Republicans Object To Stark Comments On War

By Josephine Hearn

(The Politico)  House Republicans objected today to comments made by outspoken liberal Democratic Rep. Pete Stark of California on the Iraq war during debate on the override of President Bush's veto of the children's health program.

Speaking on the House floor, Stark said, "Under the Republican plan, by
2017, we probably will have killed 20,000 soldiers in Iraq, spending
$200 billion."

 Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) rose to protest the remark and asked that Stark's words be taken down, a formal procedure to punish a member of Congress for breaching the House's standards of decorum.

The chair later ruled that Stark's comment did not refer to any specific House member and thus were appropriate.

Earlier in the SCHIP debate, Stark had made other spirited remarks.

“You don't have money to fund the war or children,'' he said. "But you're going to spend it to blow up innocent people if we can get enough kids to grow old enough for you to send to Iraq to get their heads blown off for the president's amusement."

Responding promptly and harshly to Stark, the National Republican Congressional Committee declared he had "trampled on the sacrifice of our troops."