Last
Thursday, fourth graders from Hampton Falls, New Hampshire visited
their state legislature to observe a bit of democracy in action. The
children had previously proposed House Bill 373, establishing the Red
Tail Hawk as the New Hampshire State Raptor, as part of a civics lesson
in how bills become laws. Their measure had already sailed out of the
Environmental and Agriculture Committee. Now the young students gathered
in the House galley to watch their bill pass its next hurdle.But
the nine and ten-year-olds were in for a brutal lesson in realpolitik.
At the start of the day, legislators turned and applauded to children
for coming to the statehouse. When lawmakers began to consider the bill,
however, Republican Warren Groen - who has devoted his career to
combating abortion and marriage equality - took the floor to denounce the
Red Tail Hawk. "It grasps [its prey] with its talons then uses its razor
sharp beak to basically tear it apart limb by limb," he explained as
the children watched. "And I guess the shame about making this a state
bird is it would serve as a much better mascot for Planned Parenthood."
John Burt, another Republican, also castigated the effort to name an
official state raptor. "Bottom line," he said, "if we keep bringing more
of these bills, and bills, and bills forward that really I think we
shouldn't have in front of us, we'll be picking a state hot dog next."
A
number of other legislators, it seems, shared Burt's and Groen's
concerns: Ultimately, the House killed the bill by a 133-160 vote. In
the end, New Hampshire's lawmakers may have crushed the dreams of
several fourth graders. But in fairness, the legislators probably gave
the students a better lesson in the realities of American democracy than
their teacher ever could have hoped
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