House Majority Whip James Clyburn told reporters today that Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-TX) should take to the House floor to apologize for shouting “baby killer” during debate Sunday night. Clyburn said the outburst - coupled with antics from protesters in the gallery above the chamber and Republican applause - is part of a growing pattern he worries will continue if it’s not swiftly dealt with.
“That kind of stuff, it festers,” Clyburn (D-SC) told TPMDC and several other reporters this afternoon following a brief signing ceremony for the health care bill. Clyburn said it was up to Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) to demand Neugebauer make a formal apology to the House from the well of the chamber.
“He needs to take control of his conference,” Clyburn said. “For these things to be isolated events, they must be isolated.”
Neugebauer issued a statement apologizing and suggesting he wasn’t actually calling Rep. Bart Stupak, who was speaking at the time, a “baby killer.” Stupak told reporters today he accepts Neugebauer’s apology but also said members should keep House “decorum,” according to AFP’s Olivier Knox.
Clyburn cited Rep. Joe WIlson shouting “You Lie” last fall during President Obama’s health care speech and the hecklers taken out of the House chamber from the visitors galleries yesterday, noting that Republicans were applauding the protests.
He said “this has escalated.” Clyburn told reporters that it might be 12 protesters at first applauding, a violation of the House rules against demonstration during official business, and that might swell to 30.
“It was not just that yell last night,” Clyburn said, adding he thinks Boehner should have issued a warning during the applause incident early in the day. “The next thing you know it will get out of hand,” he said.
Clyburn also talked about all of the incidents following the tea party protests this weekend, including several black members of Congress being called racial slurs and a spitting incident. He specifically criticized Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) for suggesting on C-Span this weekend that the recent actions were Democrats’ fault. “When you use totalitarian tactics, people begin to act crazy,” Nunes said.
“That kind of stuff has got to stop,” Clyburn said. “These people had better step up and assume the mantle of responsibility.”
Late Update: Reporters asked White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs about the incident today during his daily briefing.
“I think the President believes regardless of the passion of your views, which people rightly hold in a country as great as this, that we ought to be able to have that debate without the type of language and actions that we’ve seen in some places over the weekend,” Gibbs said.
When pressed further later, he added, “I think instead of being frustrated about a process, there were many avenues with which to become active in the legislative problem-solving part of the process that I think many wish they might have taken up.”
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