Before the House passed a bill that would issue $694 million to the border, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi became upset over some comments made by Republican Congressman Tom Marino. Pelosi got so mad that she actually began chasing him across the floor.
According to a report from ABC News , Marino addressed the issue saying that there is no “law and order.”
“My colleagues on the other side don’t want to do anything about it,” he said.
The Republican congressman added that when Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats had the House, Senate, and White House in 2009 and 2010, they were aware of the border problem but did nothing about it.
“They didn’t have the strength to go after it back then, but now are trying to make a political issue out of it now,” he said.
That’s when former Speaker Nancy Pelosi approached the Republican congressman and challenged his comments off-mic. Marino, who was mic’d, told Pelosi that he “did the research on it,” and everything he said “is true.” He then told Pelosi that she should do some researching on the issue, too.
“You might want to try it,” he said. “You might want to try it, Madam Leader. Do the research on it. Do the research. I did it. That’s one thing that you don’t do.”
Marino took one more jab at Nancy Pelosi in his final remark.
“With that, I urge my colleagues to vote for this legislation because, apparently, I hit the right nerve,” he concluded.
That’s when an upset Nancy Pelosi crossed the chamber again and began pointing her finger at the Republican congressman. The argument continued as the two went up a Republican aisle. GOP lawmakers assembled in a concerned hurry. One GOP member alerted the chair that the House was not in order as an attempt to get Pelosi and Marino to stop fighting.
Nancy Pelosi then halted her argument and returned to the Democratic side of the chamber. As soon as everything was in order, the bill for the supplemental border fund was approved with a vote of 223-189.
Evangeline George, a spokeswoman for Nancy Pelosi, issued a brief statement following the debacle:
“Leader Pelosi just wanted to remind the Congressman that House Democrats had the courage to pass the DREAM Act – and have the courage to stand up for what the American people want: bipartisan, comprehensive immigration reform.”
George then added that Nancy Pelosi “accepted” an apology from Marino. But, according to Marino’s chief of staff, Bill Tighe, the Republican congressman did not apologize to Pelosi and has no intentions on doing so, since “he has nothing to apologize for.”
“She was entirely out of line in approaching him while he was recognized and delivering remarks on the Floor,” Tighe wrote in an email.
Marino then took to Twitter to explain his side on what happened between him and Nancy Pelosi.
Rep. Pelosi called me an ‘insignificant person’ on the Floor of the House. I’ll ponder that for a while driving to Williamsport tonight…
— Rep. Tom Marino (@RepTomMarino) August 2, 2014
…of course I’ll be driving myself, with no staff or security. And I’m just a country lawyer who worked in a bakery until he was 30… — Rep. Tom Marino (@RepTomMarino) August 2, 2014
…so maybe I am not significant enough to question the former Speaker. But why then did she get so bothered by my comments?
— Rep. Tom Marino (@RepTomMarino) August 2, 2014
Even though the bill passed the House, CNN reports that it’s unlikely the bill will pass the Democratic-led Senate . Majority Leader Harry Reid said he “can’t imagine” this bill going through.
“I don’t think it’s going to get done,” Reid said.
In a related report from The Inquisitr , Nancy Pelosi referred the child immigrants to “baby Moses” and “baby Jesus.” In one statement, Pelosi cited the conference of bishops’ statement about Jesus being a “refugee from violence.”
“Let us not turn away these children and send them back into a burning building,” Pelosi said. “That’s the bishops. So, we have to do this in a way that honors our values, but also protects our border and does so in a way that the American people understand more clearly.”
Nancy Pelosi later asked: “What would we do if Moses had not been accepted by the Pharoh’s family?”
“We would not have the Ten Commandments, for starters,” Pelosi added. “You understand my point. Historically, we have a challenge and we have examples of humanitarian assistance that should guide us.”
Do you think Nancy Pelosi was out of line?
[Image credited to Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP via New York Daily News ]