Earlier this year I did a story about Congressman Steve King (R-Kiron, Iowa) using a distant uncle's copy of the New Testament to be sworn in for his latest term. That uncle, and one of King's great-great-great-great-great grandfathers, fought in the Grand Army of the Republic during the Civil War. (That would be the anti-slavery side.) Here's an excerpt from that January 6, 2009 story:
"There's a transformation taking place in this country and even though we have philosophical differences, on the 20th of January we'll be swearing in our first African American president and it strikes me that the people who shed their blood to put an end to slavery — the abolitionists that were radical in their day — paid a tremendous price," King says. "If they could look down on this country today and see an American president sworn into office, that would do their heart proud."
Now comes news that King was the only member of congress to vote against acknowleding the slvaes who built the U.S. Capitol. The vote tally was 399-1. The vote was news in the Huffington Post and a story about it was featured on a blog called BlackAmericaWeb.com.
The Washington Post wrote a story last August about another House vote on the slavery issue. King said back then that such votes amount to this: "White Americans wallowing in guilt."
As noted in today's HuffPo piece, King has a history of voting against what he considers "frivolous" resolutions. King's congressional staff has not issued a news release to the media on the vote last night and a check of King's congressional website finds no statement there, either.
About O.Kay Henderson
Kay is a founding member of the Radio Iowa network newsroom. In 1994, she became the network’s news director. She’s a featured reporter and commentator on Iowa Public Television’s “Iowa Press,” and the 2002 recipient of the Shelley Award.
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