Posted on 07/03/2003 8:12:29 AM PDT by Theodore R.
King on redistricting 'Republicans not setting dangerous precedent'
BY TRICIA CORTEZ Times staff writer
AUSTIN - Phil King, a key Republican legislator in the congressional redistricting battle, recently responded to questions that have plagued Democrat legislators and statewide opponents of redistricting.
Standing in the basement of the Capitol on Monday afternoon, King replied to frequently asked questions about the controversial Republican-led plan that could send five to eight more Republicans to Washington.
King, a Republican state representative from Weatherford (located just west of Dallas), is a member of the House Redistricting Committee.
He stated that he has worked around the clock on a new map with the input of Jim Ellis, a key Washington staffer for Congressman Tom DeLay (R-Sugar Land).
Last May, King carried the congressional redistricting bill that resulted in the committee's passage of the "midnight map." This, in turn, caused 55 House Democrats to take advantage of a parliamentary rule and break quorum for a week by crossing state lines into Oklahoma. They were able to kill the map and other pieces of legislation.
On Tuesday, King presented a revised map that has caused a stir among Democratic legislators as well as minority, urban and rural Texans.
During the brief interview Monday, King argued that Republicans are not setting a dangerous precedent in taking up the highly partisan and highly divisive act of congressional redistricting during an off year.
Congressional redistricting traditionally occurs once every 10 years, after the decennial census. As such, redistricting opponents argue that Austin will have to tackle redistricting after every change of hand.
"That is a really frivolous argument," King replied. "Historically, majorities change very, very slowly."
It took 130 years for Texas to go from a Democratic majority to a Republican majority, King explained.
He then stated that the new Republican map would not dilute minority voting districts.
"No, in fact, we can't dilute minority voting districts - (the map) would not be approved by the DOJ (U.S. Department of Justice). It would be a waste of time," King said. "Right now, we're trying to respond to the (field) hearings."
He was referring to the six hearings held by three subcommittees of the Redistricting Committee last week in Brownsville, San Antonio, Lubbock, Houston, Nacogdoches and Dallas.
As for the hundreds of redistricting opponents that attended the hearings, King said that could be attributed to two reasons.
"For one, the outcry was very orchestrated by special interest groups. Some of these people were bussed in. Secondly, you have Anglo Democrats (congressmen) who are concerned that they will lose their job, so they are generating a lot of turmoil," King said.
"But in the end, this is the right thing to do for Texas - to reflect our voting power," he said.
The 32-member congressional delegation is split 17 Democrats, 15 Republicans.
King then dismissed the testimony and conclusions of Rice University Professor John Alford, who was the lead expert witness for Gov. Rick Perry and former Texas Attorney General John Cornyn two years ago.
In a 2001 trial over the current redistricting map, Alford reported that 20 of the 32 congressional districts in Texas are already Republican dominant, contrary to Republican claims.
"The fact that Republican congressional candidates have been only able to win 15 congressional races is a product of the campaigns the Republican candidates have run, the performance of Democratic officeholders, and is not based on any political unfairness of the map," Alford stated.
King stated that Alford's report did not "compare apples with apples," but he did not give further explanation.
King then responded to concerns that the new Republican-led map gets rid of five to six senior ranking Democratic congressmen, possibly hurting Texas politically and legislatively.
"I disagree. Texas would gain a bunch. We have a Republican president; our two (U.S.) Senators are Republican. By doing this, we will have either the largest, or one of the largest, Republican delegations to the U.S. House (of Representatives) that would be in a much better position to serve Texas," King said.
He stated that it has been difficult redrawing the map to not "hurt" areas like Travis County (Austin), which could be split into four.
"We are also dealing with concerns with the Dallas-Fort Worth area and are adjusting to concerns with the Fort Hood area," he said.
(Staff writer Tricia Cortez can be reached at 728-2568 or tricia@lmtonline.com.)
07/03/03
(The source URL will not come up in my box for some reason any more.)
Oh, hurt us, please.
Anything to get rid of that lump of doggie-do Doggett whom these Austin liberals keep electing.
And of course the media will handle it in the exact same manner. LOL!
But that would be another lie.
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