[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.
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