Now that the leaders on the Hill have scheduled the big health-care vote for this Sunday, they also had to find a way to keep the members around on Friday night and Saturday. We wouldn't want members of Congress to attempt an escape back to their far-flung districts, where they might get cold feet when they face down their enraged hometown constituents. Or maybe get trapped in a Colorado snowstorm.
What better way to keep 'em down on the farm than to schedule a pile of votes on such important bills as one that will "revise the boundaries of the Gettysburg National Military Park to include the Gettysburg Train Station." Or one that recognizes "the 50th anniversary of the historic dive to the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench, the deepest point in the world's oceans, on January 23, 1960."
If that's not enough to keep you around, how will you explain missing the H.Con.Res. 244: "Expressing support for the designation of March 20 as a National Day of Recognition for Long-Term Care Physicians." Try explaining having missed that vote next time you go to your family doctor.
If you think I'm making light of the nation's important business, I assure you I'm not. I stand second to no man in recognizing that bill H.R. 4840—which will "designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1979 Cleveland Avenue in Columbus, Ohio, as the Clarence D. Lumpkin Post Office"—will change forever how we mail letters in the United States of America.
Godspeed, Congress. Keep the midnight oil burning bright.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
