Reported Dems Flight 'Missing'

The call to the Homeland Security Department in Washington came from a Texas state trooper. The trooper reportedly told HSD Texas Rep. Pete Laney's (D-Hale Center, TX) plane was missing and possibly down. That phone call has landed the Texas GOP in a world of hurt.

Revolting Experience

Laney's plane (file photo, above) wasn't missing. He flew it to Ardmore (OK) from Georgetown (TX) March 12 as part of a plan by Texas legislative Democrats to foil the Republican plan to redraw Texas congressional districts. Texas lawmakers already approved a redistricting plan two years ago, the last time they met at the state capitol in Austin. But in Washington, one wayward Democrat was hauled to the capitol from Houston by a state trooper. But 51 of the 53 Democrats escaped similar fates by hiding out - 47 of them, including Laney, holed up at the Holiday Inn in Ardmore. The Great Escape earned the wayward Democrats a nickname: "Killer D's."

By heading for the border and holing up, the Killer D's, numerically unable to prevent the redistricting plan from going to a vote in the Texas House, left the GOP without a two-thirds quorum needed for the vote. The bi-annual session of the Texas Legislature ended on that note and the Killer D's claimed victory.

Most of the renegade lawmakers left Austin on two buses - one smoking, the other non-smoking. Laney and a few others made the flight to Ardmore in Laney's Piper Cheyenne. Texas House leaders (Republicans) were furious. They called in the Department of Public Safety to round up the renegades and bring them back to the state capitol - by force, if necessary. The DPS set up a command post next to House Speaker Tom Craddick's (above) office. But Craddick says he did nothing to overtly influence the troopers. Instead, he told The Austin Statesman-American, "We were asking where they were. The DPS was asking us for ideas. We weren't in there directing them." In reality, the paper reports, Rep. Mike Krussee (R-Round Rock) coordinated the decision-making process between Craddick and the DPS. Could the runaways be extradited? A check with the Texas Attorney General (also a Republican). The Killer D's had chosen well in going to Oklahoma (and New Mexico). There would be no extradition.

Enter Tom DeLay

The redistricting plan was put forth by Congressman Tom DeLay (R-TX, above), the House Majority Leader in Washington. He wanted new Congressional districts drawn up before the end of the Texas legislative session and he was determined to help Craddick track down the Killer D's. DeLay contacted the Justice Department, demanding action because, in his opinion, congressional redistricting is a federal matter. The Justice Department turned him down flat.

So, when lawmakers and state troopers in Austin got a tip that Rep. Laney was ferrying the Killer D's from Georgetown, across the state line, to Ardmore, officers raced to the airport in Georgetown. They found nothing.

The Statesman-American reports Laney (above) was already in Ardmore. He sent his pilot back to Georgetown in the Cheyenne to pick up staff volunteers and return them to Oklahoma. The pilot then flew to Graham (TX) to spend some time with his mom.

But the Texas DPS, determined to carry out Speaker Craddick's demands that the Killer D's be brought back to Austin, decided to call the Homeland Security Department in to help track down Laney's plane. The trooper who made the call reportedly gave his name and rank and said the aircraft had not arrived at its destination.

"From all indications, this request . . . was an urgent plea for assistance from a law enforcement agency trying to locate a missing, lost or possibly crashed aircraft," said the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an agency within the Department of Homeland Security, in a written statement to The Statesman-American.

Homeland Security was now on the case, making calls to FAA offices and airports throughout Texas, looking for what they thought was a downed aircraft. Air and Marine interdiction units were told Laney's Cheyenne "was supposed to be going from Ardmore to Georgetown, Texas," with "state representatives in it."

Not finding any sign of the Cheyenne, federal officials called the requesting trooper back and told him to initiate lost aircraft procedures.

Democrats in both Washington (DC) and Austin are now blasting Craddick and company for wasting federal time and money on a political mission. Democrats in Washington are now calling for a full-blown investigation into the matter.

"The Department of Homeland Security was created to track down terrorists, not law-abiding citizens," Congressman Jim Turner (D-TX), a member of the committee that created HSD.

"I just have to decline comment on that," said Lisa Block, spokeswoman for the department, responding to the federal allegations.

As for Laney, whose Piper Cheyenne was used to ferry himself and staff members to Ardmore during the Killer D operation? He says the entire incident, which garnered worldwide media attention, should rest squarely at the feet of Speaker Craddick. "He's done more to unite the Democrats than I ever could."

FMI: www.txdemocrats.org, www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/index.jsp