“‘Congress’ . . . means the intercourse between men and women”

“The term, ‘Congress,’ Madame Speaker, actually is an ancient term. It means interaction — it means the intercourse between men and women — and ideas and philosophies.” – Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN)

He said it, not us!   With some of the recent antics of former and current members of the House and Senate in the news, we wanted to make that clear. This quote is from floor debate in the House of Representatives prior to the vote on the American Clean Energy and Security Act (and directed at Speaker Pelosi too!). Congressman Pence followed the above quote by saying, “This is not Congress” (still trying to figure out whether there should be quotes around the word Congress there).  We certainly understand that the congressman was in all likelihood making a perfectly innocent remark and that we are snickering in an immature teenage-adolescent-boy sort of way. Whatever. This quote calls out for a little extra clarification.

The above quote is from Roll Call.  Our crack research team did find a slightly different quote in the Congressional Record. After “… an ancient term,” it continues, “It means interaction. It means the intercourse between men and women in ideas and philosophies.” This would indicate that slightly different wordings and pacing could be interpreted by different listeners at that late hour (Rep. Pence says it was “3 o’clock in the morning”).

So, we won’t belabor this any longer, but will say, with our tongue planted firmly in our cheek:

“Oh no you didn’t say that!”