From the Politico:
The rancor erupted shortly before 11 p.m. as Rep. Michael R. McNulty (D-N.Y.) gaveled close the vote on a standard procedural measure with the outcome still in doubt.
Details remain fuzzy, but numerous Republicans argued afterward that they had secured a 215-213 win on their motion to bar undocumented immigrants from receiving any federal funds apportioned in the agricultural spending bill for employment or rental assistance. Democrats, however, argued the measure was deadlocked at 214-214 and failed, members and aides on both sides of the aisle said afterward.
One GOP aide saw McNulty gavel the vote to a close after receiving a signal from his leaders – but before reading the official tally. And votes continued to shift even after he closed the roll call – a strange development in itself.
. . .
The House eventually recessed at 11:18 p.m. But Republicans quickly discovered that there was no longer any record of the controversial vote and immediately charged Democrats with erasing the bad result.
Well, the result is now up and Democrats claim that they defeated the motion to bar illegal aliens from receiving federal funds (food stamps and housing assistance under the Agriculture appropriations bill) by a vote of 216-212. All 198 Republicans who voted as well as 14 Democrats supported this ban. For the first time ever, in more than 200 years of meeting, Congress reversed the result of a vote after it had been gaveled to a close.
You can watch it all right here.
I think the following quote says it best:
“Obviously, the Democrats don’t want to stand up against illegal immigration – so much so that they’re willing to cheat in order to win a vote,” Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) said in an e-mail. “They’re desperate – and it shows.”
On a side note, Congressman McNulty, the Chairman of the Congressional Obscurity Caucus (he has been a member of Congress since 1988 and almost no one knows who he is — even among D.C. insiders) represents my hometown. In fact, I had an exploratory campaign to challenge him for this seat in the 1994 elections, but ultimately decided against it (I’m listed in a year’s worth of Cook Political Reports back in ‘93.) In the end, I decided that I’d rather have a life and, like fellow Virtucon contributors ConservativeFembot and Rittinger, moved from New York to Virginia to make my home (as did my would-be campaign manager, Michelle Presson whom many of you also know through VA GOP politics.) Some friends still chide me for passing on a race I could have won (it was ‘94 after all), but I firmly believe I made the right decision and have a beautiful wife and daughter to show for it.
Filed under: Congress, Democrats, Immigration
funny about mchenry………coming from someone whom has cheated to get ahead. He did the same thing, over and over.
[...] August 3, 2007 Posted by Riley, Not O’Reilly in Virginia Politics. trackback Following last night’s travesty in Congress, the meltdown continues today. I can’t believe what I’m watching right [...]
[...] 26, 2007 by Riley U.S. Rep. Mike McNulty (D-N.Y.), a 20-year member of Congress solely known for screwing up a vote two months ago, allowing votes to change after gaveling the vote to a close so as to defeat a bill [...]