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Friday, Sep 9, 2011 7:05 PM UTC

9/11 resolution passes House, Congress clearly no longer broken

Congress gets back to work, passes a non-binding resolution, gets back off work

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Topics: 9/11, War Room, U.S. House of Representatives,

9/11 resolution passes House, Congress clearly no longer broken(Credit: Dwight Nadig)

Barack Obama stood before a joint session of the United States Congress yesterday and implored them to put aside partisan gridlock and get back to passing desperately needed legislation, to help heal an ailing nation. And Congress listened. Today, after unanimous consent that the bill be discharged from all committees, the House passed, by voice vote, a vital resolution reminding everyone that it’s almost the 10th anniversary of 9/11. America’s back!

Many people had clearly almost forgotten that the anniversary was almost at hand, and those who remembered were obviously unsure whether or not our elected officials support the troops and hate terrorists. Now we have our answer.

The resolution reasserts the House’s commitment to “opposing violent extremism arrayed against American interests and to providing the United States military, intelligence and law enforcement communities with the resources and support to do so effectively and safely.”

Good. That’s cleared up. The House does not support violent extremism. And it turns out that it’s really easy to just decide to hold votes on things, and then vote for them? Who knew.

The Senate did not have a 9/11 vote today, though, presumably because Richard Shelby won’t do anything until he gets another billion dollar earmark for a defense contractor.

Alex Pareene

Alex Pareene writes about politics for Salon and is the author of "The Rude Guide to Mitt." Email him at apareene@salon.com and follow him on Twitter @pareene More Alex Pareene.

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