GOP lawmakers take no responsibility

Tom Harper, Henderson

Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009 | 2:03 a.m.

Regarding Lisa Mascaro’s story in Sunday’s Las Vegas Sun, “Reid’s hopes hitched to health care reform bill”:

It was with great pride that I read the suggestion that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s political future and legacy may be dependent on his fervent support of necessary health care legislation. I was also saddened when I watched those in the Party of No in the U.S. Senate unanimously abdicate their responsibility as legislators by voting to not even consider the same health care legislation.

Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines “legislature” as a deliberative body of persons and “deliberation” as careful consideration before decision. The Party of No’s 39-0 vote to not even consider health care reform was a shameful capitulation of its legislative duties and responsibilities for purely partisan and ideological reasons.

It also reminds me of U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy’s remarks at the eulogy of his brother, Robert Kennedy. When referring to his brother, he stated that “he was a good and decent man who saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw war and tried to stop it.”

On Thanksgiving Day, let us all give thanks to our congressional delegation of Sen. Reid and Reps. Shelley Berkley and Dina Titus for having the courage and political will to fulfill their sacred legislative responsibilities by attempting to right wrongs and heal the suffering of more than 47 million Americans.