An Interview With Congressman Charles Gonzalez On The Voting Rights Act
May 25, 2006 by Vince Leibowitz · Leave a Comment
When the Voting Rights Act was still on track to be re-authorized by Memorial Day, I asked Congressman Charles “Charlie” Gonzalez (D-San Antonio), who represents Texas’ 20th Congressional District, if he’d take part in a Q&A Interview on the VRA, in particular because I thought it would be interesting to hear from a Hispanic member of Congress from Texas on this issue.
Rep. Gonzalez was only too happy to participate and below is the Q&A I did with him via email (with scheduling help from the Michael Kans on the Congressman’s staff).
This may look a bit lengthy, but it’s more my long-winded questions. Rep. Gonzalez’s answers are very interesting, especially for younger blog readers who may not understand the Latino voting experience in South Texas. I learned some things in doing this from Rep. Gonzalez including about White v. Regester, a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that struck down old “single member” districts in the Texas House.
I truly hope you all enjoy this interview. Because it is long, it jumps, so click on the “more” link.
CAPITOL ANNEX: Rep. Gonzalez, thank you for taking the time to do a Q&A for Capitol Annex. I wanted to discuss with you the Reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act, which is an issue that is on a lot of peoples’ minds right now. In the press release of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Civil Rights Task Force, which you Chair, sent out last week, you are quoted as saying: “The protections granted by the VRA have been recognized, valued and renewed by leaders from both parties for decades. I look forward to continuing the bi-partisan commitment to civil rights that has driven the renewal of the VRA over the last four decades.” This week, Republicans on the Judiciary Committee failed to strip some of the language from the VRA that requires or facilitates the printing of bilingual ballots. What are your thoughts on this issue and the attempt by some to strip this out of the Act?
CONGRESSMAN GONZALEZ: It was disappointing to see elements of the far right try to undermine a bill that enjoys broad bi-partisan support. When was the last time you saw Speaker Hastert, House Minority Leader Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Frist and Senate Minority Leader Reid coming together to introduce a piece of legislation? I fully expect that the coalition that crafted this legislation will carry the day and the VRA will be strengthened and safeguarded for another 25 years.
Protests Make It To East Texas
April 1, 2006 by Vince Leibowitz · 1 Comment
Between 150 and 500 students from Tyler’s John Tyler High School walked out of school Friday morning in protest of immigration reform.
Accordking to KETK-TV Tyler, the students marched to the Smith County Courthouse in downtown Tyler, several miles from the campus.
In Friday morning’s editions of the Tyler Morning Telegraph, school administrators were actually quoted as saying the walkout would not happen, in spite of flyers being distributed around the campus in Spanish.Typical of the conservative Morning Telegraph, they tried to make the students look like losers before they even walked out:
After hearing talk of a possible walkout Thursday, the principal offered on the school intercom an alternative for administrators and teachers to assist students in writing letters to express their views about the immigration issue to legislators representing the Tyler area in Washington, Ms. Erickson said. No students wrote letters, she said.
Hell, no, lady! They aren’t going to write a letter. What good will that do? It isn’t 1975 where letters and telegrams to Congress remain the manner in which Congressmen know what their constituants are thinking. For one thing, after the Anthrax scare a couple of years ago, letter writing isn’t even the preferred option of communicating with anyone in D.C.
John Tyler is one of two public high schools in Tyler Independent School District. The other is Robert E. Lee High School in South Tyler. John Tyler, however, has the higher minority population.
Students who participated in the JT walkout face an unexcused absense and parent notification. Word of the protest was spread through flyers.
The theme of this morning’s march was summed up with marchers collective cry–”We are not criminals!”, the station noted.
[Note: If you are a student from John Tyler High School who walked out in protest Friday, I'd like to hear from you and perhaps do an interview. Please email me at Vince_Leibowitz@cox.net.]
Net Neutrality
March 29, 2006 by Vince Leibowitz · Leave a Comment
I never did get around to posting on this issue as I intended yesterday, and a computer crash lost the draft of a nice post I had prepared on it. So, I refer you to Sean-Paul Kelley over at The Agonist, who has a great post on Net Neutrality.
This is an issue that is important to all of us on the web, so I urge you to contact your elected representatives on this topic.
Caspar Weinberger Is Dead…
March 28, 2006 by Vince Leibowitz · Leave a Comment
For some reason, this reminds me of my childhood:
Caspar Weinberger, the Secretary of Defense to President Ronald Reagan who played key roles in the so-called Star Wars program and the Iran-Contra affair has died. He was 88.
Overshadowed: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s US Visit
March 22, 2006 by Vince Leibowitz · Leave a Comment
Most of you regular readers know that I rarely write about issues not directly related to Texas or Texans on this blog, but today, I do want to give a bit of bandwith to an important story that I feel has received poor media coverage—especially in Texas.
President Bush’s disasterous press conference yesterday overshadowed another D.C. event which was quite interesting if not important: Liberia’s new President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf met with President Bush and gave a very interesting talk and took numerous questions at the U.S. Institute for Peace (video here, no news links I can find).
War Not Worth It…
March 17, 2006 by Vince Leibowitz · 1 Comment
Sometimes, USA Today’s Daily Briefing has a headline that just screams to be noticed:
Most say it’s good for Iraq, bad for USA Story | Black sheep become heroes | Insurgents sought | Effect Interesting, no?
Find Out If You Have An FBI File…
March 1, 2006 by Vince Leibowitz · Leave a Comment
People For The American Way has set up a new website so you can request your FBI file…you know, to see if the Government’s been reading your blog or listening to your phone calls and such.
The OMB Maze…
February 7, 2006 by Vince Leibowitz · Leave a Comment
Now that the Office of Management and Budget has the President’s proposed FY 2007 budget documents up, I thought I’d head over there and, you know…take a look to see what federal programs are being cut/eleminated, etc.
Of course, as in prior years, the thing’s a damned mess. You’ve got to read through a gazillion pages to find what you want, and then it’s masked in presidential poli-speak.
What I was really looking for and didn’t find was the chapter entitled “How this budget screws the American People.”
Oh, well…maybe next year.
Betty Friedan Dies At 85
February 4, 2006 by Vince Leibowitz · Leave a Comment
Betty Friedan, the visionary feminist who launched a social revolution with her provocative 1963 book, “The Feminine Mystique,” died today, her 85th birthday.
For more: Bio, LA Times Obit, 300 Women that Changed The World; National Organization for Women; Wikipedia on Feminism.
EEF Sues AT&T
February 1, 2006 by Vince Leibowitz · Leave a Comment
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has filed a class-action suit against AT&T for “violating the law and the privacy of its customers by collaborating with the National Security Agency (NSA) in its massive and illegal program to wiretap and data-mine Americans’ communications.”
Kuff has a lot more and, since he’s done an excellent job on this important issue, I’ll refer readers to his post. Here’s a link to the lawsuit filing.
