Santa is sad
So divided now is Congress that even a resolution “recognizing the importance of Christmas” can’t muster unanimous support. Nine members voted against the bill on Tuesday night, with another 10 members voting “present” and another 40 not showing up to vote at all.
Recommended Stories
As we reported on Wednesday, the House was expected to pass Rep. Steve King’s, R-Iowa, resolution on voice vote Tuesday afternoon. But Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, who was managing floor debate for the GOP because King was snowbound in Iowa, demanded a roll call vote to put every member of Congress on the record.
King’s spokesman said he had planned to ask for a recorded vote all along, if only to be consistent with similar resolutions passed this year on the Hindu holiday of Diwali and the Muslim holiday of Ramadan. (The Ramadan resolution passed 376-0, with 42 members voting “present,” while the Diwali bill passed 358-0, with 8 “present.”)
But Santa was sad on Tuesday night, as only 372 out of 435 members voted in favor.
Democratic Reps. Gary Ackerman, N.Y.; Yvette Clarke, N.Y.; Diana DeGette, Colo.;Alcee Hastings, Fla.; Barbara Lee, Calif.; Jim McDermott, Wash.; Bobby Scott, Va.; Pete Stark, Calif.; and Lynn Woolsey, Calif., voted no.
Most of their offices did not respond to our requests for comment. But Hastings said, “This resolution was not about supporting Christmas. It was another sad attempt by conservative Republicans to skew the line between church and state and impose their belief that America is a Christian nation.
Lee added, “To use Christmas to advance a political point, as this resolution does, is extremely cynical and contrary to the spirit of Christmas.”
But King’s spokesman said that the congressman “sincerely didn’t expect anyone to vote ‘no’ since nobody voted against the other two. The nine ‘no’ votes stunned King and most of his colleagues. He was hoping to have a happy ‘comfort and joy’ moment in the middle of the acrimony.”
