Texas Democrats Flee to Illinois to Block Vote on Redrawn House Maps Sought by Trump

Watch Texas Democrats Flee to Illinois to Block Vote on Redrawn House Maps Sought by Trump - TIME on Dailymotion

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00:00This is going to create a ripple effect around the country.

00:03What we do here will affect what happens in the United States of America.

00:07And if we were interested in taking public input, we would go to where those people are

00:12and hear them, listen to their testimony.

00:16But we won't get a chance to do that.

00:18This entire proceeding is just a power grab by the Trump administration,

00:23assisted by a complicit GOP.

00:25And it comes at a time where we, in this building, should be keenly focused on the people of Texas,

00:31providing them disaster relief and putting in mitigation policies to help prevent

00:35the type of biblical, epic disaster that we just had.

00:40We should pass that kind of legislation before we even take up these kind of political games.

00:46We set up invitations.

00:49Anyone could register and testify on the question of whether and what of any congressional lines

00:54should be redrawn.

00:57And I disagree with many of our members.

01:01Everybody tells me they're surprised.

01:04Heck, I've been hearing about congressional redistricting since spring.

01:09So don't be surprised.

01:12The topic has been there.

01:15We did not make the decision to come here today.

01:19We did not make a decision lightly.

01:22But we come here today with absolute moral clarity that this is the absolutely the right

01:31thing to do to protect the people of the state of Texas.

01:34Their attempts to disenfranchise Texans is being the tool they're using is a racist, gerrymandered map.

01:44A map that seeks to use racial lines to divide hardworking communities who have spent decades

01:54building up their power and strengthening their voices.

01:59And Governor Abbott is doing this in submission to Donald Trump.

02:06We know that you are making great sacrifices to resist the power grab that's being perpetrated

02:13by Donald Trump, by Governor Abbott, and by Texas Republicans.

02:17You are answering one of the most challenging calls of public service that has ever been asked

02:23of you, and you've had to leave behind your families, your full-time jobs, your communities,

02:30and you did it to protect the voting rights of the people that you represent and voters

02:35all across this nation.