Thanks to blogger Jill Richardson at La Vida Locavore for the heads-up on this...
Congressman Trent Franks (R-AZ2), already one of the least district-focused members of Congress, has apparently taken the fact that he is a member of the minority party in the House as reason to propose or co-sponsor a number of bills that have absolutely no relationship to his duties as a Congressman.
My personal favorite so far is his original co-sponsorship of H. Con. Res. 121.
That one would declare a "National Year of the Bible."
If passed, the fact the HConRes121 specifically mentions the Christian bible (New Testament) while ignoring other, non-Christian religions (and the non-religious) could actually make one of the normally harmless HConResolutions actually unconstitutional (The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution bars Congress from making a law "respecting an establishment of religion...")
Imagine the uproar from Franks and his cohorts if one of the Muslim MOCs proposed a "National Year of the Quran," one of the Jewish MOCs proposed a "National Year of the Torah," or a non-religious MOC proposed something similar regarding a text that is the inspiration for worship by millions of people all over the world (maybe a "National Year of the SI Swimsuit Issue"? :)) )
Now, perhaps I've been too hard on Rep. Franks - he *has* sponsored eight bills, and two of them are even directly relevant to his district.
- H.R.1122, which would "require the Secretary of the Interior to plan, design, and construct a new school at Third Mesa, Arizona, on the Hopi Indian Reservation." In a sign that this bill is actually a good one, it is cosponsored by the Democratic members of the AZ delegation, while the other two Republican members of the delegation (Jeff Flake and John Shadegg) are staying far away from it.
- H.R. 2100, which would give 315 acres of federal land in Mojave County to the AZ Game and Fish Dept. for the establishment of a shooting range. And in a show of the universally high regard that the other members of Congress have for this bill, NONE of them have signed on as cosponsors.
Later...
1 comment:
It is certainly interesting what bills the various federal Representatives sponsor and choose to cosponsor.
I am always amazed at the continued existence of the Ben Avery Shooting Facility.
I've been calling my Representative Harry Mitchell (D, AZ-5) for a couple weeks on HR 1207 [Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009] and wonder how it is that the Representatives decide to cosponsor a bill (or decide not to).
As it happens Rep. Frank and Rep. Shadegg have both sponsored this bill and I certainly don't want the Republican members of Arizona's delegation to have all the fun.
Senator Bernie Sanders [I-VT] is the sponsor of the corresponding Senate Bill 604.
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