A mother of a squabble in Congress

On Thursday, the Democrats offered up a routine Mother's Day resolution - or set a trap, depending on your point of view. It was named House Resolution 1113, "Celebrating the role of mothers in the United States and supporting the goals and ideals of Mother's Day."

Star Tribune

Last update: May 9, 2008 - 7:40 PM

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It's a Republican bill

I'm glad you're trying to be bipartisan, but the comedy is all GOP this time. It wasn't a Democratic trap. Nebraska Republican Rep. Jeffrey … read more Fortenberry introduced the bill. And guess what: he voted against it too in the end. So Republicans created the trap, missed it, then demanded they get a chance to walk into it again. Hope their mother's give 'em a talking to this weekend while they're on 'recess'.

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Congress\kong-gris. Noun. 1. The legislative body of a nation. 2. Where utter cynicism meets pure sentimentality.

Take Mother's Day. Where else but in Congress could motherhood become a political football?

This requires a little background: Republicans and Democrats have been squabbling all week about the proper procedure for voting on a war spending bill.

To make their feelings known, the minority Republicans have been employing stall tactics to gum up most everything the majority Democrats bring to a vote.

So on Thursday, the Democrats offered up a routine Mother's Day resolution -- or set a trap, depending on your point of view. It was named House Resolution 1113, "Celebrating the role of mothers in the United States and supporting the goals and ideals of Mother's Day."

At 2:19 p.m., in an orgy of bipartisan comity, H. Res. 1113 passed 412-0.

But then, Rep. Todd Tiahrt, a Kansas Republican, stood up to ask that the House "reconsider" the vote -- a standard delaying tactic. Rep. Kathy Castor, a Florida Democrat, moved to table Tiahrt's request.

This set up a revote at 2:27 p.m. in which 178 Republicans voted "Nay" -- in effect, voting to reconsider a resolution honoring mothers. Among them were Minnesota Republicans John Kline and Michele Bachmann, a mother of five and a foster mother of 23 children.

Democratic staffers gleefully noted that the nay-sayers had voted for Mother's Day before they voted against it.

Republican staffers argued that the nay-votes were simply against a motion to table their motion to reconsider ... oh never mind.

KEVIN DIAZ