Rarely is there actually some exciting floor debate to watch on C-SPAN but Thursday and Friday were exceptions.
Thursday was the debate over the Deficit Reduction Act, a bill to reduce federal government spending by $50 billion. If you saw the debate around midnight, you saw Arkansas Democrat Marion Berry (no, not the former DC mayor) call Texas Republican Jeb Hensarling “Howdy Doody” and youthful Florida Republican Adam Putnam “boy.” That exchange led to a flurry of back-and-forth involving Rep. David Dreier who did receive some criticism for failing to call for Berry’s remarks to be stricken from the record.
But last night was something to behold. Republican leaders, who previously committed to bring Rep. Bill Thomas’s tax reconciliation bill to the floor withdrew the bill. Instead, they chose to call the bluff of Pennsylvania Democrat John Murtha’s proposal for an immediate withdrawal from Iraq. Rep. Duncan Hunter, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, introduced Murtha’s proposal and the fireworks began. After a contentious Rules Committee meeting, in which it became obvious that the Democrats had backed themselves into a corner, several hours of debate on the floor over the rule and the resolution were contentious and rancorous. Freshman Ohio Republican Jean Schmidt, quoting a letter from a U.S. Marine seemed to imply that Murtha, the first Vietnam veteran to serve in Congress, decorated with two Purple Hearts, was a coward. The House exploded and Schmidt herself asked that her remarks be stricken from the record.
After much debate, the Hunter resolution (remember, actually Murtha’s) went down in flames, 403-3. Only Cynthia McKinney (D-GA), Jose Serrano (D-NY), and Robert Wexler (D-FL) voted for it.
This debate focused everyone’s attention on the situation in Iraq and Democrats desire to cut-and-run. While the lopsided vote reveals little, the debate revealed much. Additionally, the fight over immediate withdrawal from Iraq overshadowed Republicans failure to bring Thomas’s tax reconciliation to the floor on Friday but also gave cover to moderate Republicans that voted for the budget reduction bill on Thursday (nervous over cuts to social programs and environmental concerns). The weekend news will be dominated by the Iraq vote and battle lines that have been drawn.