Maxwell Frost: “Mr. Speaker, I just want to be clear, what the amendment is all about that I sought to offer, but which the Republicans…”

“Mr. Speaker, I just want to be clear, what the amendment is all about that I sought to offer, but which the Republicans ruled out of order in the Committee on Rules last night. We had this situation in Texas involving a dispute, a partisan political dispute, over the attempt by Republicans in our legislature to redraw congressional district lines a second time in the decade. They had been drawn, of course, 2 years ago by a Federal Court after the legislature refused to act. What happened was that a powerful Member on the other side of the aisle, one who is often seen on this floor, contacted the Justice Department and inquired, would it be all right, would it be appropriate, for the Justice Department to dispatch U.S. Marshals and to dispatch the FBI to track down Members of the Texas legislature who had broken a quorum? Now, when a powerful Member of this institution makes an inquiry like that to the Justice Department, it is a suggestion, a very strong suggestion, that the Justice Department should get after it and should use the assets and the resources of the Justice Department.”