From the Hill: Vulnerable House freshmen passed most bills in decades, analysis finds

The list includes the Republican now holding Texas' only competitive congressional district.

- Click here for the article.

Three House Republicans facing competitive reelection races this year have gotten more of their bills passed than any other freshmen in decades, according to a new analysis.

Quorum, a D.C.-based data tracking firm, found that of all freshman lawmakers since 1989, Reps. John Katko (N.Y.), Martha McSally (Ariz.) and Will Hurd (Texas) were the top three for sponsoring the most bills that passed the House in their first terms.

Katko’s name was featured on 13 bills to pass the House in his first 20 months in office, the highest of any freshman lawmaker in Quorum’s analysis provided to The Hill.

McSally came in second with nine sponsored bills. Two of those measures became law, most prominently a bill to make former female World War II pilots eligible for inurnment at Arlington Cemetery.

Hurd, with eight bills to pass the House, is tied for the third-most bills with former Reps. Bobby Jindal (R), the ex-Louisiana governor, in the session of Congress that began in 2005, and Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.) for the session that began in 2003.

House and Senate leadership frequently grant floor time to legislation authored by lawmakers in tough races for reelection. Those lawmakers can then tout the passage of those bills while campaigning back in their districts.

. . . Hurd is considered the most vulnerable of the three House lawmakers. He faces a rematch against former Democratic Rep. Pete Gallego in the southwestern, Hispanic-majority Texas district that the nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates as a “toss-up.”
Katko and McSally both hold an edge to win reelection despite representing districts that have swung toward Democrats in recent years.

One reason these freshmen have managed to get more of their bills passed may be a result of House GOP leaders granting them all subcommittee chairmanships at the start of this Congress.

Many of Hurd’s bills that made it to the House floor have dealt with information technology and cybersecurity, likely because of chairing a House Oversight subcommittee on information technology.

. . . GOP leaders promoted McSally and Hurd, in particular, as two of their best recruits during the 2014 election cycle. Both lawmakers add racial and gender diversity to the overwhelmingly white and male House GOP: Hurd is one of two African-Americans and McSally is one of 23 women in the 246-member conference.

For more on Hurd:

- Wikipedia.
- House website.
- GovTrack.

From the Texas Tribune: Texans in Congress Largely Silent on Hurricane Protection

A look at how the various governing levels approach an issue of mutual concern.

- Click here for the article.

After nearly a decade of bickering and finger pointing, Texas scientists and lawmakers finally seem to agree that building some version of a “coastal spine” — a massive seawall and floodgate system — would best help protect the Houston region from a devastating hurricane.

But with a price tag sure to reach into the billions, the spine will almost certainly require a massive infusion of federal money, state officials agree. Whether Texas' congressional delegation has the political backbone to deliver the cash remains to be seen.

While state officials say the project enjoys the full support of Texans in Congress, almost every member has been silent on the issue, including those who hold the most sway.

“Everything depends on how long it takes us to get Congress,” said Bob Mitchell, president of the Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership, a local economic development organization. “We could have a hurricane in three months.”

. . . Building some sort of coastal barrier system around Galveston and Houston would rank as one of the nation's most ambitious public works projects and would be unlikely to succeed without champions in Washington. State leaders and Houston-area congressmen cited U.S. Sen. John Cornyn and Rep. Kevin Brady of Houston as those most likely to fill the role of standard bearer.

Cornyn and Brady, both Republicans, declined repeated interview requests about the coastal project over a period of months. The state's junior senator, Ted Cruz, is busy running for president, and his staff has said he is waiting results of further studies. Of the 36 members representing Texas in the U.S. House of Representatives, only five agreed to interviews on the subject.

At the state level, Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush, who has made coastal protection one of his top priorities, said he hopes for support from Brady, who chairs one of the most powerful committees in the U.S. House. He also mentioned Cornyn.

Congressman Randy Weber, a Republican from Friendswood, said he is already pushing the issue, but added that a senator’s support will be critical.

From the Texas Tribune: High Turnout Has Some Wondering if GOP Congressmen in Danger

The Tea Party looks to take out high profile Republicans - powerful ones.

- Click here for the article.

Expectations of a record turnout has some Texas Republicans on edge that a handful of U.S. House incumbents may be in tougher fights than usual.

Republican consultants are projecting the presidential primary will drive turnout for their party's primary to the highest levels in decades. And many of those Republican voters are expected to be first-time voters, drawn to the campaign by anti-establishment figures like real estate magnate Donald Trump and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz.

The question looming over the next 24 hours is whether those voters only weigh in on the presidential race or continue on down the ballot and vote against sitting members of Congress.

Four Republican incumbents, in particular, are the subject of the strongest interest among Republican operatives: U.S. Reps. Kevin Brady of The Woodlands, John Culberson of Houston, Pete Sessions of Dallas and Lamar Smith of San Antonio.

A key point to consider: All four of these incumbents have powerful committee assignments in Washington. A loss in a runoff may serve as a boon for base conservatives, but would decrease the state’s legislative clout.

None of these Republicans are expected to lose outright on Tuesday. In fact, all four could end up breezing past their rivals and onto re-election.

But they could also be kicked to a dreaded runoff on May 24 if they fail to draw a majority of the vote. Whether or not a runoff, where turning out voters can be tougher, translates to mortal electoral danger for these incumbents has become a point of speculative debate among Texas political observers.

From The Hill: GOP fights off primary challengers in deep-red Texas

The current crop of house Republicans from Texas are pretty powerful, but primary challengers are set to change that.

- Click here for the article.

Powerful GOP chairmen in deep-red Texas are fending off primary challengers in an election cycle dominated by the anti-establishment fervor gripping the country.

At least four of the Lone Star State’s seven House chairmen — new Ways and Means ChairmanKevin Brady, Rules Chairman Pete Sessions, Armed Services Chairman Mac Thornberry and Science, Space and Technology Chairman Lamar Smith — are working to beat back challenges from the right ahead of the March 1 primary.

So is Texas Rep. Bill Flores, chairman of the 170-member conservative Republican Study Committee who was swept into office during the Tea Party wave in 2010.

“I’m sure when you have a chairman title, someone will say that makes you a target, that makes you part of the establishment,” said Flores, a former oil executive who’s squaring off next week with two GOP challengers, former McLennan County GOP Party chairman Ralph Patterson and local businessman Kaleb Smith.

Sixteen-term GOP Rep. Joe Barton, the dean of the Texas delegation and a former Energy and Commerce chairman, has two challengers of his own, while 85-year-old GOP Rep. Sam Johnson, a decorated U.S. fighter pilot and Vietnam prisoner of war, is defending his Dallas-area seat against three rivals. And the man taking on Rep. John Carter has questioned the powerful House appropriator and former Texas judge’s conservative credentials.

Even Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert, the GOP gadfly and frequent cable TV guest, has a challenger. Rancher Simon Winston has said Congress has devolved into a circus and Gohmert is “one of the main clowns.”

To be certain, all of the incumbents are favored to win reelection. They are better connected, better funded and have better name ID than their long-shot challengers.

Apparently, the House sponsor of one the principle pieces of gun control legislation - the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 - was Jack Brooks, who represent the local area from 1975 to 1995, when he was defeated in the Republican congressional landslide of 1994. This was the campaign run on the 'Contract with America." The fact that he sponsored such a bill indicates how much the local area has changed, but then again he was defeated after sponsoring the law so that tells us something.

For background:

- Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act.
- Jack Brooks.
- United States House of Representatives elections, 1994.
- Contract with America.

From the Fiscal Times: Looks Like Congress Can’t Stand the Idea of an Independent Federal Reserve

The Federal Reserve is designed to be insulated from the political branches so that it makes its decisions according to economic, not political, factors. Nevertheless members of Congress - as should be expected from any group of ambitious people - want to control it.

Here's a look at what is driving this desire. The new chair of the Ways and Means Committee - area rep Kevin Brady - is at the center of these efforts.

- Click here for the article.

From the Texas Tribune: Analysis: A Peculiar Way to Disenfranchise Voters

Rapid turnover undermines the ability of a district to get a representative that has enough seniority to become powerful. Is this intentional?

- Click here for the story.

Texas lawmakers have designed a congressional district that is so slippery that neither political party can hang onto it, and where it is impossible for anyone to stay in office long enough to build up enough clout to get much of anything done for the folks at home.

You will get an argument about that from the people who have held the seat. Will Hurd, Pete Gallego, Francisco "Quico" Canseco, Ciro Rodriguez and Henry Bonilla will all say, in one way or another, that they have been effective representatives for the people who sent them to Washington, D.C.

Bonilla, a Republican, was there for 14 years. Rodriguez, a Democrat, was there for four, but served in Congress for eight more years representing another district — another redistricting tale for another day.

. . . Kevin Brady, a Republican from The Woodlands who served in the Texas Legislature with Rodriguez and Gallego back in the day, was elected to Congress in 1996. He is now poised to become the chairman of the powerful tax-writing Ways & Means Committee.

Midland Republican Michael Conaway was elected to Congress in 2004, and he’s chairman of the House Agriculture Committee. Jeb Hensarling, R-Dallas, went to Washington after the 2002 elections and chairs the Financial Services Committee. Michael McCaul, R-Austin, who was first elected in 2004, chairs the Homeland Security Committee. Pete Sessions, R-Dallas, who heads the Rules Committee, he joined Congress in 1997.

First thing to notice there is that you have to be a Republican to have a chairmanship in the current Congress. But the second is that nobody from the 23rd congressional district has had a chance to stay long enough to get into the line, even for the top minority positions. And their voters, it follows, have that much less power in Washington than other Texans from more stable districts.

Texas' 14th and 22nd congressional districts

2305 students have seen these already, but I'll add them so we can start talking about the re-districting process - including gerrymandering - on both 2305 and 2306.

Here's the map of the 14th Congressional district:



- Wikipedia: Texas's 14th congressional district.

And here's the 22nd Congressional District




- Wikipedia: Texas's 22nd congressional district.

If you scroll down to ACC - click here for District Viewer -  you'll see that the campus straddles both districts. We'll look at the people who hold each office, and factors about them, in the next week or two.

From the Texas Tribune: Texans to Have Starring Role in Congressional Showdowns

We haven't talked much about Congress in 2305, largely because it's in recess, but it'll reconvene soon and another shutdown might be in order. The Texas delegation might drive the charge.

The Tribune reports on it - and other potential items on the agenda.

- Click here for the article.

One of the most chaotic and frenetic congressional sessions in recent times is expected to play out this fall. And thanks to the size and rank of Texas' delegation, the state is expected to play an outsized role in the drama.

With the state's 38 delegation members, including the second-ranking Senate Republican and a presidential candidate, it should be easy to find a Texan in the middle of the action as debates emerge on abortion, a possible government shutdown and President Obama's controversial foreign policy. Texans also run five House committees and form sizable voting blocs in both parties.

Here's a look at upcoming policy debates on Capitol Hill and how Texans could play key roles. One caveat: U.S. Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn is not listed in these categories because, as the top Republican vote counter in the Senate, he will probably be involved in nearly every piece of legislation.

Here are the separate issues the story focuses on - which gives us something specific to focus on the rest of the semester:

- The Iran Deal- Defunding Planned Parenthood/Funding the Government- Lifting the Crude Oil Export Ban- Raising the Debt Ceiling- Export-Import Bank Reauthorization- Highway Funding Bill

We'll try to catch up on each of these items soon.

What is the most gerrymandered U.S. House district in Texas?

Here are a few candidates, many of these are in our area:

These are pulled from the TLC's Texas Redistricting site.

- District 2.
- District 15.
- District 18.
- District 22.
- District 28.
- District 29.
- District 30.
- District 32.
- District 33.
- District 34.
- District 35.

Links to maps

For even more help, click on these for maps of the entire state of Texas:

- State Senate Districts (map)
- State House Districts (map)
- Congressional Districts (map)

Notice how small the districts get in our area - especially in Houston. This is due to population density. In a future lecture we will talk about the court cases which mandated that each district have an equal number of people in its borders.

For a look at this requirement, click on the link below:

- State and Federal Law Governing Redistricting in Texas.

GovTrack links to info on Randy Weber

ACC alumnus Randy Weber's district covers a small sliver of ACC, so let's look at the basic info it contains on him.

- Click here for the site.

Weber scores as a conservative, but he's one of the more moderate members of the Republican Conference. Being a freshman - its his first term - he ranks low in leadership.

Other info:

Randy Weber sits on the following committees:

House Committee on Foreign Affairs
Member, Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations
Member, Subcommittee on The Middle East and North Africa

House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology
Vice Chairman, Subcommittee on Energy
Member, Subcommittee on Environment
Some of Weber’s most recently sponsored bills include...

H.R. 3829: State Marriage Defense Act of 2014
H.Res. 214: Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that extensive scientific and technical ...

View All » (including bills from previous years)

• 
  Recent votes:
  

  Vote

  H.R. 3448: Small Cap Liquidity Reform Act of 2013
  Passed 412/4
  Rep. Weber [R-TX14]: Yea
  Feb 11, 2014 5:35 p.m.

  Vote

  S. 540: A bill to designate the air route traffic control center located in Nashua, New Hampshire, as the “Patricia ...
  Passed 221/201
  Rep. Weber [R-TX14]: Nay
  Feb 11, 2014 5:27 p.m.

  Vote

  S. 25: South Utah Valley Electric Conveyance Act
  Passed 326/90
  Rep. Weber [R-TX14]: Yea
  Feb 11, 2014 3:09 p.m.

  Vote

  H.Res. 475: Providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 3193) to amend the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 to ...
  Passed 223/193
  Rep. Weber [R-TX14]: Aye
  Feb 11, 2014 3:01 p.m.

GovTrack links for info on Pete Olson

As mentioned below, Olson is one of two members of Congress that contain ACC - most of it lies in Olson's district - so its worth knowing what he does in Congress. GovTrack may be the most convenient place to find this info.

- Click here for the direct link.

The story contains a graphic - that I can't seem to copy that shows he's one of the 15 or so most conservative members of the House.

Other relevant info:

Pete Olson sits on the following committees:
House Committee on Energy and Commerce
Member, Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade
Member, Subcommittee on Energy and Power
Member, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations

Some of Olson’s most recently sponsored bills include...
H.Res. 411: Impeaching Eric H. Holder, Jr., Attorney General of the United States, for high ...
H.R. 2993: Taxpayer Conscience Protection Act of 2013
H.R. 2135: Cardiac Arrest Survival Act of 2013
H.R. 1959: Domestic Alternative Fuels Act of 2013
H.R. 1280: Voter Fraud Prevention Act
H.R. 1209: To award a Congressional Gold Medal to the World War II members of ...
H.R. 1074: National Diabetes Clinical Care Commission Act

View All » (including bills from previous years)

Recent Votes:

Vote

H.R. 3448: Small Cap Liquidity Reform Act of 2013
Passed 412/4
Rep. Olson [R-TX22]: Yea
Feb 11, 2014 5:35 p.m.

Vote

S. 540: A bill to designate the air route traffic control center located in Nashua, New Hampshire, as the “Patricia ...
Passed 221/201
Rep. Olson [R-TX22]: Nay
Feb 11, 2014 5:27 p.m.

Vote

S. 25: South Utah Valley Electric Conveyance Act
Passed 326/90
Rep. Olson [R-TX22]: Yea
Feb 11, 2014 3:09 p.m.

Vote

H.Res. 475: Providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 3193) to amend the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 to ...
Passed 223/193
Rep. Olson [R-TX22]: Aye
Feb 11, 2014 3:01 p.m.

The 22nd Texas Congressional District

This is the district prior to being redrawn a few years back:




I can't locate a good copy of the current district, but we can see it by going to district viewer.

Click here for it.

I'm unaware of places where we can get info on the design of the district - and the degree to which it has been gerrymandered - if at all. But notice that the new district it neatly follows the Fort Bend county line to the west, but that certain parts of Fort Bend in the north are carved out. These happen to be areas with high percentages of African American residents. They are in the 9th District which is represented by Al Green - an African American Democrat. Pete Olson is an Anglo Republican.

The district also contains parts of northern Brazoria County a small piece of southern Harris County. I can't tell from this map, but a previous version of the district contained the Johnson Space Center, which explained Olson's concern with manned space flight.

Texas Congressional districts in the 113th Congress

FYI

58% of Texans support legalizing marijuana - area Congressman cosponsors bill requiring federal officials to comply with state marijuana laws

Two related stories provide further evidence that attitudes about marijuana are changing.

First

A majority of Texas voters would like to see the state go the way of Washington and Colorado and legalize possession of marijuana, according to a new poll conducted by Public Policy Polling for the Marijuana Policy Project.

According to the poll, 58 percent of the 860 respondents said they either "strongly support (41 percent)" or "somewhat support (17 percent)" changing the law in Texas to regulate marijuana similarly to alcohol, licensing stores to sell the substance to adults age 21 and older. Of those in opposition, 14 percent "somewhat oppose" the full legalization of marijuana and 24 percent "strongly oppose" such a change.

Sixty-one percent of respondents said they would like to remove criminal penalties for those in possession of an ounce or less of marijuana and make it a civil rather than criminal offense, punishable by a fine of up to $100 with no jail time. Under the current law, a person in possession of a small amount of the drug faces up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $2,000.

"I would take this poll seriously, because it does generally track with Gallup and Pew polls nationwide," said Nathan Jones, a postdoctoral fellow in Drug Policy at Rice University's Baker Institute.

"This shows that a majority of Texans are in support of fully legalizing marijuana."

Jones attributes the poll results in part to Texans' libertarian attitudes on spending tax dollars to enforce the state's marijuana policy and the cost of incarcerating drug offenders. The state also loses money due to lost productivity, when a non-violent offender is released from prison and is unable to find a good job.

Notice that some of the support for legalization has less to do with attitudes about the drug than concerns over the costs of prosecution.

Second

Texas Rep. Steve Stockman, R-Friendswood, has recently backed a bill to require federal officials to comply with state marijuana laws, which was introduced in April and has since garnered support from Congressmen on both sides of the aisle.

The Respect State Marijuana Laws Act of 2013, introduced by California Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, a Republican, would bar federal drug enforcement agents from penalizing any person abiding by the marijuana laws in their own state.

The law “shall not apply to any person acting in compliance with State laws” — that is, people who are in compliance with their state laws regarding possession, manufacture or use of marijuana will not be subjected to federal penalties.

Twenty-one states and Washington, D.C. have already legalized medical marijuana, and both Washington and Colorado legalized marijuana for both medicinal and recreational use.

Stockman’s name was added to the bill as a sponsor on Saturday. He currently is the only Texas Congressman to cosponsor the bill, which has a total of 19 cosponsors. The bill was referred to to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations in April.

Roll Call Clout Index

A helpful chart showing which states have the most clout in Congress.

U.S. House Democrats from Texas among those not supporting gay marriage

Most Democrats, and a small handful of Republicans, have publicly shifted from opposition to support of gay marriage. Here's a graph that shows how quickly this change has happened in the Senate.



But the Houston Chronicle - and the Hill - reports that three Texas Democrats are among a small handful of party members that are not shifting theie positions. This includes are representative Gene Green.

Gay marriage might be for Democrats the same type of issue immigration reform is for Republicans: An issue that might have the support of the general population, but id passionately opposed by the segment of the electorate that really matters: Primary voters.

Nice graphic of the area congressional districts

From the Chron: Houston region may be nation’s most diverse, but congressional delegation isn’t

A year ago the Houston Chronicle ran a story detailing how the local area has emerged as the nation's "most ethnically diverse large metropolitan area." This is especially true for area suburbs:

Two suburbs - Missouri City and Pearland - have become even more diverse than the city of Houston. Other suburbs aren't far behind.

These findings are from a report released Monday by Rice University researchers, based on an analysis of census data from 1990, 2000 and 2010.

"We are a little United Nations," Pearland Mayor Tom Reid said. "You go to one of our neighborhoods, and there will be a person from Nigeria living next to somebody from India, living next to somebody from Mexico and somebody from Louisiana."

Today the paper runs a story pointing out that this diversity is not reflected in the racial composition of the Houston area delegation to Congress. They also claim that this is deliberate:

Despite the fact that the Houston region is a model of 21st century America, the congressional delegation is stuck in the 1970s. Of the 12 lawmakers who represent a piece of the Houston area, only one has Tejano roots (Republican Bill Flores of Bryan) and two are African Americans (Democrats Al Green and Sheila Jackson Lee of Houston). There are no Asian American representatives, even though the census reflects a rapid growth in the area’s Asian American population.

Nine of the 12 House members — 75 percent — are non-Hispanic white, known in Texas political circles as “Anglo.” Those include eight Republicans and one Democrat (Gene Green of Houston).

Why is the delegation’s composition so out of step with the demographic changes of the region? Blame the Texas Legislature and the federal courts. The Texas Legislature drew a map that minimized the voting power of Houston-area Latinos in order to maximize the voting power of Republicans. And it divided diverse Fort Bend County in an attempt to preserve a safe seat for Republican Pete Olson of Sugar Land while packing as many minority voters as possible into the Harris County-dominated district of Al Green.

Also, two “Anglos” are representing districts that are majority Latino: Gene Green and Blake Farenthold, a Corpus Christi Republican whose district includes the Coastal Bend and the southwestern edges of the Houston metro area.

The federal courts are responsible in that they approved an interim map that formalized the Legislature’s plan that minimized minority representation in Southeast Texas and the Coastal Bend.