Arizona Democrat Apologizes After Attending Hearing Virtually from Boat

Rep. Greg Stanton (D-AZ) attended a House Transportation Committee hearing from a boat on Friday, which aroused backlash from his House colleagues.

Stanton voted and attended a House Transportation Committee hearing by teleconference on Friday, in which his appearance, floating on the water, drew shock from members of the House Transporation Committee.

Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR), the chairman of the House Transporation Committee, allegedly said, “Is Stanton rowing a boat?”

Stanton apologized in a statement on Friday, saying:

There’s no getting around it: I messed up and I’m sorry for it. I participated in the five-hour markup mostly from inside and went outside to watch my kids (while listening in the entire time) shortly before the vote was called.

“At a time when most of his constituents in Phoenix are homebound in a state that has struggled mightily to bring down its COVID-19 infections, the visual of a congressman on a boat quickly burned through social media,” the Arizona Republic wrote.

Republicans swiftly condemned Stanton’s remote appearance before the committee.

“Exactly as I predicted,” Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) wrote. “The democrats enacted ‘proxy’ and ‘remote’ voting. These guys are literally phoning it in while half way across the country.  This is more like a zoom call now.”

Exactly as I predicted. The democrats enacted “proxy” and “remote” voting. These guys are literally phoning it in while half way across the country. “CONGRESS” means “coming together for a meeting.” This is more like a zoom call now. https://t.co/6PrqfMZ92h

— Paul Gosar (@DrPaulGosar) July 17, 2020

“I guess I’m a sucker for actually showing up to work in Congress this week,” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), a member of the House Transporation Committee, wrote.

House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has criticized Democrats’ move to allow remote hearings and proxy voting, which he contended could permit abuse and place too much power in the hands of Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).

Rep. Charlie Crist (D-FL) received backlash in May when attending a vote in person, citing health concerns amid the coronavirus outbreak, yet he flagged his plan to attend the NASA and SpaceX shuttle launch on the same day.

Here's @RepCharlieCrist's request for a proxy to vote for him.

He says he's "unable to physically attend proceedings in the House Chamber due to the ongoing health emergency"

But he was sure excited to attend the space launch today in Florida! https://t.co/fsYqTVJRNs pic.twitter.com/DcStfyvK79

— Mark Bednar (@MarkBednar) May 28, 2020