[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 11362]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         COURAGE OF CONVICTION

  (Mr. EDWARDS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. EDWARDS. Mr. Speaker, because of the courage of conviction of 53 
Texas legislators who broke a Texas House quorum on Monday morning, 20 
million Texas citizens will have the right to have their voices heard 
in shaping the future of their hometown communities, to have their 
voices heard in our democracy.
  I salute these 53 profiles in courage. They have unselfishly stood up 
for Texas citizens and open government in our State, members like David 
Farabee, Patrick Rose; from my district in Waco, John Mabry and Jim 
Dunnam; Joe Pickett and Pete Gallego.
  Mr. Speaker, while most Americans were honoring their mothers on 
Sunday, Mother's Day, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. DeLay) and Tom 
Craddick in Austin were plotting and planning a secret map that would 
have destroyed, literally devastated, historic communities of interest 
all across Texas. This slick plan was to pass out of the Texas House at 
10 a.m. on Monday morning after Mother's Day.
  This Mother's Day massacre plan was only stopped because of the 
courage of these 53 legislators who said secret government in shaping 
the future of our State for the next decade was wrong. These Members 
were right. I salute these soldiers of democracy.

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