The House Appropriations Committee’s top Democrat, Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Comnecticut, called Republicans on the committee “terrorists” on Tuesday. Another member of the committee shouted that the Republicans on the committee are “bigots!”
DeLauro’s outburst sent the committee into recess while Committee Chair, Rep. Kay Granger of Texas, worked to have that remark stricken from the congressional record.
The Appropriations Committee was voting on earmarks inside the funding packages for the Department of Transportation. Outbursts by Democrats sent the committee into recess three separate times on Tuesday.
Democrats were angry about a Republican amendment to the funding package that would strip money from a handful of LGBTQ centers in certain districts in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts.
Politico called it “the latest in a series of culture-war-related amendments offered by House Republicans in recent weeks — and it’s an especially personal furor, since the proposal would strip money requested for specific projects in lawmakers’ districts.”
Republicans, however, say that, in spite of what the media says, it is the Democrats who are conducting a culture war on America.
The amendment prohibits extraneous flags, such as “gay pride” flags, or any other specialty flag from being flown on government property by the government itself.
Rep. Mark Pocan, a Wisconsin Democrat, shouted that the Republicans are bigots and the amendment would lead to people being beat by baseball bats just because they are gay.
“I wasn’t out yet, left a gay bar, and two people followed me and beat me with a baseball bat ’till I was bloodied unconscious and called me a ‘faggot,'” Pocan said. “This is what you guys do by introducing amendments like this taking away from people’s earmarks.”
Pocan, who could barely contain himself, continued shouting, “But when you do it to the LGBT community, it’s another frickin’ day in Congress.They always say there are Democrats, Republicans, and appropriators, and now we have to say there are Democrats, Republicans, appropriators, and unfortunately a bigger umbrella called bigots!!!”
Watch Pocan melting down on video here.
Rep. Ryan Zinke, a Republican from Montana, spoke to the issue, saying that “Appropriations should be appropriate,” and that having taxpayers pay for hormone replacement therapy, drag shows, and a youth Communist league, is not appropriate.
“The LGBTQ Center of Greater Reading, one of the proposed earmarks, “provides counseling services for HRT, which is hormone therapy, and gender-affirming surgery referrals, hormone therapy and gender-affirming surgery, diagnostics of gender dysphoria, adequate support, and HRT and top and bottom surgery,” Zinke said. “That’s what it does. The question is: Should taxpayers pay for this? The answer is no.”
Another earmark that was amended out of the bill was for the William Way LGBT Community Center, which pays for the Young Communist League of Philadelphia. That is the same group that created a protest against the parents rights group, Moms for Liberty, which was having their Philadelphia summit two weeks ago.
