Scalise, Sutton spar over pronunciation

Remember the anguish and embarrassment felt in third grade when you mispronounced a word during your turn to read out loud in class? Now, imagine that it happened while you were a member of Congress discussing a major health care bill live on C-SPAN.

Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) need not imagine. Scalise, while objecting to Section 2 of Rep. Betty Sutton’s (D-Ohio) and Rep. Donna Christensen’s (D-Virgin Island) amendment during last nights mark up said, “I’m concerned of experimental learning opportunities that target behavioral risk factors.”

The problem? Section 2 actually says “to educate, guide, and provide experiential learning opportunities that target behavioral risk factors including…”

Sutton, in a manner much more cordial than third grade classmates would have, informed Scalise that the language was actually “experiential” not “experimental.”

Sufficed to say, there was some much needed laughter on both sides of the aisle and audience in what was a pitched and tense markup which lasted well past midnight.

The Amendment passed 36-23 with Scalise voting “nay” after reading it a bit more carefully.

-David Shalleck-Klein