In Rare Moment, GOP House Members Applaud Obama

For a rare moment, Republicans in the lower chamber set aside their anti-Washington rhetoric and joined their Democratic colleagues to congratulate President Barack Obama for ordering the military action that led to the death of Osama bin Laden.

A motion by state Rep. Joe Farias, D-San Antonio, a veteran, to suspend the necessary posting rules to recognize House Resolution 1694, was greeted with raucous applause from House members and spectators in the gallery. Farias and state Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, are joint authors of the resolution.

“The president's patience, leadership, wisdom, and determination have led directly to the demise of the most wanted man in the world, and have hardened this nation’s resolve to defeat the forces of malevolent fanaticism,” the resolution states.

The resolution stands in stark contrast to a statement issued earlier today by Gov. Rick Perry, who did not mention either Obama or President George W. Bush.

As Farias addressed the floor, he was flanked and applauded by some of the president’s fiercest critics, including state Rep. Leo Berman, R-Tyler, who is also a veteran. State Rep. Jim Keffer, R-Eastland, made the motion to add all members’ names to the resolution. He said that when the terrorist attacks occurred in 2001, Democrats and Republicans rallied around Bush. It was time to show the same respect to the country’s current leader, he said.

“I hope and I pray that every member of the House of Representatives will add his or her name” to the resolution, he told lawmakers.

The resolution includes a request that it be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a memorial to the U.S. Congress.

“At this point and time I cannot truly share with you the emotion that I have been going through since last night,” Farias said during his closing.