When it comes to relations between the sexes, I must admit the guys often just don’t get it or ignore the facts in front of them. 

Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna, this past week,  came very close to stopping all action in the U.S. House of Representatives until her concern was addressed by the Speaker of the House, Michael Johnson. 

Representative Luna grew up in the school of hard knocks in California. She joined the U.S. Air Force to improve her financial situation. She met her husband while both were in the military and eventually moved to Florida. 

She is the parent of one child and can politically best be defined as an ardent conservative Republican. More importantly, she defines herself as a mom. 

Sometimes that definition is forgotten in the wells of Congress. She made everyone aware that you don’t mess with Momma, especially if Momma is a Momma Bear with young cubs. 

For years, politicians on both sides of the aisle in D.C. checked on the health of their opponents and supporters if a highly contested bill was to be voted on. Congress has required in-person voting by its members. If sick, or unable to be present for any reason, the member of Congress has no vote. You must vote in person. 

There are some valid reasons for this since it does force members to be in proximity to each other and hopefully discuss pending legislation. In-person voting also allows for greater public scrutiny of the legislator as the vote is cast in an open and public forum.

Speaker Johnson has voiced that in person is required by the Constitution. I am not so sure about that. 

In any event, there are several young mothers in Congress this term, and they are like most mothers, they give birth to babies. Rep. Luna had the audacity to think that a representative who is a new mom could vote by proxy, the act of granting someone else the power to vote on your behalf. Proxies are done every day in the corporate world by stockholders. It is not a new concept. However the powers that be in the House, Speaker Johnson and his leadership group, completely rejected even a hearing on the proposal of Luna. 

Luna then used some of the House rules to require that she be heard on the issue. Luna invoking the rules, essentially shut down all votes in the House until her matter was acted on. The Republicans are trying very hard to get a budget reconciliation bill passed to enact their agenda, and Luna stopped them cold as a brand new representative. The lady has some real moxie. 

The boys caved to the new girl on the block. They all cut a deal. Luna doesn’t get a true proxy, but she got what she wanted. The agreement is called a pairing in which another representative who would have voted the opposite of Luna will not cast a vote. Essentially, the two representatives will cancel each other out. Lana also got a bipartisan vote that clearly showed the House was looking favorably at her proposal.

Today almost everyone has Zoom  on their phones and computers, which clearly provides a video of the caller and his or her actions. The time-honored concept of vote by proxy is also available. 

It is time that governmental entities give at least consideration to remote voting in legislative sessions. I certainly acknowledge that remote voting has both some technical difficulties at times and there is always the possibility of fraud, but we are in the 21^st century. It is time to modernize. 

I am not suggesting unlimited or constant remote voting as the representatives do need to be in session with each other. Common sense seems to say we can carve out a few exceptions for maternity/family leave for a few weeks or to allow a representative to recover at home after surgery or an illness. 

Even if you disagree with Lana’s political preferences, she is striving to best have representatives serve their respective constituencies. This is a bipartisan proposal that warrants serious consideration. It takes a woman.