Metcalfe feuds with Democratic legislator at committee meeting

By Tom Barnes,
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Tuesday, October 25, 2011

HARRISBURG -- After several weeks of feuding and arguing at the House State Government Committee, its chairman, Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, said he will ask House leaders to censure the leading Democrat on the panel, Rep. Babette Josephs of Philadelphia.

Mr. Metcalfe, a conservative Republican from Cranberry, has consistently ruled the liberal Ms. Josephs out of order at recent meetings for speaking after he said it was time for a vote.

She has accused him of heavy-handed tactics and said she and other Democrats on the committee will speak when they have something important to say.

The two leaders clashed vociferously today on a bill that Mr. Metcalfe said is aimed at cracking down on illegal aliens, people who come to the U.S. without proper documentation issued by the federal government.

A bill that passed the committee today would require state and local police in Pennsylvania to contact federal authorities to determine the citizenship of people they charge with certain summary offenses.

Another Democrat, Rep. Greg Vitali, called the bill "xenophobic" and aimed to cracking down on Latinos, but Mr.Metcalfe said it's time to identify and document illegal immigrants so they can be deported.

Ms. Josephs agreed on the xenophobia charge, adding the bill was vague and she didn't know exactly what crimes it referred to. She said it would be a burden on already overworked law enforcement.

She continued to protest the bill as a vote was being taken by Republicans, and Mr. Metcalfe repeatedly banged his gavel in an effort to silence her.

Republicans on the panel complained about the way she showed "disrespect" for the chairman and Mr. Metcalfe said he will ask House Speaker Sam Smith, R-Punxsutawney, to censure her for being an "obstructionist" and out of order.


First published on October 25, 2011 at 4:44 pm

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