Nick Lampson: “I read a poignant article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram this morning. Mr. Sanders compares the legislative body in…”

“I read a poignant article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram this morning. Mr. Sanders compares the legislative body in Texas and its lack of leadership to a runaway freight train that has been hijacked by a self-serving Congressman, Mr. Tom DeLay, who is willing to put his own agenda and the presumed agenda of the national Republican leadership ahead of the people of Texas. He describes the freight train as carrying redistricting, but that it is also carrying other important cargo like school finance and the CHIPS program, and that this train with DeLay and Craddick at the helm is headed for a wreck. Fifty-three House Members saw the wreck coming, did what they thought was best for the State of Texas, and hightailed to Oklahoma to prevent this train from slamming into the Texas House. It is a stand that I see as nothing short of heroic. They have put DeLay and Craddick, and in fact, the Nation, on notice that there are many of us out here who are willing to put it all on the line for what we think is right; that there are many of us who will not be threatened or bullied into an agenda that is bad for Texas. Joe Deshotel, Craig Eiland, and Alan Ritter, as well as their colleagues who have joined them, are risking everything for the people of Texas, not their party.”