Lawmaker apologizes for Voter ID remark

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Answering a swarm of phone calls during a brief break on the House floor, Rep. Betty Brown , R-Terrell, kept telling reporters she was misunderstood.

"I never meant they should change their names," said Rep. Brown.

Brown is answering tough questions after an exchange between herself and Ramey Ko, a man who testified against the Voter ID bill before the House Elections committee.

Ko told lawmakers that Asian-Americans that live in states that required a photo ID at the polls were being denied the right to vote because the name on their identification card and the name on the voter rolls sometimes did not match.

"Chinese, Japanese and Korean names are not written with the English alphabet and frequently have multiple parts," said Ko. "When they transliterate these names, there are frequently inconsistencies."

Apparently, not fully understanding the problem, Brown offered up a suggestion that inspired gasps throughout the hearing room.

"Well, rather than everyone here having to learn Chinese, as I understand, it's a rather difficult language," said Brown. "Do you think it would behoove you and your citizens to adopt a name that we could deal with more readily here?"

When Ko told her how changing names is actually the problem instead of the solution, Brown tried to explain the reasoning behind her suggestion.

"This is something that would make it a lot easier both for you and poll workers if there was some name you could adopt just for these identification purposes that would be easier for Americans to deal with," said Brown.

Ko was actually not surprised by the remarks.

"It just shows the stereotypes Asians face as a relatively small and new ethnic minority in the United States," said Ko.

Ko confirmed that Brown's office called him after the Texas Democratic Party cried foul. Brown said she had called Ko to apologize.

"We're ready to work with any of these people who are having problems and have them educate us on anything that might be going on that we're unaware of," said Brown.

Democratic Response

The Texas Democratic Party called Brown's statements culturally insensitive.

"For one of our lawmakers to ask a concerned citizen to change their name is an insult to one of our most precious values," said the TDP's spokesperson, Rick Guerrero.

Guerrero said Brown's comments showed how the pro-Voter ID lawmakers were not concerned with disenfranchising citizens from the Democratic process.

"It was clear that Mrs. Brown and her allies will stop at nothing and will put anyone out of the way as long as they get to pass this partisan legislation," he said.

Rep. Marc Veasey , D-Fort Worth, has been calling the Voter ID bill racist because he believes it will only disenfranchise minority and low-income populations. He did not say Brown's comments were racist, but he said they displayed insensitivity toward minorities.

"That's their attitude," Veasey said about conservative Republicans who support Voter ID. "'We don't care how you feel about Voter ID and we don't care that it discriminates against people. We're gonna do it because it helps us win elections.'"

Session '09 In-Depth

Ramey Ko said he hopes this helps educate the public about the issues some naturalized Asian Americans face and the stereotypes that still exist.

He will be live on Session '09 Austin News In-Depth on Sunday at 9:30 a.m. E-mail Jenny Hoff with any questions you may have for him.

Rep. Mark Strama, D-Austin, will also be live on the show to talk about renewable energy legislation making its way through the Capitol. A political roundtable with Statesman reporter Jason Embry, Democratic consultant Harold Cook and Republican consultant Ted Delisi will also weigh in on this issue.

 

Below are the full comments made by Rep. Betty Brown: