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The Washington
Times By Robert Redding
Jr. Two Maryland Republican
delegates who were exonerated of assaulting pro-immigration lobbyists
are seeking pledges from them to refrain from using disparaging remarks
in debates about illegal immigration. Delegates Pat McDonough
and Richard K. Impallaria, both of Baltimore County, also want a pledge
from Delegate Peter Franchot, a Montgomery County Democrat who reportedly
called the two "renegades and rogues" and compared them to
members of the Ku Klux Klan. "We know that
it is part of their tactics to demonize and marginalize their opponents,"
Mr. McDonough said yesterday. "So more than anything else, we want
to make that public knowledge." Mr. Franchot did
not return a call for comment. During the past
General Assembly session, Mr. McDonough and Mr. Impallaria sponsored
several bills aimed at curbing illegal immigration. Their legislation
failed to pass the Democrat-dominated legislature. Last month, the General Assembly's Joint Committee on Legislative Ethics exonerated the pair in a purported assault on a group of immigration rights lobbyists in the House of Delegates'
office building after a March 18 hearing on Mr. McDonough and Mr. Impallaria's
bills. After the hearing,
Mr. McDonough and Mr. Impallaria were involved in an argument with some
lobbyists when Jamie Kendrick, executive director of the Service Employees
International Union Maryland/DC Council, collided with Mr. McDonough. Mr. McDonough has
maintained that Mr. Kendrick was invading his personal space and that
he put out his arm in self-defense. None of the lobbyists
-- including Erica Seigel of the Maryland Jewish Alliance and Natali
Fani of the Hispanic advocacy group Casa of Maryland -- could be reached
for comment yesterday. State troopers
assigned to the General Assembly filed an incident report, but no one
was charged. Mr. McDonough yesterday
pointed out that state Comptroller William Donald L. Schaefer and Gov.
Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. have been accused of racism and intolerance for
their comments about multiculturalism. He said he wants
Mr. Franchot and the lobbyists to sign a pledge to engage in an "honest
and ethical debate and to prohibit name calling and personal attacks." "I don't think
people should tolerate people engaging in this kind of language,"
Mr. McDoAnough said. "It is dangerous and demeaning." Copyright © 2004 News World Communications, Inc. All rights reserved. |
