Debating Lawmakers Get All Testy

House action came to a raucous halt Thursday night when a Democrat, annoyed at what he considered rude interruptions, accused a Republican colleague of being “one of the most impolite members I’ve ever seen.”

The altercation between Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., and Rep. J.D. Hayworth, R-Ariz., came during debate over whether lawmakers could take a one-week Fourth of July holiday break.

Democrats said the House should stay in session to finish required appropriations bills, while Republicans said the work was as far along as it was when Democrats ran Congress.

Obey said he was interrupted twice by other congressmen.

Then Hayworth - a freshman Republican and former sports broadcaster described by Congressional Quarterly’s “Politics in America” as “a big man with a booming voice” - sat at the front of the chamber, in front of Obey, and began gesticulating and talking loudly.

Peacemaker Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., later said the “high-spirited gentleman from Arizona gets caught up in the heat of the moment.”

As Obey concluded his statement, he angrily declared to Hayworth: “The gentleman from Arizona: Every time somebody says something you don’t like, you open your mouth and you start shouting from your seat. You are one of the most impolite members I’ve ever seen in my service in this House.”