TheKraken
04-10-2009, 10:39 AM
Welcome to the circus!
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6365600.html
AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Democratic Party demanded an apology Wednesday from state Rep. Betty Brown, R-Terrell for suggesting Asian-descent voters should adopt names that are "easier for Americans to deal with."
Brown made the comments on Tuesday evening as the House Elections Committee discussed voter identification legislation, the Houston Chronicle reported in its online edition.
Brown spokesman Jordan Berry said Brown was not making a racially motivated comment but was trying to resolve an identification problem.
Ramey Ko, a representative of the Organization of Chinese Americans, told the committee that people of Chinese, Japanese and Korean descent often have problems voting and with forms of identification because there may be a difference in their legal transliterated name and a common English name used on their driver's license.
"Rather than everyone here having to learn Chinese — I understand it's a rather difficult language — do you think that it would behoove you and your citizens to adopt a name that we could deal with more readily here?" Brown asked, the newspaper reported.
She later told Ko: "Can't you see that this is something that would make it a lot easier for you and the people who are poll workers if you could adopt a name just for identification purposes that's easier for Americans to deal with?"
Democratic Chairman Boyd Richie said Republicans are trying to suppress votes with a partisan identification bill and said Brown "is adding insult to injury with her disrespectful comments."
Berry said Democrats are trying to blow Brown's comments out of proportion because polls show most voters support requiring identification for voting.
"They want this to just be about race," Berry said.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6365600.html
AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Democratic Party demanded an apology Wednesday from state Rep. Betty Brown, R-Terrell for suggesting Asian-descent voters should adopt names that are "easier for Americans to deal with."
Brown made the comments on Tuesday evening as the House Elections Committee discussed voter identification legislation, the Houston Chronicle reported in its online edition.
Brown spokesman Jordan Berry said Brown was not making a racially motivated comment but was trying to resolve an identification problem.
Ramey Ko, a representative of the Organization of Chinese Americans, told the committee that people of Chinese, Japanese and Korean descent often have problems voting and with forms of identification because there may be a difference in their legal transliterated name and a common English name used on their driver's license.
"Rather than everyone here having to learn Chinese — I understand it's a rather difficult language — do you think that it would behoove you and your citizens to adopt a name that we could deal with more readily here?" Brown asked, the newspaper reported.
She later told Ko: "Can't you see that this is something that would make it a lot easier for you and the people who are poll workers if you could adopt a name just for identification purposes that's easier for Americans to deal with?"
Democratic Chairman Boyd Richie said Republicans are trying to suppress votes with a partisan identification bill and said Brown "is adding insult to injury with her disrespectful comments."
Berry said Democrats are trying to blow Brown's comments out of proportion because polls show most voters support requiring identification for voting.
"They want this to just be about race," Berry said.