House Democrats had a busy day yesterday: they voted to hold in contempt two administration officials, and allowed the expiration of legislation authorizing terrorist surveillance. It was clear from the start of the day that there would be major fireworks, and bitter partisan warfare. So was it really such a good move by Democratic leaders to start a fight in the middle of the memorial service for the late Tom Lantos?
Republicans said they thought they had an agreement with the Democratic leadership not to start regular House business until after the Lantos service ended. Instead, the service was still in progress when the House came into session. Knowing that the first order of business would be the rule (H Res 982) on the contempt citation, Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart , R-Fla., a GOP member of the Rules Committee, raced back to the chamber, followed his party’s plan and moved to adjourn… Once the debate began, Diaz-Balart explained what had happened and why he left the service to call the vote. “It was most disturbing that the bells rang. The House was going back into session,” he said. “I’m very, very sorry that the day had to begin in that ultimately unfortunate fashion…” Hoyer tried to soothe the bad feelings. “I regret the actions that precipitated this have occurred,” he said…
There seems to be very little on which Democrats and Republican in Congress agree, but one point of agreement was that a legislator with such a distinguished career of service warranted a proper memorial. But they couldn’t even get that right. One wonders just how low a Congressional approval rating can go.
