Senate Finally Passes Thatcher Resolution, Despite Dem Attempt to Gut It

On Tuesday, the US Senate finally passed a resolution to honor recently deceased former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) had been holding up the resolution over the resolution’s word choice. Fighting him on that was Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). Menendez was reportedly offended by McConnell’s language, which Menendez thought insulted other countries. McConnell, meanwhile, reportedly felt that Menendez wanted to water down the resolution to a very basic play-by-play of Thatcher’s life, ignoring the Falklands Island dispute and Thatcher’s role in the deployment of a nuclear deterrent in Europe. One GOP aide told The Hill, “The Democratic resolution attempts to black out history,” and said that the Democrats attempted to remove language quoting Thatcher as stating, “all attempts to destroy democracy by terrorism will fail.”

Menendez’s spokesperson finally told The Hill that he would not hold up McConnell’s resolution, which passed late Tuesday. McConnell spoke about the infighting during his floor speech over the resolution:

Margaret Thatcher was one of the most influential and revolutionary figures of the 20th Century, and failing to name her achievements would do her memory and her legacy a great disservice. It would be unheard of to commemorate Churchill, for example, and ignore his heroic role in steering his countrymen through the battle of Britain. Nor would we think about honoring Lincoln without mentioning the Civil War.

Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) has filed a complaint with the Senate against Menendez over his attempts to castrate the language of the Thatcher resolution, stating:

A resolution honoring former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was hotlined last Wednesday by the Senate cloakrooms. The resolution has not been brought up because a senator has objected. Yet, no senator has filed the required holds disclosure in the Senate Calendar, disclosure that is required within two business days of a hold’s being placed. As a result, the no-secret-holds reform has been violated.