Clearing the air on Capitol Hill

June 10, 2006

[tag]Washington[/tag] is allegedly filled with [tag]smoke-filled rooms[/tag], but DC recently implemented a smoking ban for office spaces citywide. It affects everyone — except, apparently, lawmakers on Capitol Hill who haven’t decided if they’ll follow the city law or not.

This week, Rep. Henry [tag]Waxman[/tag] (D-Calif.) and 18 of his Democratic colleagues asked Speaker Dennis Hastert to help bring the Hill in line with the rest of the city.

“Unless you act, the [tag]Capitol[/tag] Complex will soon be one of the few places in the District of Columbia where the law does not protect employees and visitors for the harmful effects of secondhand [tag]smoke[/tag],” the lawmakers wrote. Congress is not subject to the D.C. law.

The Democrats single out the Speaker’s Lobby off the House floor, a favorite hangout of Majority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and other lawmakers who take breaks from the action on the floor to puff on a [tag]cigarette[/tag] or [tag]cigar[/tag].

Boehner probably won’t take kindly to the idea — he’s a proud chain-[tag]smoker[/tag] — but I vaguely recall the Contract with America emphasizing the importance of lawmakers following the same laws as everybody else.

I can personally think of dozens of committee hearings that I’ve attended in which members of the Virginia and North Carolina delegations would lite up in the middle of testimony, much to the surprise of visitors who knew they couldn’t legally do the same in their office.

So, how about it, Congress? Care to clear the air?

The longer I live the more my image of elected politicians becomes tarnished. I thought my dad a cynic when he (a legislative aide for two terms in the ’30s) told his still idealistic 20-year-old son that virtually all politicians are liars and thieves. and those that aren’t are probably psychotic. Mark Twain was perhaps being overly kind when he referred to Congress as the National Asylum of the Insane, insanity being a defense against criminal charges in our court system.

D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams spokesman Vince Morris said, “It’s in everybody’s best interest that all 435 members of Congress stay healthy.” I don’t think so. I think it would be in everybody’s interest if all elected smokers died tomorrow. Term limits – ultimate terms limits – courtesy of the grim reaper.

  • Laws? These guys ARE the laws, just like Delay used to be. No wonder they support the death lobbies like tobacco and pollution It seems to me that anyone who smokes cigars or owns pitbulls is an antisocial asshole at some level.

  • Right on Farinata X. Cartons of filterless Camels should be readily accessible and signs should be posted to encourage smoking lawmakers to light up often and inhale as deeply as possible in order to hold and savor the lungfulls of smoke and allow the molecules of tar to have every opportunity to adhere to the linings of the airways. Boehner just wants to give the impression he’s a chain smoker. I’ll bet he could do better if he really tried.

  • anyone who smokes cigars or owns pitbulls is an antisocial asshole at some level.

    –Dale.

    Dale, are you kidding? Cigars are great. Bit Bulls are great dogs (and btw, dog bite fatalities have not increased in 30 years, and all dog breeds can and do bite, often more frequently than Pits—it’s the asshole owners who create bad dogs).

    If you don’t like something, fine, but why be a jerk about it? Do you eat McDonalds? Do you watch TV? Does that mean I can judge you, and everyone like you, or are people more complex than that? Does it really make sense for me to judge everyone who does something like own a particular breed of dog an “asshole”?

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