Posted on 09/15/2003 7:15:54 PM PDT by Libloather
Whitmire gives Senate a quorum for third special session
By R.G. RATCLIFFE
Sept. 15, 2003, 8:58PM
AUSTIN - The third special session on redistricting opened at noon with Sen. John Whitmire of Houston giving Republicans something they have lacked since July 28 -- a Senate quorum.
The presence of Whitmire, D-Houston, cleared the path for Republicans to push a redistricting bill through the Senate. Eleven Democrats, including Whitmire, had blocked the bill through two special sessions by breaking the quorum.
Senate Secretary Patsy Spaw called the roll with Whitmire present. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst immediately announced: "A quorum is present."
The Senate atmosphere was highly charged as about 350 supporters of the Democratic boycott filled the gallery. They planned to cheer when the other boycotting senators returned.
The 10 other Democratic senators remained at the Westgate building near the Capitol as the session convened to see if Whitmire actually was going to be present.
They had planned to return to the Senate as a group once Whitmire established the quorum. But at three minutes past 12 p.m. Whitmire moved that the Senate stand adjourned until 10 a.m. Tuesday. The crowd in the gallery burst into boos and jeers of: "Nazis. You're acting like Nazis!"
The other boycotters walked into the empty chamber at 12:07 p.m. The crowd started cheering wildly.
The Democrats remained angry that sanctions adopted by the Republican senators remained in place as the session began. Those sanctions included $57,000 in fines, denial of certain privileges and the removal of their parking spaces.
Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, one of the boycotters, parked her vehicle in her space near the East Wing of the Capitol because she broke her shoulder ice skating.
Later a notice appeared on her car warning that it would be towed: "This vehicle is in violation of a motion duly adopted by the Texas Senate under rule 5.04 on August 15th. If not removed immediately, appropriate measures will be taken."
Meanwhile, League of United Latin American Citizens President Hector Flores and Texas NAACP President Gary Bledsoe announced they will sue to halt the implementation of any redistricting plan adopted by the Legislature.
"I don't think there is any question that what they will proposed will violate the Voting Rights Act," Bledsoe said.
Can the RATS ever overcome these types of allegations? I dunno...
This is a mis-quote: It should have read " violate the Democratic Voting Rights Act.
These liberals are trivializing the Holocaust by comparing the creation of more Republican districts to the mass murder of Jews. Conservatives have got to start defending their honor against these leftist bullies.
This is the kind of "nuanced" thinking that elitist liberals like Mario Cuomo say is the reason the Left can't attract a wider audience on talk radio.
We are. We're following the law, exposing them for the pure, vile haters they are, and winning election after election across the country.
A liberal acquaintance, much enamored of "nuanced" thinking, informed me the other day that I was "too smart" to join the Federalist Society. I guess I'm just stupid, along with Scalia, Thomas, Rehnquist, and over 20,000 attorneys.
Statement of Senator Leticia Van de Putte Yesterday afternoon Republicans in the Texas Senate, without a quorum [whose fault is that!], levied a shameful and illegal poll tax on the Texas 11. In so doing, these white Republicans have levied a poll tax on every minority member of the Texas Senate.
The Republicans demand $57,000 per Senator. Ironically, this is the identical amount that Rick Perry's special sessions on redistricting are costing taxpayers per day. Here's an idea-call off these redistricting sessions, we'll forget about the fines, and we'll call it even.
[On what planet is that "even"?]
This isn't just a poll tax on us [It's not a "poll tax" at all, dearie]. It is a poll tax on our constituents. It is an illegal poll tax on the 1.4 million minority Texans they seek to disenfranchise through their partisan redistricting scheme.
To Lt. Governor Dewhurst, this $57,000 poll tax may not seem like a big deal. [Keep saying it, Letty, you might convince yourself.] But to the millions of Texans whose voices they are trying to silence, this is an insulting slap in the face.
This is a shameful return to the days of the Jim Crow laws designed to prevent the electoral participation of minorities in the South, and every single Republican who voted for it should be deeply ashamed.
We remain defiant and we remain committed to representing our constituents, no matter how hard Governor Perry and Lt. Governor Dewhurst, led by Republican powerbrokers in Washington, try to force us to abandon the 1.4 million minority Texans for whom we are making our stand.
[That must make your white constituents feel so special.]
We once again call on President Bush to repudiate the effort, led in part by his own staff, to disenfranchise millions of minority Texans through this partisan redistricting scheme.
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For More information, Contact: Chuy Gonzalez (956)645-5563
www.txdemocrats.org
This is a shameful return to the days of the Jim Crow laws [drawn up and passed by our Democratic forebears] designed to prevent the electoral participation of minorities in the South, and every single Republican [who were instrumental in the removal of Jim Crow laws throughout the South] who voted for it should be deeply ashamed.
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