Republicans rebuff Beard’s cleanup effort

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) has a sign in front of his office that reads: “This sign is in violation of Section 3.4.1 of the House Office Building Commission Hallway Policy and may be subject to removal.”

It’s a protest against a bipartisan initiative to clear the hallways of placards and charts. The deadline for sign removal is Friday.

{mosads}What started as a “tongue-in-cheek” idea has turned into an impassioned stand for the right of lawmakers to express their dissent against the majority, according to Issa spokesman Frederick Hill.

Issa used to have a sign in front of his office that criticized the MoveOn.org advertisement in The New York Times. The controversial ad featured a photograph of Gen. David Petraeus with the words “General Betray Us?” underneath.

“We got a couple of notices from the Chief Administrative Office [CAO] about taking our sign down,” Hill said. “So we decided to poke a little fun at the Democrats’ attempt to stifle our voice.

“Constituents may not get the message of it, but everybody who works [on Capitol Hill] will,” Hill noted.

Signs highlighting the growing national debt or honoring military personnel serving in foreign wars used to be a common sight in the hallways outside House offices.

But over the past several months, they have disappeared.

A new rule issued in May by Chief Administrative Officer Dan Beard, who was appointed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), gave members three months to remove items from in front of their offices.

Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.), who was asked to remove various signs in 2004 when the Republicans held the majority, and three other lawmakers share Issa’s objection. They wrote to Pelosi earlier this month and asked her to reverse the hallway regulations and leave the posters of fallen troops standing.

The CAO recognized members’ desire to honor the deceased troops, but also implored them to respect the handicaps of disabled staff and constituents.

“While we recognize the meaning and significance of the easels honoring our fallen servicemen and -women in Iraq and Afghanistan, we would hope that members also recognize the very real need to keep our hallways safe for disabled persons,” said Jeff Ventura, spokesman for the CAO. He suggested that members move the displays into their offices.

But Hill called the desire to keep the hallways clear for disabled persons “disingenuous.”

Issa has been trying for years to get the doorknob on his office’s front door changed to a handlebar — to make it more accessible to the disabled — Hill said, adding that if they truly wanted to make the hallways and offices safer, they would honor Issa’s request.

Meanwhile, some lawmakers have complied with the new regulation.

House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel (Ill.) had 27 easels bearing posters of fallen troops outside his office, but has replaced them with a computer monitor that scrolls through their pictures and names. 

[Following the print deadline, this article was amended to note that the effort to clear the hallways is a bipartisan initiative.]