BROADCASTS.com

SAN JUAN, Texas - Texas Democratic Party Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa recently spoke at a luncheon hosted by Hidalgo County Tejano Democrats and LUPE Votes.

The event was organized to show support for Democrats in the Texas House of Representatives who have broken quorum in the current special session in Austin. Most of the 58 Democrats are now in Washington, D.C., to urge U.S. senators to pass a federal law that would supersede voting restriction legislation Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is trying to get passed at the state level.\xa0

Hinojosa said the Texas House Democrats were being asked to make a quorum so Texas House Republicans could vote \u201cto pass Jim Crow legislation, to deprive their own constituents of the right to vote.\u201d

How can they ask our people to do that, Hinojosa asked. He said that it would be like having one\u2019s family lined up to face a firing squad, \u201cand the guys that are going to shoot your family said, can you load up the weapons for us?\u201d

The luncheon was held at Azure Bistro in San Juan. Other speakers at the event were Juan Maldonado of Hidalgo County Tejano Democrats and Danny Diaz of LUPE Votes. They said their communities fully support the Texas House Democrats that broke quorum. \u201cWe applaud efforts from our delegation to preserve our voting rights and resist Senate Bill 1 and House Bill 15,\u201d Maldonado told the Rio Grande Guardian.\xa0

The attached podcast features Hinojosa\u2019s speech.\xa0

To read the new stories and watch the news videos of the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service go to www.riograndeguardian.com.