21st
On the House side of the Capitol, Representative Barney Frank, Democrat of Massachusetts, had his own curious Christmas speech to give.
Mr. Frank, who is Jewish, took to the floor on Tuesday to apologize for abstaining from a vote on a resolution about the Christmas holiday. Or rather he apologized for not similarly abstaining from an earlier vote about the Muslim holiday Ramadan.
Mr. Frank said he had been concerned that the Christmas resolution improperly mixed government and religion by making statements about the role of Christianity in the United States.
Later, he said, he realized that he had supported a resolution earlier in the year congratulating people for observing Ramadan when he should have abstained from that, as well.
“It is really none of the business of the Congress of the United States as an official body whether or not people celebrate religious holidays; our job is to preserve a free society,” he said. “So I will announce in the future that I will not applaud people for Ramadan or for Christmas, for Yom Kippur or for any of the other holidays.”
He concluded, “Let’s leave religious holidays in peace.”
—New York Times, “Gone for the Holidays, but Leaving a Light on (Got It, Mr. President?)”, 12/21/2007.
Barney Frank may be my new favorite congressman.
