Round To Boxer

Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) came to rhetorical blows last week when Inhofe objected to Boxer inviting Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) to sit at the dais for a committee hearing. Inhofe claimed there was no historical precedent for such a move; Boxer countered that she wasn't sure whether there was but that she was allowing it anyway.

Apparently, Boxer did some research, and Inhofe was wrong. In fact, Inhofe did it himself a year a ago. According to a transcript of her opening statement at a hearing of the Environmental and Public Works Committee Tuesday, she said that she “went back in the record and found out on Wednesday, September 13, 2006 Chairman Inhofe invited and allowed Senator [Lamar] Alexander [R-Tenn.] to sit immediately to ... Senator Inhofe’s right, asked him to engage in questions.”

Boxer then asked to have “photographs that prove the point” entered into the record.

“The idea of doing this is that, you know, I don’t mind if we have disagreements, but let’s not, let’s get the facts right,” she said.