As Republican lawmakers condemned the expulsion of Sen. Janet Nguyen, R-Garden Grove, from Senate Chambers Thursday while she condemned the late former state Sen. Tom Hayden, the president pro tem of the senate said he was “greatly unsettled” by the way the dispute was handled.
Nguyen first made remarks criticizing Hayden, who recently died and was honored earlier this week by the senate, in her native tongue, but when the Vietnamese refugee began reiterating them in English another senator quickly complained she was “out of order.”
“Today, I recognize in memory the millions of Vietnamese and hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese refugees who died in seeking for freedom and democracy,” Nguyen said. “On Tuesday you had an opportunity to honor Sen. Tom Hayden. With all due respect, I would like to offer this historical perspective…”
It was then that Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens, who was presiding over the body, cut her off and allowed Sen. Bill Monning, D-Carmel, to complain she was out of order because she should have made the remarks when the senate was adjourning in honor of the lawmaker, perhaps best known for his opposition to the Vietnam War in the 1960s and ’70s and the protests he engaged in with his then-wife, actress Jane Fonda.
Lara continued to gavel Nguyen, who kept on with her remarks until the senator called for the sergeant of arms to forcibly remove her from the chambers.
Sen. John Moorlach, R-Costa Mesa, who had a front seat for the incident at his post next to Nguyen, said Lara appeared shaken after Nguyen was expelled.
“He came right up to me afterward and (said) he felt bad and that it was not what he expected,” Moorlach said. “You could see he was shaken too. He was instructed — probably incorrectly.”
Moorlach said he felt the opposition was planned in advance and that the call to find Nguyen out of order was not spontaneous.
“I think the Democrats knew this was coming because she had emailed on the proper manner of how to present” her remarks, Moorlach said. “They started to obstruct it based on a technicality and called for a point of order, so I think they were ready and it kind of shows the power the Democrats have, speaking as one in the super minority, but it also shows the kind of bullying that goes on on the senate floor.”
Moorlach added, “I think everybody was disturbed by this. We all walked out of that senate chamber feeling emotional. I think a lot of Democrats were not happy about the way this happened.”
Moorlach said he was one of a few Republicans who stoically sat through the ceremony for Hayden, although he had his differences with the liberal firebrand of the 1960s on the Vietnam War.
“I had one senate leader thank me for sitting and listening to it all, but I have to confess it wasn’t easy,” Moorlach said. “And if I were Vietnamese I would have had a really tough time.”
Moorlach said his colleague did not make her remarks during the Hayden tributes so she could avoid embarrassing his widow and family. She thought it was more appropriate to voice her opinion Thursday, Moorlach said.
Moorlach wasn’t the only Republican state senator upset by the incident.
“I’m outraged by the Senate majority party’s action of silencing my colleague and friend, Senator Janet Nguyen,” said Sen. Patricia Bates, R- Laguna Niguel, who served with Nguyen on the Orange County Board of Supervisors.
“She was physically removed from the Senate Chamber for peacefully expressing her thoughts about the Senate earlier this week honoring the memory of former state Sen. Tom Hayden, a noted communist sympathizer,” Bates said.
“Senator Nguyen’s family escaped … Vietnam and came to the United States in search of freedom,” Bates added. “Unfortunately some Democrats did not like her comments and wanted to silence her… I’m proud of Sen. Nguyen for persisting and exercising her right as a citizen and legislator to peacefully express her views. This sad episode is a textbook case of men trying to silence a woman whose views they did not like.”
Bates also accused Democrats of a “shutdown” of a CalChannel TV feed.
Speaking to reporters at an unrelated news conference, Kevin De Leon, president pro tem of the senate, said, “I’m still trying to figure that one out” about the incident.
“I’m greatly unsettled at what took place on the floor,” Leon said. “I will be speaking with Janet Nguyen and the Republican leaders… shortly, but we want to give everyone an opportunity to have the ability to speak their minds.”
De Leon explained that “there was a parliamentary procedure that was not followed,” but that the issue “could have easily been dealt with.”
He added that Nguyen was “asked on numerous occasions to stop and that was ignored.”
State GOP Chairman Jim Brulte issued a statement:
“As a former member and leader in the California State Senate I’m disgusted by the silencing of Sen. Janet Nguyen on the Senate floor today. Janet’s personal story about fleeing persecution parallels the stories of many in her community and she stood on the floor to give voice to not just her district, but also the tens of thousands who have fled oppression. The Democratic leadership should be ashamed of their actions.”
— City News Service