Sorry FRiend, but you are incorrect. This is GovSpeak. The wording you and I would have preferred, while well within the right of the Speaker to use, will likely be used by Dim committee members as condemnation in future confirmation hearings.
Sen Kennedy: "Mr. Hastert, is it not true that in December of 2005 you ORDERED the Architect of the Capitol to replace the long accepted designation of 'Holiday Tree,' with the discredited and offensive term 'Christmas' tree?"
Good point.
I have to admit that my language ability is limited to English, a smattering of Spanish and 'BizSpeak', where we say what we mean or simply keep our mouths shut.