Cantor: ‘Symbolic’ Votes honoring sports teams 
to go by the wayside

Republicans might not pursue as many of the symbolic resolutions that traditionally dominate the congressional schedule, the No. 2 House Republican said Monday.

Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.), the soon-to-be House majority leader, criticized many of the symbolic resolutions, such as those congratulating sports teams, as something in which the new Republican majority has no interest. 

“The Republicans who make up our new majority did not run for Congress ... to spend our time congratulating collegiate basketball teams for having a good season — even if we happened to be a fan,” Cantor wrote Monday in an op-ed for AOL News. 

The elimination of many of the symbolic votes could significantly free up the House schedule. Votes on those resolutions are fairly routine, and on Monday, the first day of the lame-duck Congress, the House scheduled three such measures for a vote: “Recognizing Gail Abarbanel and the Rape Treatment Center,” “Honoring the 30th anniversary of the Bayh-Dole Act” and “Recognizing and honoring the 50th anniversary of Ruby Bridges desegregating a previously all-white public elementary school.”

Cantor wouldn’t be the first Republican to reject symbolic resolutions. Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) has refused to vote for measures congratulating sports teams.

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