Leave Your Scandal at the Door

By Betsy Rothstein, The Hill

September 17, 2008

The United States Capitol Historical Society is preparing to honor 50 retiring members of Congress on Sept. 24 in Statuary Hall. The 40 Republicans and 10 Democrats will be honored for their collective 754 years of service.

The philosophy of the event seems to be: the more the merrier. Even scandal-ridden lawmakers will be among those honored. They include Reps. John Doolittle (R-Calif.), Vito Fossella (R-N.Y.) and Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.) and Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho), all of whom are retiring at the end of this Congress under a cloud of scandal.

“We are not saluting anything,” said Ron Serasin, the society’s president, when asked if he saw a problem with “saluting” members embroiled in scandal. But he suggested things might be different for a convicted member.

“Cloud or not, if they were convicted of something, that would be another story,” he said.

Mary Hughes, the society’s director of marketing, verified Monday morning that invitations to all retiring members have already gone out. “To my knowledge, nothing is changing,” she said.

Trouble stirred in 2006 when the U.S. Capitol Historical Society planned a reception for retiring lawmakers that included former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham (R-Calif.), who at the time was beginning his prison term for bribery.

Another retiring lawmaker honored that year was former Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas), who resigned after being indicted. At the time, co-hosts for the event included then-House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), -Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) and -Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).

Pelosi refused to participate as host unless the society removed Cunningham and DeLay from the roster of honorees. Cunningham was dropped, but not DeLay, and Pelosi did not attend.

The society has asked all of the Congress’s leadership to host the upcoming event, but has not received official word on whether Pelosi will declare this year’s event fit for her attendance.