[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 12]
[House]
[Pages 16231-16232]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


        REGARDING REDISTRICTING HEARING IN HOUSTON THIS SATURDAY

  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, I rise this evening to call attention to the 
House to a racist piece of literature currently being circulated by the 
Harris County Republican Party to its e-mail subscribers. There is 
going to be a redistricting hearing in Harris County, Houston, on 
Saturday and so the Harris County Republican Party is right now e-
mailing this information to all its regular subscribers. It says:
  ``She will be there to express her views. Will you be there to 
express yours?''

[[Page 16232]]

  Who is ``she''? She is the gentlewoman who is here with us right now, 
Sheila Jackson-Lee. There is a very nice colored picture of Sheila, 
whom everyone can see is African American. Sheila is one of four 
Democratic Congress Members from Harris County. The other three are 
white. One African American, three whites. Of course, the gentlewoman 
appears in this e-mail and there is no picture of Gene Green, who is 
white, there is no picture of Chris Bell, who is white, and there is no 
picture of Nick Lampson, who is white, there is only a picture of the 
one African-American Member.
  And so what does it say? ``She will be there to express her views. 
Will you be there to express yours? Reminder: Redistricting Hearing in 
Houston this Saturday.'' Then it gives the time and the place and the 
details. I would ask the gentlewoman from Houston, what does she think 
about this e-mail posted by the Harris County Republican Party on their 
Web site?
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. FROST. I yield to the gentlewoman from Texas.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Obviously I think it is important that we 
all establish the fact that redistricting is a political process. That, 
in fact, our lines have been drawn by a duly organized and sanctioned 
Federal court, that we are in lines that have been reapproved by the 
voters of our respective districts and that this has not been done in 
the last 50 years, the redrawing of district lines. I am delighted to 
be one of four colleagues in the Harris County area, but I am offended 
by the fact that my picture is used to provoke members of the 
Republican Party to attend a hearing that happens to be in my 
congressional district. It is true that my district by the Republican 
plan offered by the Republicans of Washington will be a plan that 
literally destroys the 18th Congressional District, cuts it in half, 
takes out the heart of that district, the very birthplace of the 
Honorable Barbara Jordan and Mickey Leland, will be taken out of the 
18th District. In fact, one of my good constituents says that the 18th 
does not need a bypass nor does it need heart surgery.
  And so I do not mind in an open hearing anyone coming. It is an open 
hearing. But I am certainly concerned. What is the message of my face 
being utilized over my colleagues' faces? What is the intent of even 
putting up a picture? They might say, ``Sheila Jackson-Lee, Gene Green, 
Chris Bell and Nick Lampson will be present. Will you be there?'' That 
is a fair enough statement. That is a political statement. ``The 
Democrats will be there. Will you be there?'' But, no, in subtlety, not 
even the dignity of the name. I should sound a little bit modest. I 
would imagine there would be a lot of people who would not know who 
this is, but they know it is a black face. So maybe they are suggesting 
that a black person will be there to offer their views. Would you not 
want to run to the hearing so that you can offer yours?
  I think this is a sad commentary. I believe and I hope that as I look 
at the Web page of Democrats and others who are working to get their 
constituents to this hearing that we will not stoop to this level. I 
want to simply say to my constituents in the 18th Congressional 
District in Texas, come out and have your voices heard. Come out and 
speak your views. You may agree or disagree with me. But I realize that 
those who want to be empowered will agree that this plan that they are 
putting forward does not help the people of the 18th Congressional 
District or the minorities who are represented in that district or the 
people that are represented in that district.
  By the way, as the gentleman well knows, I represent a very diverse 
district and proudly so. People from all walks of life. But shame on 
the Harris County Republican Party. Shame on them for stooping to this 
level. Frankly, I am going to be reaching out and I am going to ask my 
constituents to call the Harris County Republican Party and ask them, 
do they not have a better way of communicating to the people a 
reasonable expression of soliciting their coming to this particular 
meeting.
  Mr. FROST. I thank the gentlewoman for her eloquent statement. I 
would only observe that this type of racist appeal is something that we 
saw in our State 20 or 30 years ago. I thought we had moved beyond 
that. I am ashamed for the State of Texas and I am particularly ashamed 
for the Harris County Republican Party that they would stoop to racism 
in the year 2003.

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