have a majority of faculty members from threat nations in particular departments on our campuses.   In Louisiana.   Yes, right here in Louisianna in public universities.

Academia is supposed to be a place where ideas are exchanged, where scholarship takes place and where learning occurs.  In the ideal world, the university experience is supposed to be where young people are educated, and where they form their own ideas and create pathways of their own, based on the education they receive.   The freedom we have in our institutions is noteworthy and should be safeguarded.  What I have found out, however, is that in some universities, faculty members from places where no freedom exists and where freedom of speech and thought are non-existent have been hired.     We seem to have done it in fairly large numbers.   The review is ongoing and it is concerning to me.

On a parallel line pathway to these facts is the simultaneous fact that a number of our institutions, we have research activities, agreements and consortiums with a variety of government entities in the United States.   The existence of those activities and agreements in proximity to large numbers or ANY numbers of faculty members from competitor or threat nations is a concern to me.  I’d imagine it would be a concern to many citizens.

Most people in the United States and in Louisiana know our enemies on the international stage.  Some refuse to admit enemies exist and some blame us for having enemies.   Whatever.   But, in truth, there’s a chance everyone reading this knows who our competitors are on the world scene.   It’s my firm belief that we need to be safeguarding our state from the threats imposed by our nation’s enemies.   I’m giving our universities and their leadership the benefit of the doubt at this point, hoping that things are as they should be, but I am concerned – and I am asking questions.

My inquiry into these and other surreptitious intersections will continue.   There could be nothing to this at all, but we as a state need to know what is going on at our universities.   They are, after all, OUR universities.    It is the tax dollars of Louisianans which fund OUR universities, and WE, the citizens of this state have the right to decide what goes on in these locations.  I am paying attention.  I am encouraging my colleagues in the House and Senate to pay attention.  I am passing along my concerns to the incoming Governor’s office and to the offices of other statewide leaders.

And there are plenty of other things about the security of our state and our nation that have me concerned.  Things like the massive influx of foreign invaders on our southern border, the fentanyl crisis, the over-burdening of our National Guard in overseas contingencies, the commandeering of our law enforcement entities by a federal leviathan, and the purchasing of our farmland and property near military installations by bad actor nations have my hackles up.   They really do.    I’m paying careful attention.

A raised right hand and an oath taken mean a lot to me.  I will be carrying out my duties on these and many other fronts in the coming years.  I am asking questions.

P.S.  Yes, I have MANY other things to do.   Our economy is a mess.  Our business environment is a mess.  Our roads need serious attention.  Our students and teachers deserve better.    I’ll be doing those things, too.    My “part time” job as a legislator has plenty of tasks at hand.

 

Charles “Chuck” Owen

State Representative, District 30

Beauregard and Vernon Parishes