00:00Chair recognize Ms. Gervin Hawkins.
00:04Thank you Mr. Speaker,
00:08members, and people in the gallery.
00:12Today
00:16represents something new and different
00:20as it relates to
00:24state representatives how we must see ourselves moving forward.
00:28I would ask each member in this body
00:32to understand this.
00:36When I ran for election, I ran
00:40to be able to help improve Texas.
00:44And I know some people think this
00:48may be a game, and it's funny.
00:52But the reality is this.
00:56Texas needs brave men and women.
01:00Texas needs transparency,
01:04which means engaging the community.
01:08Texas needs
01:10its members
01:12to respect
01:14and show how honored
01:16they should be to be a part
01:18of this body.
01:20What was interesting to me
01:24as I had my dialogue
01:26with Chairman Hunter
01:28was he focused a lot
01:30on why Democrats left
01:32to not create a quorum.
01:36I want to be clear.
01:38I want each and every one of you to understand.
01:40We didn't run from anything.
01:44We ran to the public.
01:48Because what we felt
01:50has truly been an injustice
01:52and is being an injustice.
01:54And I'll tell you why
01:56it was an injustice.
01:58We didn't act as Texans
02:02to be able to change the dynamics of our community.
02:06There was a letter that came through.
02:10A letter.
02:12Mr. Speaker,
02:14I hope in the future,
02:16I hope in the future
02:18that we're not moved
02:20by outside influence.
02:22That we indeed
02:24move in a way
02:26that makes sure
02:28that Texans sets the agenda
02:30and no one else.
02:32When I think
02:34about these maps
02:36and I have asked
02:37on a number of occasions,
02:39who drew these maps?
02:40No one can tell
02:43or at least they have not revealed
02:45who drew these maps.
02:46And I know that's a ball-faced lie.
02:49So when one comes from the outside
02:53to steal what's precious in Texas,
02:56that's hurtful.
03:00I asked again,
03:02where are our brave Texans?
03:06But I will caution each and every one of you,
03:10be careful.
03:12Be careful about the actions you're taking.
03:16Because indeed, it not only impacts us,
03:20but impacts our children
03:22and our children's children.
03:24The things that we do today.
03:28If DC has asked for something,
03:30we must ask ourselves,
03:31what's next?
03:32What's next of interference?
03:35For me, this body has changed.
03:39It has created an atmosphere.
03:42An atmosphere of division.
03:45An atmosphere of disgust.
03:51An atmosphere when I now look at my colleagues
03:56and say,
03:58wow, who are you really?
04:02You know, when I had my medical episode,
04:06I was so moved by the members who came to pray
04:11and gave me well wishes.
04:15And as you know, each and every day,
04:16we come, we pray together.
04:19We pray together.
04:21We give honor to the U.S. flag
04:23and the Texas flag.
04:24Because we know the value of what we do here.
04:28But when that changes,
04:31not because we disagree,
04:33not because we have different positions,
04:36that changes when I see professionals
04:40that will support something that they know is wrong,
04:44that they know is wrong,
04:46but because they want to either hold on to a seat
04:50or they're fearful of the unknown.
04:53I would say to my colleagues,
04:57what's so hurtful is when my colleagues can look me in the face
05:02and look other members in the face
05:06and be willing to take away two African-American seats.
05:10As you all know, the struggle,
05:12particularly for African-Americans,
05:14have been long and hard.
05:19When we looked at a situation where the floods came,
05:22so many people died, some of which I even knew.
05:27And we put this as a priority before putting that first.
05:32That tells us all something about this body.
05:38Mr. Speaker, we need to change that.
05:42We need to be able to address those priorities first.
05:46It should have been number one on the agenda,
05:50but it wasn't.
05:51And that was disheartening.
05:53So I say to my colleagues today,
05:59get brave.
06:01Understand our real work here.
06:04It's not a game.
06:06It's not a play thing.
06:08We've been blessed to be one of 150,
06:12to be able to improve the quality of life for all Texans.
06:17And we have to come together and understand what that looks like.
06:21So we create the win-win, not the winners and losers.
06:26That's the Texas I would love to be a part of.
06:32It was also hurtful with the social media.
06:38It was really childish more than anything.
06:43Lock them up.
06:46Go get them.
06:47They running.
06:48All that kind of nonsense.
06:51And I think we're too important.
06:53And we've got a job that's too big to go down that rabbit hole.
06:58So for today, I have mixed feelings about this body.
07:04And I hope, I hope that we can become a better body,
07:11not one that seeks to hurt others, to create cultural wars,
07:17to demean different positions, but indeed,
07:21that we can work together to respect the positions that we hold.
07:26I call upon each and every one of you to really seek inside
07:34why you are really here and what your real role and goal should be as a legislator.
07:42Members of my Republican Party, we need you to be brave.
07:50We need you to be transparent.
07:52We need you as a working partner, not as an adversary.
07:57Members of the Democratic Party, let's continue.
08:01Even though we're in the minority,
08:03we're going to continue to fight the battle for the people.
08:06And finally, I would say this.
08:12Those of you who feel this is okay, let's get ready for the fight.
08:19Because the fight ain't over.
08:21It's going to continue.
08:23And it's going to be one where we have energized America to save democracy.
08:28And we will continue to do that as we move forward.
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