Republicans charged Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) with breaking House
ethics rules and election law Wednesday by linking a new political
website to his official website.
The new site, namesofthedead.com, seizes on Grayson’s comment on the
House floor that the Republican healthcare plan is for people to “die
quickly.” It invites visitors to log-in the names and stories of
friends and relatives who died because they lacked health insurance.
Grayson announced the creation of the site on the House floor
Wednesday and displayed a poster with the site’s address. He said the
names of those who die because of a lack of health insurance should be
identified.
“I propose that we honor their memory by naming them,” he said,
concluding his remarks by stating that with healthcare reform, “no one
will ever die in America because they can’t see a doctor.”
Grayson, who paid for the new site with his own money, became an
overnight sensation with his “die quickly” floor remarks and has
attempted to seize on the controversy to raise campaign funds.
The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) slammed the
site’s content and said it violated a number of House ethics rules and
campaign laws, including prohibitions against floor speeches intended
to direct people to campaign websites. Lawmakers are also not permitted
to use personal funds to subsidize official House business, an NRCC
spokesman said.
The NRCC also noted that the new site links to both Grayson’s
campaign website and his official House website. Commingling publicly
funded congressional communications and campaign communications is
prohibited.
The NRCC spokesman added that the site also violates campaign law
because Grayson paid for it without directing the personal funds
through a campaign committee.
“Whatever excuse he wants to say ... it doesn’t matter. Either way it appears to violate a rule.”
“What is wrong with this man? Alan Grayson’s morbid exploitation of
‘the dead’ for personal political gain may be the most shameless stunt
he’s pulled yet,” said NRCC spokesman Andy Seré in a statement. “Once
again, he’s proved himself to be an abject embarrassment to Central
Floridians who want more than a circus clown for a congressman.”
Grayson did not respond to a request for comment by press time.
“I apologize to the dead and their families that we haven’t voted
sooner to end this holocaust in America,” Grayson said a day after the
“die quickly” remark.
Grayson has frequently cited a Harvard study that claims 44,000 Americans die every year due to lack of health insurance.
