Posted on 01/22/2003 2:17:01 PM PST by Jean S
Just like soccer players who commit flagrant fouls on the field, lawmakers who break the House floor rules will now receive red cards barring them from the chamber.
The “penalty” cards are part of an effort by Republican leaders to improve discipline within their caucus and shape up sloppy behavior on both sides of the aisle.
A GOP leadership aide said the brightly colored cards will inform the offending lawmaker — and alert colleagues — that he or she is in violation of the rules and should step off the floor.
Red cards will be given out for everything from failing to wear proper business attire to chatting on a cell phone to using a BlackBerry wireless Internet device. Though these requirements and prohibitions have always been part of the floor rules, they have been rarely enforced — that is, until now.
One conservative lawmaker said leaders are following the example former Mayor Rudy Giuliani set when he cleaned up New York City.
“The first thing he focused on was the broken windows,” he said, alluding to bigger discipline problems within the caucus. “If you take care of the little stuff, the big stuff fades.”
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