In fight over agriculture funding, U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela calls GOP Texan "a racist Christian

[TexasTowelie]

In fight over agriculture funding, U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela calls GOP Texan "a racist Christian pretender"

by Abby Livingston and J. Edward Moreno, Texas Tribune


WASHINGTON — Members of the Texas congressional delegation achieved a new level of acrimony Thursday as Democratic U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela accused his fellow Texan and Republican colleague U.S. Rep. Mike Conaway of being "a racist Christian pretender."

The issue at hand was a dry one — how best to fund a government agency that doles out subsidies to farmers adversely affected by the trade war President Donald Trump is waging with China. But it was apparent in a House Agriculture Committee hearing and in Vela's subsequent allegations that the public airing of tensions was a long time coming.

“Let me just put it this way: There are other members of the Texas delegation that are leaving, and I would not say any of these things about them. So, good riddance," Vela, a Brownsville Democrat, later told The Texas Tribune in an interview, referring to Conaway's recent retirement announcement.

The ire was the result of days' worth of heated negotiations over how the government would fund the Market Facilitation Program, the government arm that pays out subsidies to farmers hurt by new tariffs. But it was also the culmination of months — if not years — of escalating tensions within Washington.

Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2019/09/19/filemon-vela-calls-mike-conaway-racist-christian-pretender/