[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 72 (Wednesday, May 14, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H4098-H4099]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  HEAVY-HANDED GOP PARTISANSHIP CAUSES SHUT-DOWN IN TEXAS LEGISLATURE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Frost) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. FROST. Mr. Speaker, there is a very important event occurring in 
the State of Oklahoma right now. Fifty-one very brave, patriotic Texans 
are in Ardmore, Oklahoma, and they are there for a reason. They are 
there to protest the heavy-handed actions by Washington political 
leaders in trying to impose a new set of congressional districts on the 
State of Texas.
  Now, redistricting is done every 10 years. It was done 2 years ago in 
Texas. That is not good enough for some people here in Washington. They 
want to require the State of Texas to do it again, even though the plan 
that was implemented 2 years ago was specifically approved by the U.S. 
Supreme Court.
  So these 51 brave Texans have traveled to Ardmore, Oklahoma, to deny 
a quorum to the Texas Legislature. They are prepared to return 
immediately if the Speaker of the State House will simply say, we are 
not going to do redistricting. We did that. It was done 2 years ago. We 
do not need to do it again. They are prepared to come back and vote on 
all of the important pending measures before the State House that are 
important for the State of Texas. They will vote to change procedural 
rules to permit important bills to come up; everything except 
redistricting.
  So the business of the State of Texas can go forward if the Speaker 
will simply say, yes, we do not have to do redistricting again. We are 
not going to be forced to do redistricting by the gentleman from Texas 
(Mr. DeLay) and the people from Washington. It was done 2 years ago; it 
does not need to be done again right now, simply for political reasons.
  I would like to read to the House, Mr. Speaker, a number of 
editorials around the State. Almost every leading newspaper in the 
State, almost every newspaper has sided with these brave, patriotic 
Texans and against the power grab by Washington Republicans. Let me 
start with the Waco Tribune: ``Speaker Craddick has no one to blame but 
himself. He helped write history when he was one of 30 members of the 
Texas House who disappeared during the 1971 legislative session. 
Craddick and his ``Dirty Thirty'' colleagues were protesting the heavy-
handed actions of then House Speaker Gus Mutscher and his cronies who 
were involved in the Sharpstown bribery-conspiracy scandal. What 
Craddick has done is put his friendship with U.S. House Majority Leader 
Tom DeLay over the lessons of history and his own promises to run a 
bipartisan house.''
  The Dallas Morning News: ``House Speaker Tom Craddick can halt the 
work stoppage in Austin. Mr. Craddick should resist pressure from 
Congress to contaminate a generations-old, census-based exercise by 
converting it into an ill-considered, purely partisan power grab. He 
should commit to leave Texas' political boundaries alone, and 
protesting Democrats should promptly return to the hive.''
  The Houston Chronicle: ``. . . if they believe their principles are 
worth fighting for, and they have only one means to fight for them, 
it's difficult to fault them for it. Particularly in a fight that was 
thrust upon them by Washington-driven partisan politics. At the very 
least, Republicans pushing the redistricting effort bear a large share 
of the responsibility for this legislative standstill. We and many 
others have been saying since before the session began that Texas has 
too many important pieces of business to conduct to get bogged down in 
a needlessly partisan and divisive political and legal catfight over 
redistricting.''
  The Austin American-Statesman: ``It's sad that it came to this, but 
the Speaker has been tested and found wanting on a number of issues. 
The one that sent the quorum-busters towards the exits was the grossly 
partisan congressional redistricting bill and how Craddick let it 
advance in the hasty, backroom way that it did. . . . The villain in 
the Democrats' statement is not Craddick, but U.S. House Majority 
Leader Tom DeLay of Sugar Land, an extremely partisan Republican who 
wants more members of his party elected to the U.S. House from Texas. . 
. . Refusing to show up for a legislative session is a desperate 
measure, and the

[[Page H4099]]

fact that more than 50 Democrats, one-third of the house's total 
membership of 150, did so is a sign of just how trampled they feel. 
This isn't a few disgruntled members sulking in their tents.''
  The Corpus Christi Caller Times: ``Instead of seeking conciliation 
and appeasement of opponents, Craddick and Governor Rick Perry have 
chosen to run roughshod over their opposition, all but ending any 
semblance of bipartisanship. The other `heavy' in this drama is Tom 
DeLay, the U.S. House Majority Leader, whose attempt to muscle a 
redistricting bill through the legislature triggered the revolt. 
Doesn't DeLay have more pressing business in Washington?''
  The San Antonio Express News: ``The Gingrichian hubris of the 
Republican-led House prompted Monday's revenge of the `House Flies.' ''
  Now, why are all of the newspapers in the State of Texas siding with 
the 51 who went to Oklahoma rather than siding with the leadership down 
in the legislature? It is because the leadership is wrong; because they 
are abusing their position. They are requiring, they would require 
Texas to redistrict 2 years after it already drew the lines.
  Now, if this were to happen, and I do not believe it will, but if it 
should happen, then what would prevent every State in the country from 
redrawing congressional lines every 2 years? That would be chaos, and 
that was not intended by the Framers of the Constitution nor the 
Members of this body who drafted legislation requiring that 
redistricting be done every 2 years.
  Let us end this chaos. Let us restore order.

                          ____________________