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  1. #1
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    Colbert asked to leave Judiciary hearing

    Posted by Donovan Slack September 24, 2010 10:26 AM

    By Donovan Slack, Globe Staff

    At least one lawmaker was not amused.

    Comedian Stephen Colbert had barely seated himself at a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing this morning when US Representative John Conyers, Democrat of Michigan, asked him to leave. Conyers said the committee had not seen so many reporters at a hearing since presidential impeachment proceedings in the late 1990s, and he wanted Colbert to leave so that the committee could carry on with its work.

    Colbert, however, did not budge, saying that he was present at the invitation of the hearing chair, US Representative Zoe Lofgren, Democrat of California. But Colbert said if Lofgren wanted him to leave, he would.

    Lofgren said she wanted him to stay, and a good portion of Capitol Hill was glued to broadcasts of the hearing.

    The hearing was about illegal immigrants and farm work. Colbert, host of The Colbert Report on Comedy Central, recently spent one day working on a farm.


    Colbert, who got five minutes to share what he called his "vast knowledge" of farm labor, began by touching on the effect of his presence.

    "I certainly hope that my star power can bump this hearing all the way up to C-SPAN1," he quipped.

    His testimony at times bordered on the absurd.

    "The obvious answer is for all of us to stop eating fruits and vegetables," he said at one point. At another, he said, "Maybe the easier answer is to have scientists create vegetables that pick themselves."

    Colbert did include one seemingly serious notion.

    "Maybe we could offer more visas to the immigrants, who lets face it, will probably be doing these jobs anyway," he said before thanking the committee for allowing him to testify.

    Donovan Slack can be reached at dslack@globe.com.
    http://www.boston.com/news/politics/pol ... ked_t.html

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    Stephen Colbert Takes On Congress, Ironically Argues For Farm Workers
    Comedian Testifies on Plight of Farm Workers Immigration Reform
    By MATTHEW JAFFE
    WASHINGTON, Sept. 24, 2010
    Stephen Colbert launched a comedy sneak attack on Congress Friday.

    He submitted serious testimony for a hearing on the issue of farm workers and immigration, but when it was his turn to speak, the talk show host slipped into character as a satiricial conservative to make his points in favor of more favored status for migrant farm laborers.

    "This is America," he told the panel. "I don't want a tomato picked by a Mexican," he said. "We do not want immigrants doing this labor."

    He tried to enter images from his colonoscopy into the Congressional record during a riff on how Americans should eat less ruffage. Then Colbert recalled his day spent picking vegetables at an upstate New York farm earlier this summer.

    "I'll admit, I started my day with pre-conceived notion of migrant labor," he said.

    "I have to say and I do mean this sincerely – please don't make me do this again. It is really really hard," Colbert said, pretending to choke up.

    And he didn't stop there…

    On a bill dealing with immigrant workers, Colbert quipped, "Like most members of Congress, I haven't read it." (103 He sarcastically expressed confidence that as the bill moves forward, "both sides will work together as you always do."

    That was one of the rare jokes that actually drew a good laugh from the packed committee room.

    Colbert then concluded his opening statement by saying, "USA, number one!"

    Observed Rep. John Conyers, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee: "Mr. Colbert's submitted statement was considerably different from the one that he presented." Earlier – before Colbert had started testifying – Conyers had withdrawn his request for Colbert to leave.

    Colbert's sarcasm continued when he was questioned by lawmakers. Asked by the panel's ranking Republican Lamar Smith how many workers joined him during his day on the New York farm, Colbert replied, "I didn't take a count. I'm not good at math." When Smith asked how many of them were illegal, Colbert replied, "I didn't ask them for their papers, although I had a strong urge to."

    And so it continued…

    Smith asked Colbert if that one day on the farm made him an expert. Responded Colbert, "I believe one day of me studying anything makes me an expert." And asked if he endorsed GOP policies, Colbert said, "I endorse all Republican policies without question." To which Smith thanked him for his endorsement of the Republicans' just-unveiled "Pledge to America."

    Smith asked if working in the apple orchard was hard work. "It is harder work than this," Colbert shot back, referring to his appearance before Congress.

    Colbert's appearance on Capitol Hill today almost ended before it began.

    Conyers, D-Mich., the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, told a subcommittee hearing on immigrant farm workers that Colbert should leave the hearing before he'd even started testifying.

    "I'm not asking you not to talk," Conyers told Colbert. "I'm asking you to leave the committee room completely and submit your statement instead."

    Conyers' request drew groans from the massive crowd assembled at the hearing.

    "I think many are eager to hear his comments," the subcommittee's chairman Zoe Lofgren told Conyers.

    After forgetting to turn his microphone on, Colbert responded to Conyers' request.

    "I'm here at the invitation of the chairwoman, and if she would like me to remove myself from the hearing I am happy to do so," he said.

    Since Lofgren wanted Colbert to stay, he'll stay. It's no surprise that Lofgren wants him to testify -- she invited him to the hearing in the first place, and as she noted, his appearance has drawn far more attention to the subcommittee hearing than it would ordinarily receive.

    "Maybe it was impeachment, but it's been a long time since we've had this much coverage," Lofgren said.

    The testimony Colbert submitted before the hearing was far more serious than the schtick he used in front of the microphones.

    "I am here today to share my experience as an entertainer turned migrant worker and to shed light on what it means to truly take one of the millions of jobs filled by immigrant labor," Colbert plans to tell the panel, according to his prepared testimony. "They say that you truly know a man after you've walked a mile in his shoes and, while I have nowhere near the hardships of these struggling immigrants, I have been granted a sliver of insight."

    As ABC's Devin Dwyer has reported, Colbert's involvement in the issue dates back to July when United Farm Workers president Arturo Rodriguez appeared on Colbert's show, "The Colbert Report." The next month, Colbert traveled to pick vegetables at a farm in upstate New York, part of a campaign by the UFW to invite U.S. citizens and legal residents to replace immigrant farm workers. To date, only seven people have done so. Colbert's appearance on the Hill has drawn fire from Republicans, who have argued that his testimony will be a joke. On Thursday Utah Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz called Colbert a fake newscaster who will be speaking at a fake hearing. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/stephen- ... 624&page=1

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