House Sub-Committee Hearings In Plano
Vince Leibowitz | Aug 01, 2006 | Comments 0
A hearing on immigration in the tony, conservative Dallas suburb of Plano seems somewhat out of place. At any rate, KERA has some interesting coverage and the DMN has more.
Of course, Sam Johnson (R-Plano), made himself the star of the show, pointing out how more moderate proposals to deal with illegal immigration are unacceptable to him and others on the far-right.
KERA had interesting comments from State Rep. Roberto Alonzo who observed the hearing:
Democratic State Representative Roberto Alonzo, who observed the hearing, called it a sham, saying House and Senate members have already debated the issues.
State Representative Roberto Alonzo: The only reason they’re doing the hearings is to create anti immigrant sentiment right before the elections.
The hearing also got a bit unruly, and Johnson was forced to quiet some of his allies in the audience:
Bill Beardall, executive director of the Austin-based Equal Justice Center, testified that documented and undocumented workers have employment rights and protections.
That brought an outburst of “No, no, no” from the audience.
Even before the hearing began, the audience was quick to respond.
That prompted Mr. Johnson – who is up for re-election and whose Democratic opponent, Dan Dodd, was in the audience – to tell the gathering: “Any emotion such as clapping is not allowed in the House. I am going to allow it here.”
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Filed Under: 2006 Texas Elections • Texas Congressional Delegation
