President Biden visits Austin, Houston during Texas trip
HOUSTON - Mayor John Whitmire Fort Bend County Judge KP George and City Controller Chris Hollands were on the tarmac at Ellington Field to meet President Joe Biden when he arrived in Houston Monday.
He stopped in the Houston area to pay his respects to the family of Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, who passed away after a battle with pancreatic cancer.
Biden was in Austin earlier in the day on Monday to commemorate the anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
That act signed on July 2, 1964, by President Lyndon Johnson is the most significant piece of civil rights legislation in our nation's history since Reconstruction.
The president has been calling for Supreme Court reform since announcing he was no longer running for a second term.
"The United States is the only major constitutional democracy that gives lifetime seats in their high court," the president said. "Term limits will help ensure that the court membership changes with some regularity."
Here's the three major changes the president wants to see for the nation's highest court: The nine court justices would be limited to 18-year terms, a binding code of conduct, and a constitutional amendment that guarantees no president is immune from criminal prosecution.
"The Supreme Court's current ethics code is weak and even more frightening, voluntary," Biden said. "Any code of Congress must be enforceable under the reform I propose, justices will be required to disclose gifts."
Vice-President Kamala Harris will also be headed to Houston on Thursday to pay her respects to Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee during a memorial service on Thursday.