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UPDATE: FILNER DENIES ALLEGATIONS OF ASSAULT --
"The story that has appeared in the press is
factually
incorrect, and the charges are ridiculous."
Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA), Chairman of the
House Committee on Veterans' Affairs
Original story on this situation is here...
http://www.vawatchdog.org/07/
nf07/nfAUG07/nf082107-3.htm
For more on Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA), use the VA
Watchdog search engine...click here...
http://www.yourvabenefits.org/ses
search.php?q=filner&op=and
Latest story
here...
http://www.cqpolitics
.com/2007/08/house_veterans_
affairs_chairma_1.html
Story below:
-------------------------
House Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Charged After
Airport Incident
By Patrick Yoest, CQ Staff
House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Bob Filner, D-Calif., faces
misdemeanor charges of assault and battery after a Sunday night incident
in which Filner allegedly shoved a United Airlines baggage employee at
Dulles International Airport.
Filner, who took the reins of the panel early this year, “allegedly
attempted to enter an area authorized for airline employees only, pushed
aside the employee’s outstretched arm and refused to leave the area when
asked by an airline employee,” according to a statement from airport
police.
Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority spokesperson Courtney Prebich
said Filner was not arrested or handcuffed, but must appear Oct. 2 in
Loudoun County General District Court to answer the charges. Filner has
not yet been served with the summons, she said.
Filner is scheduled this week to lead a congressional delegation to Iraq
and Germany to study the transition of military service members to
civilian life.
His office said in a statement that “the story that has appeared in the
press is factually incorrect — and the charges are ridiculous,” saying
Filner “will have a full statement when he returns.”
Filner, now serving his eighth term, is known for his fiery temper — a
reputation that nearly cost him the chairmanship of the Veterans’
Affairs Committee at the start of the 110th Congress. Critics cited his
frequent fights with former GOP Chairman Steve Buyer of Indiana, and a
profanity-laced tirade last year outside VA headquarters calling for
Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson’s resignation and blasting the
Bush administration’s stewardship of the department.
Unexpectedly, he has since forged a close bond with Nicholson, who was
scheduled to join him on the trip to Iraq and Germany.
Filner won the committee gavel only after an unusual runoff election
within the full House Democratic Caucus, defeating Rep. Michael H.
Michaud of Maine by 112-69. The Dec. 8, 2006, vote confirmed an earlier
decision by the Democratic Steering Committee, headed by Speaker Nancy
Pelosi, D-Calif., to award the chairmanship to Filner.
“This whole fuss was made about style, that Filner is too emotional, too
passionate,” said one Democrat at the time.
Filner also serves on the House Transportation and Infrastructure
Committee, where he the second most-senior Democrat on the Aviation
Subcommittee.
The mercurial Californian, a 1960s civil rights activist, is the son of
a former union organizer and businessman who was an early fundraiser for
the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King. He left college to join the Freedom
Riders in 1961 and was arrested during a sit-in at Mississippi lunch
counter with John Lewis, now his Democratic House colleague from
Georgia.
No major challengers have announced their candidacies for Filner’s 51st
District seat in 2008, but the Hispanic community has not given Filner a
free pass in recent primary elections and would be unlikely to do so
next fall.
Hispanic activists argue that the Hispanic-majority district, which runs
along the Mexican border, should be led by a representative of
Mexican-American heritage. But Filner’s positive relations with his
Hispanic constituency and strongly liberal voting record have helped him
overcome past attempts to oust him from Congress.
In last year’s primary contest, Filner garnered many endorsements from
Hispanic organizations in the district and was dubbed the “real Latino
candidate” by some local leaders. Filner won re-election with 67 percent
of the vote after surviving the 2006 primary with 51 percent against a
pair of Hispanic candidates.
Rachel Kapochunas contributed to this story, which originally appeared
in CQ Today.
-------------------------
Larry Scott --
