Texas Democrats Flee Their Jobs on Beer-Fueled Party Plane to D.C.

Yesterday on the floor, I discussed Texas Democrat lawmakers fleeing from their Constitutional responsibilities in Austin during the recent special session to come to Washington, D.C. Excerpts of my remarks are below, and video can be found here.

All eyes are now on Washington D.C.’s newest asylum seekers, the members of the Texas House of Representatives. Rather than do their jobs in Texas, yesterday House Democrats abandoned both our state and the millions of Texans that they represent. They got on two chartered jets, mask-less with at least one case of lite beer and hopped on the jets to come to Washington, D.C.

They will eventually go home after the cameras leave and after the press loses interest in this political stunt. It's telling that these Democrats and this House of Representatives chose to race toward TV cameras in Washington rather than present their arguments in the Legislature.

As Texans, standing up to a fight is part of who we are even if you know in the end you may not prevail. But, instead, they turned their backs, hopped on a private jet, and ran from this fight. We should be making it easier to vote and tougher to cheat, plain and simple.

The Democrat House members, by fleeing town and by coming to Washington in this political stunt, are abdicating their responsibility to deal with these other issues as well. It's not just about election law reform. It's about these other issues like bail reform and family violence prevention. They expect us to show up for our jobs and not take part in a highly orchestrated and ethically dubious act of political theater.