Rubén Hinojosa: “once again I rise today to salute the 53 Texas State House representatives who have taken a courageous stand to preserve…”

“once again I rise today to salute the 53 Texas State House representatives who have taken a courageous stand to preserve justice and democracy in Texas. As those courageous representatives said in a written statement, "We are taking a stand for fair play for all Texans. We refuse to participate in an inherently unfair process that slams the door of opportunity in the face of Texas voters." Tom DeLay's arguments for redistricting Texas all over again cannot hide the real partisan power grab at work here or the unfair process he has engineered that short-circuits the ability of Texas voters to express their views. First, DeLay argued that the U.S. Constitution requires the State legislature to replace the court-ordered district lines with its own redistricting plan in time for the 2004 election. But the Texas State attorney general concluded that the legislature has no constitutional or legal obligation to redraw congressional districts. He decided that DeLay was flat wrong in his argument that the current district lines are only temporary and that the legislature has a mandated responsibility to redraw them in time for the next election. But still DeLay presses on. Next he claimed that redistricting is necessary to increase the number of minority districts in Texas. That, too, is flat wrong. In fact, his plan to redraw congressional districts would dilute minority voting strength statewide.…”