[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 112 (Wednesday, July 12, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H6884]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          PERSONAL EXPLANATION

  Mr. SKAGGS. Mr. Speaker, regrettably I missed the vote, rollcall No. 
482, on final passage of the foreign ops bill yesterday.
  Had I been present, I would have voted ``aye.''
  As a Vietnam veteran, I had been invited by the President to attend 
the White House ceremony announcing normalization of relations with 
Vietnam. At the time I departed for the ceremony, debate on the bill 
was scheduled to continue past the time the ceremony was expected to 
end, permitting me to attend and return to Capitol Hill to cast my 
vote. My beeper went off, indicating the vote, just as the guests had 
been seated in the East Room and the President was about to enter, and, 
under the circumstances, it would have been extremely rude and 
inappropriate to get up and leave. As soon as the President finished 
his remarks, I returned to the Capitol as quickly as possible, but the 
vote had been closed. Had I been present, I would have voted ``aye''.


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