Rusty at the Jawa Report has all the details. This is the amendment to protect average Americans from being sued who report suspicious activity on flights. This after CAIR included in a lawsuit against US Airways an intent to sue the passengers on the flight who reported the imams suspicious behavior.
Welcome, CAIR, to the world of “every action has a reaction.” I know we’re a little slow sometimes, but it’s nice to see Repubs (to whom we exclusively owe this victory) wake up.
House votes to protect ‘John Does’ on flights
House Republicans tonight surprised Democrats with a procedural vote to protect public-transportation passengers from being sued if they report suspicious activity — the first step by lawmakers to protect “John Doe” airline travelers already targeted in such a lawsuit.
After a heated debate and calls for order, the motion to recommit the Democrats’ Rail and Public Transportation Security Act of 2007 back to committee with instructions to add the protective language passed on a vote of 304-121…
Rep. Peter T. King, New York Republican and ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee, offered the motion saying all Americans — airline passengers included — must be protected from lawsuits if they report suspicious behavior that may foreshadow a terrorist attack.
“All of our lives changed after September 11, and one of the most important things we have done is ask local citizens to do what they can to avoid another terrorist attack, if you see something, say something,” said Mr. King…
The motion to recommit was based on a bill introduced last week by Rep. Steve Pearce, New Mexico Republican, to protect “John Does” or passengers targeted in a lawsuit filed by six Muslim imams earlier this month in Minneapolis. Mr. Pearce said the imams are “using courts to terrorize Americans.”
So now we know the Republicans can actually get something done if they really want to. Bully for them. And the 100+ who voted against this? All Dems, of course.
Tammy, and indications about how the senate is going to vote on this when the bill gets passed to them?
I have a deep suspicion that CAIR will lobby like hell on this one.
As Tammy mentioned on her Saturday show, Mr. Pearce has 10 Republican co-sponsors for his bill, including: Rob Bishop of Utah, Dan Burton of Indiana, Geoff Davis of Kentucky, Trent Franks of Arizona, John Kline of Minnesota, Thaddeus G. McCotter of Michigan , Howard McKeon of California, Bill Shuster of Pennsylvania, Lynn A. Westmoreland of Georgia and Frank R. Wolf of Virginia.
Thaddeus McCotter is my Congressman. He’s only been in Congress since 2002 so he really hasn’t done anything jazzy, but he is a solid conservative and kind of an interesting person. He’s described by his colleagues as eccentric, self-deprecating and “probably our most cerebral member.” He says about himself, “It’s a waste of time to think about me. I’m not a French existentialist.” He purportedly subsists on Mountain Dew and cigarettes.
You can read other comments about him and his eccentricities at McCotter for Congress. Look for Mr. Popular on the left-hand side.
If you scroll down that page under Media please listen to Thad on the Greg Allen Show, Jan. 18. You’ll want to stand up and cheer. He sounds a little nervous during this interview which surprised me. I’ve seen him interviewed on TV and he is so impressive. He’s got a deep voice, a huge vocabulary and he’s very articulate. (Unfortunately some of the other media links on this page have been removed.)
In this interview he talks about how it isn’t possible to support the troops but not the war; he talks about the interests of the Left and the Right conspiring to thwart border security; he calls the Democrat majority in Congress more like a European coalition government. He also talks about Ramos and Compean. I wish he was a little more assertive on that. He just talks about using the law as a political weapon.
I urge anyone who cares to read a stirring speech to go to his official website and click on “Initial Floor Remarks on HCon63”. This speech was given by McCotter against that disgraceful non-binding anti-surge resolution.
If Tammy could get him on her show I’m sure her listeners would love him. It would be great for this conservative representative to get national publicity. The Dems have targeted his seat in ’08 because he won with “only” 54% of the vote in a heavily Republican district.
What are the chances that John McCain and his group of 7 will let this – or anything like it – pass the Senate? Given his positions on Abhu Grey (sp?) and Gitmo I think it will not clear the Senate!
As we all remember from our 4th grade Civics it has to pass both Houses and be signed be the President to become a law. Or if vetoed it needs over 66% in *both* Houses! Bush will neither sign nor veto this because it will never get on his desk. At least not until after he pardons Libby!