Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., received a day-long ban from speaking on the House floor today, and the comments he had made were removed from the record, after he violated House rules with a personal attack on Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas.
“I have never seen truth stood on its head more rapidly than my colleague from Texas [just did],” Frank said today after Hensarling spoke on the House Floor. “For the gentleman from Texas — having been part of the leadership that engaged in that shameful maneuver — to now accuse us of being excessively concerned with credit is the most hypocritical and dishonest statement I have heard uttered in this House.” Before making those remarks, Frank had earlier acknowledged that “you may not accuse anyone else of being disingenuous, under the House rules.”
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Hensarling admonished Frank for worrying about who gets the credit for the legislation, prompting Frank’s impermissible remarks, which Hensarling then asked to be removed from the House record in keeping with House rules. “Without objection, the offending words are stricken from the record,” the House chair said. A member of Congress who has had his comments removed from the record may not speak on the Floor for the rest of the day, “even on yielded time,” according to House practice.
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