Stark Apologizes On House Floor; Censure Vote Falls Short

Rep. Pete Stark apologized on the house floor today to his fellow members of Congress and to President Bush and his family for his outrageous remarks during the SCHIP debate yesterday,when he said that President Bush was sending troops to Iraq to get their "heads blown off for his amusement."

Stark made his remarks after a vote to censure him in the House failed, 196-173 with eight members voting `present' to table the resolution introduced by House Minority Leader John Boehner.The vote was entirely along party lines, with 5 Democrats joining the House Republicans to vote for censure.

"I want to apologize first of all to my colleagues, many of whom I have offended, to the president. his family, to the troops that may have found (offense) in my remarks as were suggested in the motion that we just voted on, and I do apologize. ... With this apology I will become as insignificant as I should be and we can return to the issues that do divide us but that we can resolve."