Christian backs Craddock's actions as speaker

This week, Attorney General Greg Abbott released his opinion on the procedures of the House as requested by two Representatives. The request directly referred to when several House members challenged Speaker Craddick's procedures and attempted to make a "motion to vacate the chair" during the last weeks of session in May.

The attorney general opinion shows that the motion violated constitutional provisions that define the specific means for removing a speaker from his constitutional office. The speaker also recognized the policy reasons as to why the motion should be declined, including that it would have placed before the House a speaker's race at the expense of displacing legislative business, including the budget. The House rules vest the speaker with the authority and responsibility to exercise and enforce his discretion regarding what subject matter he will recognize during floor proceedings. Abbott's opinion confirmed the principles of law that Craddick referenced in his decision.

Rep. Wayne Christian (RCenter) responded, "While I realize that the political process is part of our democracy, I was disappointed that fights against our Speaker continued to be played out until the close of session. Instead, they should have ended at the start of the 80th session in January. As a result of these time-consuming battles, issues such as immigration reform, public school funding, and other important topics did not receive the full attention they deserved."

The Speaker's opponents, who used 'politics' against those of us who supported the rights of the Speaker, interrupted our purpose of representing our constituents. Because disagreements on the Speaker's leadership and rulings created further divisions between the parties and even within the parties, I chose to reactivate the Conservative Coalition during session, which united true conservatives so that strategic work and preparation could take place. We joined forces to promote constructive bills and to battle against poor legislation that did not have Texans' best interest in mind. We have also established several task forces to study integral policy matters in Texas, many of which collate with our future legislative goals for improving our state.

"It is my hope that General Abbott's opinion puts to rest the division caused by this issue so that we can focus on the important matters of the state in 2009."