Retired Rep. Dick Armey (R-Texas) has only been gone a few days, but his former colleagues are already trying to memorialize the former House Majority Leader.
As one of his first orders of business last week, Rep. Jim Nussle (R-Iowa) introduced a resolution to name Room H-236 in the Capitol the “Richard K. Armey Room.”
While it’s not exactly a bust in Statuary Hall, a Nussle spokeswoman described the move as a way to “honor” Armey for his “long years of service.”
Nussle was a close ally of Armey’s, and their personal offices were next door to each other in the Cannon House Office Building for years. “They definitely had a pretty close, positive working relationship,” Nussle’s spokesman explained.
The bill has been referred to the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Calif.), meanwhile, is being cheered by Capitol Hill’s hard-working and even harder-partying 20-something crowd.
That’s because one of Cox’s first orders of business was H.R. 52 — a bill to amend the tax code and repeal the “luxury tax” on beer.
Bottoms up!
Games People Play. Rep. Jerry Weller (R-Ill.) is the new chairman of the House Gaming Caucus, founded in 1995 by then-Rep. John Ensign (R-Nev.).
The caucus also welcomed its newest member, freshman Rep. Jon Porter (R-Nev.).
Thinking Ahead. The Progressive Caucus, the largest caucus within the Democratic Caucus, elected Reps. Dennis Kucinich (Ohio) and Barbara Lee (Calif.) to serve as new co-chairmen on Wednesday.
Other new leaders of the 53-member caucus are: Reps. Lynn Woolsey (Calif.) as vice chair; and Peter DeFazio (Ore.), Jesse Jackson Jr. (Ill.), Major Owens (N.Y.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Hilda Solis (Calif.) as officers.
— Amy Keller and Raya D. Widenoja
