9 Dems say no to Christmas resolution

Rep. Jim McDermott says he is no Grinch, even though he voted against Christmas.

The Democrat from Washington state says he was protesting an expected veto of a children's health insurance bill when he voted against a resolution recognizing the importance of Christmas.

"While the Republicans are passing a resolution celebrating Christmas, the president was vetoing health care for children. There's a little bit of irony going on around here," McDermott said Thursday.

The Christmas measure was approved 372-9 on Tuesday night. Democrats cast all the no votes. Beside McDermott, the other dissenting votes came from Reps. Gary Ackerman and Yvette Clarke of New York; Barbara Lee, Pete Stark and Lynn Woolsey of California; Diana DeGette of Colorado; Alcee Hastings of Florida; and Bobby Scott of Virginia.

Ten lawmakers, including Republican Mike Pence of Indiana, voted "present." Forty lawmakers were absent for the vote.

McDermott said President Bush's veto Wednesday meant that "10,000 kids in my state" would be left without health coverage. The veto was the second time Bush rejected a bipartisan effort in Congress to dramatically increase spending for the popular program.

"I guess I'm the only guy left in Congress who still gets angry, but there are some things that are just not right," McDermott said.

On that last point, at least, Republicans agreed.

"I think there's an anti-Christian bias," said Rep. Steve King, who sponsored the resolution. "I would not have thought that five or 10 years ago that we'd need to make a statement" affirming the importance of Christmas and Christianity.

King's resolution stated that Christianity was the predominant faith in the United States and contributed greatly to the development of the country and Western civilization.

"I've watched Christ be eradicated by ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) lawsuits and people be afraid of confrontations. They wish (people) 'happy holidays' but not 'Merry Christmas' because they might be offended," King, R-Iowa, told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

McDermott, in his 10th term, is revered by many of his liberal constituents in Seattle for his anti-war stance and other votes. But he is loathed by many conservatives, who call him "Baghdad Jim" in honor of his prewar trip to Iraq, where he said he believed Saddam Hussein but not Bush.

McDermott said Thursday that he expected to take political heat for his actions, but if it forces a discussion of Bush's veto, "then it was a good protest vote."