Capitol Annex’s Robert Rauschenberg Challenge

Somehow, last week, I missed that Robert Rauschenberg had passed away.

This, of course,  got us to wondering if the Texas House (the same one that, in 1934, declared the writings of Lord Byron to be unfit for students at the University of Texas) has ever honored Rauschenberg with a proclamation as they do national championship football teams, war heroes, school teachers, and other worthy Texans.

Based on our searching of the Texas Legislature Online website, we couldn’t manage to find one that had been authored since 1995. Perhaps it got lost in the shuffle last year when State Rep. Norma Chavez (D-El Paso) had honorary resolutions honoring all 58,208 precinct chairs in El Paso County on the last day of the 80th Texas Legislature. We suspect there may have been one done when Mr. Rauschenberg was roasted by the Port Arthur Chamber of Commerce some years back.

Since we know we have so many readers in the Capitol, we thought we’d issue a special challenge to our Capitol Annex readers who enjoy spending their days in the Texas State Archives and Legislative Reference Library (and, let’s face it, isn’t that everybody’s idea of how to spend a great afternoon in Austin?):  If you can find and email us a .pdf of a resolution passed by the House or Senate (or both) honoring Robert Rauschenberg, for an entire week, we’ll donate ad space on Capitol Annex (between the posts and in the blog’s masthead) to the charity of your choice (if you happen to be a Republican, please be advised that the Tom DeLay Legal Defense Fund does not count). The deadline is Friday, May 23 at midnight, and the first entry mailed to pressroom@capitolannex.com will be declared the winner.

If there happens not to have ever been such a resolution passed, we’ll up the ante: if some enterprising state legislator decides to author one (since this can be done in the “off-season” so to speak), Capitol Annex will give the first legislator to do so guest blogging privileges for a week to promote the charity of their choice (again, the Tom DeLay Legal Defense Fund doesn’t count).

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