The U.S. House voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to honor legendary Penn State football head coach Joe Paterno for his 400th career win, but three members forever earned the enmity of Nittany Lions fans for casting no votes against the beloved 83-year-old coach—Reps. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.), Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) and Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah).
The dissenters in the 417-3 vote said it was nothing personal against “JoePa,” as he’s widely referred to in Pennsylvania. Rather, it was their way of voicing their objections to what they see as frivolous honorary resolutions.
Chaffetz has long voiced his frustration with such sports-themed measures, saying it ties up debate and wastes taxpayer resources.
“Sports teams and heroes get more than their share of adulation,” Chaffetz told POLITICO. “Let’s start recognizing teachers and scientists.”
The freshman Utah congressman emphasized he has no ill will toward the Hall of Fame coach, now in his 44th season. In fact, he’s very familiar with his body of work—a one-time placekicker at Brigham Young University, Chaffetz stood on the opposing sidelines against Paterno in the final game of his senior year. The Cougars lost, providing Paterno with one of his 400 victories.
“I love Joe Paterno. But we don’t need to waste our time telling the country he’s a great coach. Everybody already knows that,” said Chaffetz.
Echoing Chaffetz, DeFazio also insisted Congress should be spending time on other matters.
“We have problems in this country we must address, not the least of which is creating jobs,” said DeFazio, whose district includes the University of Oregon, which lost in the 1995 Rose Bowl to Paterno’s Nittany Lions. “ I just don’t think we should be wasting our time on honorary resolutions.”
Slaughter’s spokesman voiced similar concerns, saying that while the congresswoman “is of course a fan of Paterno’s accomplishments…by the time this resolution came to the floor last night she had seen enough frivolous resolutions.”
Her opposition is of recent vintage, however: the New York congresswoman voted in favor of a resolution honoring the New York Yankees World Series victory in 2009.
Rep. Glenn Thompson, the bill’s sponsor who represents State College, Pa., told POLITICO the measure was about more than recognizing Paterno’s 400th win—the most ever by a Division I head football coach.
“I don’t know why they voted against it. They obviously didn’t read the resolution close enough. Joe Paterno is about a lot more than men on the field,” said Thompson. “I think in a day when we are truly lacking credible heroes, here’s a man who’s led his life by those principles.”
Thompson and 17 of his Pennsylvania colleagues and Virginia Rep. Frank Wolf, a Penn State graduate, also nominated Paterno for the Presidential Medal of Freedom, citing his work with the Special Olympics and as a role model for students. President Obama announced recipients of the award this week, but Paterno was not among those chosen.
Thompson, who positioned a life-size cardboard cutout of the legendary, low-key coach outside his office all week, joked that even congressmen whose alma maters are Penn State’s arch rivals voted for the measure.
“Joe Paterno is someone everyone can look up to,” said Thompson.
And how does Paterno himself feel about the resolution?
“Knowing the coach, he doesn’t like attention,” said Thompson.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1110/45373.html#ixzz2H5adoRV9
The dissenters in the 417-3 vote said it was nothing personal against “JoePa,” as he’s widely referred to in Pennsylvania. Rather, it was their way of voicing their objections to what they see as frivolous honorary resolutions.
Chaffetz has long voiced his frustration with such sports-themed measures, saying it ties up debate and wastes taxpayer resources.
“Sports teams and heroes get more than their share of adulation,” Chaffetz told POLITICO. “Let’s start recognizing teachers and scientists.”
The freshman Utah congressman emphasized he has no ill will toward the Hall of Fame coach, now in his 44th season. In fact, he’s very familiar with his body of work—a one-time placekicker at Brigham Young University, Chaffetz stood on the opposing sidelines against Paterno in the final game of his senior year. The Cougars lost, providing Paterno with one of his 400 victories.
“I love Joe Paterno. But we don’t need to waste our time telling the country he’s a great coach. Everybody already knows that,” said Chaffetz.
Echoing Chaffetz, DeFazio also insisted Congress should be spending time on other matters.
“We have problems in this country we must address, not the least of which is creating jobs,” said DeFazio, whose district includes the University of Oregon, which lost in the 1995 Rose Bowl to Paterno’s Nittany Lions. “ I just don’t think we should be wasting our time on honorary resolutions.”
Slaughter’s spokesman voiced similar concerns, saying that while the congresswoman “is of course a fan of Paterno’s accomplishments…by the time this resolution came to the floor last night she had seen enough frivolous resolutions.”
Her opposition is of recent vintage, however: the New York congresswoman voted in favor of a resolution honoring the New York Yankees World Series victory in 2009.
Rep. Glenn Thompson, the bill’s sponsor who represents State College, Pa., told POLITICO the measure was about more than recognizing Paterno’s 400th win—the most ever by a Division I head football coach.
“I don’t know why they voted against it. They obviously didn’t read the resolution close enough. Joe Paterno is about a lot more than men on the field,” said Thompson. “I think in a day when we are truly lacking credible heroes, here’s a man who’s led his life by those principles.”
Thompson and 17 of his Pennsylvania colleagues and Virginia Rep. Frank Wolf, a Penn State graduate, also nominated Paterno for the Presidential Medal of Freedom, citing his work with the Special Olympics and as a role model for students. President Obama announced recipients of the award this week, but Paterno was not among those chosen.
Thompson, who positioned a life-size cardboard cutout of the legendary, low-key coach outside his office all week, joked that even congressmen whose alma maters are Penn State’s arch rivals voted for the measure.
“Joe Paterno is someone everyone can look up to,” said Thompson.
And how does Paterno himself feel about the resolution?
“Knowing the coach, he doesn’t like attention,” said Thompson.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1110/45373.html#ixzz2H5adoRV9