Congressman Doesn't Use All His Speaking Time

WASHINGTON (CT) - Members of Congress are falling all over themselves to describe their votes in the debate over the Iraqi war resolution as "historic."Â? One California congressman, however, really has made history- by refusing to use all of his speaking time on the House floor. Rules for the debate state that every member of Congress has several minutes to express his/her views. Charlie Weckwailer, independent from California's district 73, used only 47 seconds of his allotted time to thank the members for their opinions and to say that he would make a decision to support or oppose the resolution once the debate was over. It was the first time in over 200 years that a member of the House of Representatives had given a speech from the floor that was shorter than his/her allotted time. The last was in the very first Congress, when then-Speaker James Madison gave an 11-second speech. Madison apologized for sneezing and then yielded back the floor. House members of both parties were flabbergasted. Democratic Whip Nancy Pelosi told reporters that "Congressman Weckwailer's voice in this loud, pretentious debate is long overdue. More noise!"Â? Colorado Republican Scott McInnis angrily called for Weckwailer's head, but calmed down and added "Any Congressman who spends his time listening instead of giving long speeches obviously doesn't give a damn about anyone but himself. And while you're all here, I'd like to talk about several important new bills I'm sponsoring..."Â? Members of the House Ethics Committee suggested that an investigation would be forthcoming, while over one hundred members contacted the office of House Speaker Dennis Hastert, asking to claim Weckwailer's remaining time as their own. Citizens in Weckwailer's home district said that they would think about the congressman's stand and call Campaign Treehouse back. Weckwailer, as expected, had no comment either.