posted 08-05-2003 07:06 AM            

Republican lawmakers have had a rhetorical field day this year as Democrats, first in the House and then in the Senate, fled to other states in order to stymie GOP redistricting plans.

But the Democrats aren't the only ones to employ the tactic: Ten years ago, it was Republicans who walked out of the Texas Senate chamber to avoid a vote on a racially tinged judicial redistricting resolution.

"They clearly have a double standard," said Democratic Sen. Rodney Ellis, who is one of 11 Senate Democrats who entered their second week Monday holed up in a New Mexico hotel.

In 1993, Democrats were the powerhouse in Texas politics and were set on adopting a resolution as part of a settlement that would have ended at-large elections for state judges in a handful of Texas counties.

posted 08-05-2003 07:10 AM            

>
Published on Wednesday, May 14, 2003 by CommonDreams.org
Homeland Security Department Used to Track Texas Democrats
by Glenn W. Smith

Republicans in Washington and Austin, Texas apparently used a Homeland Security Department agency to track Texas Democratic legislators who left the state to block passage of a GOP-backed Congressional redistricting bill.

This is the same Homeland Security Department that is supposed to be making America safe from foreign terrorists. It's the agency we were told would never be used for domestic political purposes.

But today's edition of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that the Air and Marine Interdiction and Coordination Center, in Riverside, California, became involved in the Republican search for 51 Democratic state representatives who went to Ardmore, Oklahoma to break a quorum of the House and block action on the redistricting bill.

Here's what the Star-Telegram reported: "The agency received a call to locate a specific Piper turboprop aircraft. It was determined that the plane belonged to former House Speaker Pete Laney." Laney is one of the Democrats who is fighting against the redistricting bill.

The newspaper said, "Laney's plane proved to be a key piece of information because, (Republican House Speaker) Craddick said, it's how he determined that the Democrats were in Ardmore. 'We called someone, and they said they were going to track it. I have no idea how they tracked it down,' Craddick said. 'That's how we found them.'"

The Interdiction and Coordination center "falls under the auspices of the Homeland Security Department," the Star-Telegram reported.

Republican Craddick, at the request of U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay, is pushing a redistricting plan that would eliminate five Democrats from the U.S. Congress. Currently, the Texas delegation contains 17 Democrats and 15 Republicans.

While saying they "called someone," Craddick denied making calls to any federal agency, but DeLay confirmed that Republicans sought the assistance of federal law enforcement.

The action by the House Democrats, dubbed the "Heroes of the House" and the "Killer D's" (a reference to a similar quorum-busting action by Texas Senate Democrats in the late 1970s), has gained national attention. Their action has also received a surprising amount of support from Texas newspapers, which have criticized the deeply partisan actions of Texas Republicans.

Republican leaders in Texas and Washington are furious. They have called the Democrats, holed up in a Holiday Inn in Ardmore, "cowards" and "terrorists."

State troopers have followed the Democrats wives, parents and children. Troopers even staked out a hospital where one lawmaker's premature twins are being cared for. Staffers have been harassed. All this has happened after the location of the Democrats was known.

Now, in a chilling revelation, we discover the Homeland Security Department was apparently used to try and track the Democrats' whereabouts.

It was no doubt a ham-fisted, incautious and bungled attempt (like the Watergate burglary) by Republicans to use all the law enforcement they could find to overcome the Democrats' temporary advantage.

But the use of the Homeland Security Department for partisan political purposes should alarm all Americans. It deserves a full, complete and independent investigation.

posted 08-05-2003 07:14 AM            

The Austin Chronicle Columns: Postmarks
" ... www.constitution.org/reform/us/tx/redistrict/cnpr_proposal
... This is a power grab of unprecedented proportions and ... Supreme Court coup (it was Republicans that put ... "
www.austinchronicle.com/issues/dispatch/2003-06-27/cols_postmarks.html

Craig's BookNotes
" ... White House, Hunt Oil and Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR), a ... defiant in denouncing redistricting as a "power grab" engineered by Washington Republicans to boost ... "
booknotes.weblogs.com/

>In mid-May, more than 50 Democrats broke a quorum during a regularly scheduled session of the Legislature. With fewer than 100 members present, the House was unable to consider a congressional redistricting bill designed to increase GOP strength in Washington.
{the GOP-controlled House has already approved a bill that would produce up to six new Republican congressional seats.}<
----(Hitler would be soooo proud!)----