China News Agency, Houston, July 13 (Texas) The Supreme Court of Texas in the United States dismissed the lawsuit filed by Republicans and allowed the cancellation of the Texas Republican Congress originally scheduled for Thursday in Houston.
According to the Texas Tribune, the Texas Republican Congress was originally planned to be held at the George Brown Convention Center in downtown Houston. The Texas Republican Congress is held every two years and is expected to attract about 6,000 participants. The conference center is operated by Houston First Corporation. Fearing that the New Corona virus is spreading faster in the region, the company sent a letter to Texas Republican officials last week informing them that its meeting had been cancelled. The Texas Republicans immediately filed a lawsuit, saying the rally was protected by Texas law and the US Constitution and should be allowed to proceed as planned.
On the 13th, nine justices of the Supreme Court of Texas ruled that with 7 votes in favor, 1 against and 1 abstention, the Supreme Court had no power to force the Houston First Company to hold the Texas Republican Congress.
Houston Mayor Turner said that the two parties added an force majeure clause when they signed the agreement in March this year, which allows either party to cancel the agreement when "out of reasonable control" occurs.
Dickie, the chairman of the Texas Republican Party, said in a statement on the 13th that in any case, we will hold the meeting as scheduled. Dickey said he had arrived in Houston, and preliminary preparations for the conference are in progress. The Texas Republican Executive Committee said on the same day that it would vote to decide whether to hold the conference in the form of a video conference.
It is worth noting that Texas Governor Abbot, Deputy Governor Patrick and other Republicans have said that they will make a speech at the meeting through video.
According to Houston media KPRC website, with the surge of new crown cases in Texas, Harris County, where Houston is located, has become one of the hot spots in the new crown epidemic in the United States. Houston City Public Health Director Perth said on the 13th that last week, the positive rate of Houston's new crown test rose to 26.8%. In March this year, the positive rate of the test was 14%. Perth urged people not to participate in large gatherings to avoid the spread of local viruses.
According to data released by Johns Hopkins University in the United States, as of 7 p.m. EDT, the cumulative number of confirmed cases in the United States exceeded 3.35 million, and the number of deaths exceeded 135,000. Houston Mayor Turner said on the 13th that more than 30,000 cases have been diagnosed in Houston. (Finish)