[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 72 (Wednesday, May 14, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H4102-H4103]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           TEXAS LEGISLATURE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Edwards) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. EDWARDS. Mr. Speaker, in the last 2 days, many Americans have 
been intrigued by the story of 51 Texas legislators breaking a quorum 
in the Texas legislature by traveling to Ardmore, Oklahoma. Many may 
wonder why those legislators, whom I consider profiles in courage, 
would take such an extraordinarily drastic step. People such as 
Representative Pete Laney, who several years ago, when President Bush 
first learned that he would be the President-elect to the United 
States, was the Speaker of the Texas House, the Democrat that then 
President-elect Bush asked to introduce him to the Nation. He was a 
bipartisan Speaker, a great Speaker of the House. Mr. Laney, along with 
50 others, are in Ardmore, Oklahoma.
  I think the issue, to a large degree, revolves around the principle 
of congressional redistricting. For those that do not understand that 
process, once every decade, after a census is taken, each State must go 
back through its legislature and redraw congressional district lines so 
we have equal populations in districts across the country. In 2001, the 
Texas legislature failed to do so. So as is the case, the Federal 
courts step in and draw those districts.
  Let me mention the facts. Fact number one: prior to this year, no 
legislature in the last 50 years in America has redistricted more than 
once in a decade unless ordered to do so by the Federal courts.
  Fact number two: the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the Texas 
congressional districts, drawn just 2 years ago, are, in fact, 
constitutional. The fact is those districts are fair. The Republican 
ticket in Texas in this last election carried 20 of those 32 
congressional districts. No one can argue that is not being fair to 
Texas Republicans.
  Fact number three: Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, a Republican, 
recently gave a report to the legislature saying it is not legally 
necessary to do congressional redistricting for the second time in 2 
years because the law simply does not require it.
  Fact number four: Why are we even dealing with this push for 
congressional redistricting for the second time in 2 years in Texas? 
Well, our majority leader in the United States House, the gentleman 
from Texas (Mr. DeLay), said it very succinctly. He said, ``I am 
majority leader and I want more seats.'' Forget the fact that the U.S. 
Supreme Court said the present seats are constitutional. Forget the 
fact that no legislature in 50 years has redistricted twice without a 
court order to

[[Page H4103]]

do so. Forget the fact that 20 out of 32 districts of our congressional 
districts were carried by the Republican ticket. Mr. DeLay said, ``I am 
majority leader. I want more seats.''
  Fact number five: the Speaker of the Texas House, now Mr. Tom 
Craddick, has violated the fundamental right, in my opinion, of Texas 
Republicans, Democrats, independents, and all of our citizens to have 
an effective voice in determining the future of their communities, 
their congressional districts.
  Why do I say that? Well, to begin with, the only sham hearings that 
they had basically began at 9 p.m. one night, on a Friday night a 
couple of weeks ago, went through the night, until 6:30 a.m. the next 
morning. The fact was that during that time at the Texas capital many 
of the doors were shut. So in the dark of night, behind locked doors in 
the Texas capital, we had the hearing to give the people of Texas a 
voice on what their map should be. And the fact is the maps the 
Republican leadership laid out at that time in Austin were not even the 
maps that were seriously being considered to pass through the Texas 
legislature into law just a few weeks later.
  That brings us up to Mother's Day. Last Sunday, when most Texas 
families, myself included, were honoring our mothers and spending time 
with our families, that was not the agenda of Mr. DeLay, Mr. Craddick 
and their forces. They had a different agenda on Mother's Day. They 
were finishing the final touches of a map that no one in Texas had 
seen: no mayors, no city council members, no State legislators, perhaps 
with an exception of one or two Republicans, and no business leaders. 
No one had seen this map.
  That map showed up for the first time on Mother's Day afternoon, this 
past Sunday, on the Texas legislative Web site. And guess what Mr. 
DeLay and Mr. Craddick's plan was? It was a slick one, I give them 
credit for that. It was to force that map through the Texas House of 
Representatives starting at 10 a.m. the next morning, this past Monday 
morning, the day after Mother's Day.
  Thank goodness for those 51 legislators who stood up and stopped the 
Texas Mother's Day massacre plan. They stood up for the voice of all 
Texans, and I salute them.

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