Think Progress

GOP House Has Time To Honor George W. Bush, But Not Troops Who Caught Bin Laden

The House had time to rename this courthouse after George W. Bush

The U.S. House has voted to add the names of former presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush to the federal courthouse in Midland, where the Bushes once lived.

U.S. Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Texas, announced the passage of the House resolution redesignating the building in a statement issued Monday. Previously, the building’s official name had been the “George Mahon Federal Building United States Courthouse,” after a longtime congressman who once represented Midland.

Yesterday, however, Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), announced the house didn’t have time to honor the Navy SEALs who caught Osama Bin Laden:

The House will not hold a vote on a resolution honoring U.S. troops and the intelligence community on the mission that killed Osama bin Laden, the number-two House Republican said Tuesday.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said that House Republican leaders had been considering a symbolic resolution honoring the Navy SEALS and others involved in the bin Laden raid but that they had decided against one in an effort to keep in line with their new rules prohibiting commemorative measures.

“We considered that last week, and we deal with the rules that we’ve put in place in the House, and we’ve said since we assumed the majority that we want to be substantive and meaningful,” Cantor told reporters at his weekly roundtable.

Why is it “substantive and meaningful” to rename a courthouse after George W. Bush but not to honor the troops who risked their lives to catch Bin Laden?