Freshman Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) on Tuesday said more openly gay people need to be elected into office in order to give gay children hope, and recounted a phone call from a gay child just days after he became the first openly gay non-white member of Congress.

"Two days after I was elected, I got a phone call, and the voice was quite young," Takano said on the House floor. "It was from Altoona, Pennsylvania. And the person said, 'thanks.'

A bipartisan group of senators is going fishing.

Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Mary Landrieu (D-La.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) are poised to co-host a preview screening of the soon-to-premiere National Geographic Channel documentary “American Heroes Fishing Challenge.”

The hour-long special, which airs on Memorial Day, follows a dozen wounded American veterans competing in a series of fishing tournaments.

The network describes the show as one that “illustrates the powerful effect that nature, coupled with competition, has on their healing process.” Read more...

The son of a former lawmaker and nephew of a current congressman has died.

Twenty-nine-year-old Lincoln Diaz-Balart, one of former Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart's (R-Fla.) two sons, and nephew of Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), passed away Sunday. 

The family did not say how Diaz-Balart died, but noted in a statement that the young man suffered from depression.

“Lincoln Gabriel was a kind and loving human being. His love and compassion touched many lives during his 29 years. We will remember him with profound love and devotion for the rest of our lives,” the family told The Miami Herald. Read more...

Gary Sinise’s TV series, “CSI: NY” just got the ax, but it doesn’t sound as if he’s looking for a career change that would guarantee at least two years of job security at a time.

Running for public office, he says, is “not something I’m interested in.”

Instead, the “Forrest Gump” actor says, “I’m interested in supporting veterans, so I’m kind of active with that.”

“Kind of” may be an understatement for Sinise, who’s well known for his veteran advocacy work. In Washington this week, the Illinois native is teaming up with the Get Skills to Work program, a nationwide initiative that helps transition veterans’ skill sets to careers in the manufacturing industry.

“What you learn in the military,” Sinise says, “is discipline and organization, and you have various job skills that you learn in the military that can be applied very specifically to the manufacturing world.”

He continues, “It’s so important to take care of our veterans after they leave the service and make sure that they move on with their lives, and that we as a nation not only give back to them, but use what they have to make our economy stronger.” Read more...

Comedian George Lopez says he has a message for Rep. Louie Gohmert: “You’re f---ing crazy, dude.”

The former late-night host’s comments about the Texas Republican came after Gohmert said during a recent C-SPAN appearance, "We know that people are now being trained to come in [to the United States] and act like Hispanics when they're radical Islamists. We know these things are happening.”

The congressman added, “It's insane not to protect ourselves and make sure that people come in, and, as most people do, they want the freedoms we have."

After seeing the clip and repeating his “crazy” assertion three times, Lopez, who is of Mexican descent, told Huffington Post Live last week, “Latinos are like the eggs of cooking — however you can put eggs in anything that you make. Some people like eggs, some people don’t. They only want the egg whites, they only want the yolks. We’re the eggs of the kitchen.”

It’s clear — Rep. Jared Polis’s Twitter followers dig videos of pint-sized primates.

The Colorado Democrat tweeted up a storm Sunday, posting messages on Twitter about everything from immigration reform (“I hope #immigration reform doesn’t get filled up [with] unrelated pet projects like this #marijuana prison clogging idea”) to education (“Based on twitterverse reaction I think the Polis admin’s nomination of @MichelleRhee for [Secretary of Education] is on life support at best #edreform” to his more than 22,000 followers.

But it turns out folks are suckers for cute animal videos.

The reaction when Polis, 38, tweeted about a furry creature in action was swift:

REALLY small monkey eating macaroni:youtube.com/watch?v=TDhR-C…

— Jared Polis (@jaredpolis) May 20, 2013

Former “Superman” actor Dean Cain has a lot to say about the three scandals plaguing the White House, remarking of the Obama administration, “For as transparent as they are, they put an iron curtain that even Superman can’t see through.”

The ex-Man of Steel, currently promoting his new VH1 series “Hit the Floor,” said during a Friday appearance on Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends,” “It’s not a good week for the current administration. There’s a lot going on. But you know what? Not a big surprise to me. When you grow government like that, things happen.”

A pro-mustache group is coming to the defense of Eric Holder, contending that the attorney general’s critics are actually threatened by his facial hair.

The American Mustache Institute writes in a Friday blog post on its website: “The jealousy and scorn [Holder] has suffered from those on Capitol Hill who fear the power he holds is palpably apparent. They call for his hide month after month, but what they actually fear is not Fast & Furious distribution of weapons to Mexican drug cartels or other reported missteps. No, it is, in fact, the facial hair that threatens them.”

The organization — which has been known to make eyebrow (or mustache)-raising statements that play off hot news topics — argues that as the first mustached attorney general in 70 years, Holder has faced “immensely discriminatory challenges” from the get-go.

Michelle Obama's much-talked-about bangs are gone.

The first lady debuted a new 'do on Friday during her commencement address at Bowie State University.