Free Republic

Texas Democrat Sheila Jackson Lee said she was targeted by a passenger accusing her of taking her first-class seat “because I was an African American woman”.....the airline said she was not given the seat because she is a congresswoman. Passenger Jean-Marie Simon accused the airline of giving up her first-class seat on a flight earlier this month from Houston to Washington, D.C., to Jackson Lee, a Democrat, in a report in the Houston Chronicle. “I am disappointed in having to respond to this accusation, but I believe transparency is very important,” Jackson Lee said in a statement posted to her...

<p>Congress will shut down on Thursday, and leaders have told lawmakers the Defense Department will fly them to Florida for the funeral of Rep. C.W. Bill Young, who died late last week.</p> <p>Mr. Young was the senior Republican in the chamber, and the move to close down business is a mark of respect for him — though it also means that there will be no floor votes and that many committee meetings have been canceled, cutting short what was already a mostly empty week. The House’s hearing examining the health exchange rollout will continue as planned, however.</p>