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Posted by wunhuanglo [ 68.222.55.80 ] on August 05, 2006 at 09:58:06:

A DAY TO FORGET?
Congress doesn't bother to go through the motions to mark Katrina's anniversary
Saturday, August 05, 2006
By Bill Walsh

WASHINGTON -- In the week before leaving for summer vacation, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to honor bicyclists, a college fraternity and a retired baseball pitcher, but it failed to go on record noting the upcoming anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the most expensive natural disaster in the nation's history.

Kevin Madden, a spokesman for House Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said no slight was intended.

"The language is still being worked on," Madden said. "We're looking for agreement on that. There are a lot of discussions still going on."

Maybe the House just ran out of time, Madden suggested. The majority leader's spokesman noted that lawmakers were very busy in the final week considering a minimum-wage increase, estate tax repeal and pension reform.

But resolutions aren't usually time-consuming affairs. Before leaving, the House quickly passed resolutions expressing support for Hire a Veteran Week and National Bike Month. It also took time to urge states to make sure that driver's license applicants "exercise greatly increased caution" when motoring near a "potentially visually impaired individual."

The House zips right along when it wants to. It took only a minute to mark the 100th anniversary of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity and three minutes to designate the official American Negro League Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Mo.

The House got bogged down for seven minutes on a resolution commemorating the 1946 season of Hall of Fame Pitcher Bob Feller. The marathon debate was mostly because the sponsor, Rep. Steven LaTourette, R-Ohio, spent time recounting the many noteworthy accomplishments of the former Cleveland Indian, such as the time "Bullet Bob" threw a fastball clocked at 109 mph."

Apparently Democrats favored "Whoa, dude, it sucks to be you" while Republicans favored the more impersonal "Really? Sorry to hear about that".

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