[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 9]
[House]
[Pages 11448-11449]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          TEXAS REDISTRICTING

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Stenholm) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. STENHOLM. Mr. Speaker, I want to add my voice of explanation to 
what is happening in Texas and Oklahoma this week. It seems to be high 
drama. We Texans pride ourselves on a good old-fashioned, blood-racing, 
heart-pumping showdown at the OK Corral. It is no wonder the Nation's 
media has joined the audience for the show. But if anybody thinks this 
week's actions are nothing more than a real-life alternative to the 
afternoon TV soaps, they need to look a little closer and understand 
just what principles are motivating both sides in this showdown.
  From the Republican side, it is the principle that says to the winner 
go the spoils. I am willing to go with this idea to a point, as my 
colleague the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Barton) mentioned a moment ago. 
We Democrats certainly enjoyed our spoils for decades when Texas was 
already a one-party State. It just happened the one party was Democrats 
rather than Republicans. Acting within the rules and dedicated to the 
best outcome for its citizens, the majority party would be foolish not 
to maximize its power to accomplish its goals.
  The key phrase of what I just said was ``acting within the rules and 
dedicated to the best outcome for its citizens.'' That is where I 
believe the Republicans' principle has become unprincipled.
  For the past 2 days, reporters have been asking me if I think it is 
the right thing for Texas legislators to go on the lam in Oklahoma 
rather than doing their jobs in Austin. Of course I think that would 
have been preferable, and so do they. But when legislators do not have 
a prayer of doing their jobs not because they do not want to, but 
because the rules have been abused and rigged against them, I do not 
see what alternative those legislators have but to bring as much 
sunlight as possible into the rigged process.
  Do not forget the context in which this is taking place in Texas, a 
$10 billion plus shortfall. I know the State House must be hearing from 
schoolteachers, health care providers, social workers, and dozens of 
other worried citizen groups, because I am hearing from them. A normal 
taxpayer would think with problems like we have in Texas, you would not 
have needed to pick another fight. But rather than grapple with those 
major problems affecting millions of Texans, our State legislators got 
harassed and harangued so long by Washington that they finally gave in.

                              {time}  1815

  Mr. DeLay finally convinced them to buy the kind of partisan poison, 
single-minded, rule-rigged brand of leadership that he has perfected 
here in Washington in this House of Representatives.
  I understand the frustration of the 53 in Oklahoma, and I understand 
how it feels to be prevented from having their voices heard; to have 
their ideas kept out of the arena, for they would not prevail as we 
Blue Dogs have time and time again. I understand hearings hastily 
called at inconvenient times, witness lists unnecessarily shortened. I 
understand the frustration. Mr. DeLay knew how to advise the Texas 
legislature because he is practicing effectively the same tactics right 
here in this body.
  I will admit that so far in Washington my wife has not yet been 
trailed by Federal officers or my daughter followed to the hospital as 
she gives birth to my grandchild. I find this extreme use or abuse of 
power particularly distressing. Mr. DeLay is quoted as saying, ``I have 
never turned tail and run.'' But neither have the Democrats in Ardmore, 
Mr. Speaker. When their hands have been tied, their mouths have been 
gagged and their eyes blindfolded, they had to be creative in finding a 
new way to fight under the rules. They are standing and fighting for 
what they believe in a far more courageous way than are required by 
rigging the rules of the game. They are playing by the rules.
  History has shown that ``might makes right'' is a philosophy which 
might work in the short term, but ultimately is brought to its knees 
for one simple reason. In a democracy the people eventually will rise 
up and have their way. That is the bottom line here. It is not whether 
Charlie Stenholm is a Congressman from west Texas. It is not really 
which party is going to win this high-stakes battle. It is about how 
the people are being represented, and I am hearing from the people all 
over Texas saying this is not right to do it as they are doing it. I 
realize Tom DeLay does not care a whit about how the people in rural 
west Texas are represented, but I do. I have become very passionate 
about not losing the rural focus of west Texas districts and under his 
plan, west Texas will lose one representative.
  Mr. DeLay is quick to express his belief that I am irrelevant. The 
rural constituents of the 17th district feel a little differently. In 
fact, all of my Texas colleagues whom we have heard from today, as we 
look at the plans, rural Texas is being shorted by this plan.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the 53 in Ardmore for the courage they have 
shown

[[Page 11449]]

for standing up for what they believe. Pete Laney, David Farabee, I 
appreciate what they have done. Texas will be a better State because of 
the actions that they have taken on behalf of the people of Texas; and 
hopefully all of the legislature, both sides of the aisle, will come to 
their senses and will stop letting Washington determine how the Texas 
legislature should be run. Texans can take care of Texas.

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