Sylvester Turner: “as a former member of the Texas Senate and the Texas House, I know the value that the 53 Texas Democrats who are in…”

“as a former member of the Texas Senate and the Texas House, I know the value that the 53 Texas Democrats who are in Ardmore, Oklahoma, today place on the proud tradition of placing principle above partisanship. When the Republican leader of the Texas House agreed to the political handiwork of the majority leader of the U.S. House, he abandoned a tradition that has served Texas well. When Texas House Republicans drew a redistricting map without public hearings, behind closed doors, a map handed to them by Washington, they trampled on a tradition in Texas, and they trampled on bipartisanship, which has always been the hallmark of the Texas Legislature. In Texas, the name Texan has always meant more than Democrat or Republican. The Texas Democrats from my area, Jim McReynolds, Chuck Hopson, Dan Ellis and Joe Deshotel, were denied the right to protect the interests of rural east Texas. They were shut out of the process, and they joined in breaking a quorum, a regular feature of American politics, practiced by none other than Abraham Lincoln as a member of the Illinois Legislature in 1840 when he had to do so when he was under the heavy hand of the majority. All Texans who believe in fair play owe a debt of gratitude to our Texas legislators who have said to Washington today, Do not mess with Texas.”