Posted on 04/06/2005 6:34:23 AM PDT by areafiftyone
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Congress returned from a two-week Easter recess both emboldened and chagrined by its role in the Terri Schiavo case and the unexpected reaction from the public to it.
While a few lawmakers sought to punish the federal judges who rebuffed their hastily passed law aimed at getting Schiavo's feeding tube reinserted, most tried to put some distance between their action in March and what's on their plate this month.
"I think we ought to let the rhetoric cool off," Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said Tuesday.
Nonetheless, Congress returned this week bubbling with the emotional issues and public policy debates raised by Schiavo's plight. A Senate committee looking at whether the treatment of disabled people such as Schiavo should be better defined was warned by the father of a retarded Kansas man to tread carefully.
"Those debates frighten me, and they should alarm you, too," Rud Turnbull of Lawrence, Kan., the father of 37-year-old Jay Turnbull, said in remarks prepared for a Senate Health Committee hearing Wednesday. "The slippery slope is slick and awaits us all."
Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, is writing legislation that would let federal courts review cases like Schiavo's - when there is no advance directive and there's a dispute over the person's wishes.
"Although Terri Schiavo very dramatically brought these issues to the attention of the nation, their importance did not fade or diminish with her loss," said Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., chairman of the committee holding Wednesday's hearing.
The bitter feud between Schiavo's parents and her husband rippled to Capitol Hill last month. On March 20, lawmakers interrupted their Easter break to pass a bill directing federal courts to review whether her civil rights had been violated by the decision to remove her feeding tube. p>Schiavo, 41, died last Thursday at a Florida hospice, almost two weeks after the removal of the feeding tube that had kept her alive since 1990, when she suffered brain damage that court-appointed doctors determined had placed her in a persistent vegetative state.
As Schiavo faded, federal judges all the way to the Supreme Court turned back her parents' efforts to get her feeding resumed.
Her death sparked intense rhetoric among lawmakers. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas suggested an impeachment case could be made against judges who rebuffed Congress' will.
"That to me should be of concern to Democrats and Republicans regardless of how you feel about the issue," said Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa.
However, other Republicans, chastened by polls showing that a large majority of Americans disapproved of Congress inserting itself into the Schiavo case, said both parties should back off from any efforts to take further action.
"I don't think there's a groundswell up here to take this issue and federalize it," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
Added Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore.: "I'm not for things that go after judges. They're an independent branch of government. We need to respect that."
Typical of The Congress Critters - Out of sight out of mind! Hey Lindsey you and the other Republican Senators are too busy lately sucking up to Hillary Clinton. This is why we don't elect Senators for president - selfish creatures - all of them!
It will NEVER happen. It has been yet another New Day of Infamy.
Bunch of chicken-poo self-promoting cowards.
Shocker.
They feel bad about trying to do the right thing and then got caught at it. Bunch of wimps! Our great Senator Harkin was straighten everything out. The Phony Plick!
Yea God forbid they should do the right thing without a hidden agenda - the sky might fall!
I knew this would happen. Disgusting.
Of course they want to forget Terri. It took a circuit court judge in FloriDUH to show that they all have feet of clay.
When there's grandstanding and cameras, these people have lots of tough words. But, never let it be forgotten that they were felled by a court order and THEIR orders were completely ignored.
Now, not only do they not go after these rogue judges who decided to create laws from the bench, they just want to sweep their shame and infamy under the carpet in hopes that we all forget what happened to Terri and just "move on".
Rots o ruck, guys. Ain't happenin'. Actions ALWAYS speak louder than words - with or without cameras. The mute testimony that emerged from the FloriDUH state Legislature, the FloriDUH governors office, the Congress and the White House to keep Terri from being murdered, speaks VOLUMES about your principles, ethics, committments and leadership.
Quote: "However, other Republicans, chastened by polls showing that a large majority of Americans disapproved of Congress inserting itself into the Schiavo case, said both parties should back off from any efforts to take further action."
The MSM continues to outright lie. Not distort or bias, but outright lie. What polls!?! The one's that asked questions based on biased assumptions, i.e.: 1)Terri was on a respirator and/or not conscience; 2) Terri's parents and hubby agreed as to her wishes; and 3) Terri left a living will. Those polls? Surely not the most recent polls wherein the ACTUAL facts were placed in front of the respondents and a completely different result was obtained. Not those polls, surely no.
They want that; but we won't forget.
Uh, Senator, in this case, they acted more like King Greer and the rulers of the land, not an independent (and supposedly equal) branch of gov't.
They didn't give the case a "da nova" (sp?) review, and they ignored the subpeona. Your laws mean nothing to them.
YES THOSE POLLS EXACTLY!! The Congress Critters are all too happy with the outcome of those polls because then it means they don't have to do anything about it and can let it fall by the waistside! These are the Congress Critters we elected to represent us. SCARY isn't it? I will never elect one of them as president!
Most Germans want to forget the Holocaust.
I still have hope that great good can emerge from this obscene tragedy. But it won't happen overnight. Terri's family will not be silent, and we must not be silent. These timid lawmakers need to be flooded with letters from people like us who are appalled by the recent miscarriage of justice. As for myself, after those dreadful two weeks, during which lurking in this forum helped me retain my sanity, I'm trying to regain emotional equilibrium and prepare for many years of patient activism.
I can't figure South Carolina; first it reelected two senatorial boobs (but at least two men whose masculinity couldn't be challenged) for years on end, and now it has elected a mincing wus in Graham. Do the laws of physics (action/reaction) hold true in politics?
Back to important things like making Sun Yung Moon the head of the state church and making things easy for illegal aliens.
There isn't anything they can do. They have been b#$chslapped by the courts and told to stay out of it. What court would uphold anything they do?
What court would uphold their actions?
I just bet a few of them remember it the first Tuesday November 2006
I know I will be thinking of it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.