Not the Onion: GOP Rep. Wants to Enclose Congress in Plexiglas

[cali]

An aide to Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.) tells CBS News that the Indiana Republican plans to introduce legislation next week that would encase the House Gallery in "a transparent and substantial material" such as Plexiglas that would keep members of the public from being able to throw explosives or make other attacks on members on the House floor.

Burton has introduced similar legislation in the past. It reads in part, "The Architect of the Capitol shall enclose the visitors' galleries of the House of Representatives with a transparent and substantial material, and shall install equipment so that the proceedings on the floor of the House of Representatives will be clearly audible in the galleries."

A past version of the legislation, which will be reintroduced in the wake of the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords on Saturday, references past attacks on Congress. Among them are a 1915 bombing by a man protesting U.S. involvement in World War 1, the shooting of five members of Congress by Puerto Rican nationalists during a House vote in 1954, and a the placing of a bomb by the Weather Underground in a Senate bathroom in 1971. (The bomb went off early and no one was hurt.)

An image from the House floor as the 112th Congress convenes for the first time on Jan. 5, 2010.
(Credit: CBS)

There were also two incidents in 1983. The first involved a man strapping an explosive to his body and trying unsuccessfully to detonate it in the House visitor's gallery. And the second came when a group called the Armed Resistance Unit planted a bomb outside the Senate chamber. The bomb detonated at 11:00 p.m., when no one was in the area.

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http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20028139-503544.html?tag=stack

[madinmaryland]

1. Dan Burton. nt

[Contrary1]

19. Here, let me fix that for you:

mm
Dan Burton

Yeah, that's it.

[stray cat]

2. So the rest of America is expendable and should be forbidden restrictions on assault weapons

Or treatment for mental illness

[rocktivity]

3. I remember that TV show

Get smart, Rep. Burton!



:rofl:
rocktivity

[Skink]

9. we are dealing with Chaos.

[Skip Intro]

4. While you're at it Dan, wanna encase my house too?

What a dumb idea, at any angle.

[Ruby the Liberal]

5. Um, doesn't the Capitol Building have metal detectors?

Even my local podunk courthouse has them.

[somone]

6. And make it antibacterial

[Kerrytravelers]

7. Or, we could just dial back the rhetoric and end the violent imagery.

We may want to return to issues and not ideology. I dunno. Seems easier than a major construction project. :shrug:


Republicans, their house is on fire and they're rearranging the furniture.

[DCKit]

8. You say enclose, I say encase... but only some of them.

I hear it makes the tan last longer.

[Solly Mack]

10. I think we should put plexiglas around watermelons.

[undeterred]

11. I think we should shellac all the Republicans

Boner first.

[WingDinger]

13. No way, the resin takes five hours to harden.

[3waygeek]

15. I thought Boehner was already coated with shellac...

why else would he be orange?

[chollybocker]

12. Why not keep the guns encased in plexiglass?

[LuvNewcastle]

17. Now that's an idea!

[rasputin1952]

14. The logical thing for this coward to do would be to not run again...

thereby taking himself off of any "target" list he dreamed up.

The stupidity of some people is simply amazing.

[TheCowsCameHome]

16. Not a bad idea. Most of them live in a bubble anyway.

[IDemo]

18. Maybe rubber padding would work better for the R's

Some soothing music and medication, too.

[old mark]

20. I'd like to encase the entire group in a huge, solid block of epoxy, and just dump them

somewhere unpleasant...but, hey, that's jut me...


mark

[gatorboy]

21. So all we heard from Republicans last election was cut cut cut budgets.

Now you got one guy that wants to give each member of Congress a security detail and the other wants to encase Congress in a Simpson's bubble. How much money do they want to spend on themselves?

[gmoney]

22. the congressional sneeze guard...

achoo!

[Stevenmarc]

23. .