Senate stirs pot with TSA groping bill, sanctuary citiesBy Mike Ward
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Updated: 11:02 p.m. Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Published: 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Protesters led by radio host Alex Jones, center, gathered outside the doors to the Senate gallery Wednesday, upset that the upper chamber sunk a bill that would have prohibited 'intrusive touching' by airport screeners. Bill sponsor Sen. Dan Patrick is upset, too. Larry Kolvoord/AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Two hot-button political issues that were sunk by the Texas Senate in dramatic late-night action — the so-called airport groping ban and the sanctuary cities bill — sparked new controversy Wednesday amid a growing argument over who was to blame.
And whether either could still be passed into law.
Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, amped up his public beef with fellow Republican Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, whom he blamed for the death of his airport bill, by questioning whether Dewhurst should be elected to higher office.
The public spat marked a rare breach in Senate protocol. Senators rarely criticize their presiding officer, and the presiding officer almost never lobbies against a senator's bill after it is brought up for debate.
House Bill 1937, which would make it a state crime for security screeners to intrusively grope the people they are screening at airports or other public buildings, was withdrawn from debate late Tuesday by Patrick, who accused Dewhurst of lobbying against its passage on the Senate floor.
Patrick has said the bill is aimed at federal Transportation Security Administration screeners, who recently launched more stringent patdowns at airports to guard against terrorists.
"Someone who will not stand up to the federal government, you have to ask yourself, is that the kind of person we need in the U.S. Senate?" said Patrick, who pronounced the bill "dead."
Dewhurst, who is seen as a likely candidate for retiring Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison's seat, denied improperly working against the bill. He said Wednesday that he went onto the Senate floor during the debate Tuesday to discuss the sanctuary cities bill with senators, and several questioned why Patrick had been allowed to bring up the TSA bill and said they intended to vote against it. He said that he did not stop debate on the bill, that Patrick did.
Dewhurst said he would give the bill another chance to be passed late Wednesday.
Patrick also said federal officials had improperly lobbied against the bill, including sending legislative leaders a letter that declared the proposed law illegal.
Within hours after Tuesday night's halt to the debate, conservative social networking and blog sites lit up with anger. They demanded that the Senate pass the bill Wednesday, the last day the chamber could pass House bills.
Those protests gelled at the Capitol on Wednesday, in a boisterous protest outside the statehouse and then inside, where as many as 100 sign-carrying demonstrators tried to enter the Senate gallery. They were blocked by state troopers. Waving placards accusing lawmakers of being traitors and cowards, the group yelled slogans for about 30 minutes. They had initially gone to the House, where lawmakers quickly assured them that they had passed the bill and sent them down the hall to the Senate.
"We're here to tell these cowards that they need to stand up for Texans' rights, states' rights, and that if they don't approve this bill, we're going to throw the scallywag trash out in the next election," said Randy Turner, 38, of Austin, who wore a Texas-flag bandana on his head.
In the letter delivered to leaders Tuesday, U.S. Attorney John Murphy of San Antonio warned: "Texas has no authority to regulate federal agents and employees in the performance of their federal duties or to pass a statute that conflicts with federal law." He noted that the federal government would seek a court order to prevent enforcement of the law if passed, and "TSA would likely be required to cancel any flight or series of flights for which it could not ensure the safety of the passengers and crew."
The other bill at issue in the Senate is House Bill 12, the controversial sanctuary cities measure, which would bar local law enforcement from having policies that prevent officers from asking about a person's immigration status. Supporters say the measure would help police stop crimes by illegal immigrants. Opponents, including many police departments, say it will ostracize immigrant communities.
The bill, a measure named a priority by Gov. Rick Perry, has sparked filibuster threats from Democratic senators.
Late Tuesday, it failed to get enough votes to be brought up for debate in the Senate — a turndown that left leaders in the GOP-controlled Senate frustrated and somewhat red-faced. The vote was 19-12, along party lines.
Twenty-one votes were needed.
On Wednesday, Republican senators said privately that they were still holding out hope the measure can be attached to another bill, while Democrats insisted that they would block any such attempt.
"I think they're going to try, but I don't know how," said Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston. "I don't think it's going to pass."
mward@statesman.com; 474-2791
Additional material from The Associated Press.
http://www.statesman.com/news/texas-pol ... 98725.html 
