Syndicated columnist and CNN host Robert D. Novak accused Representative Darlene Hooley (D-OR) of hypocrisy for expressing concern about the lack of armor for U.S. troops in Iraq after -- as he claimed falsely -- she voted against funding the war. On the December 11 edition of CNN's The Capital Gang, regular panel member Novak called Hooley “a knee-jerk liberal and professional politician” and stated: “It's a definition of hypocrisy to complain about lack of armor on trucks after voting against giving the troops any trucks at all.” But Novak was wrong on Hooley's record.

From the December 11 edition of CNN's The Capital Gang:

NOVAK: Democratic Congresswoman Darlene Hooley of Oregon at age 65 is a knee-jerk liberal and professional politician. For six years she's consistently voted the straight liberal line against defense spending, yet she was prominent on this network, CNN, this week professing concern over lack of armor for U.S. troops in Iraq. In truth, she voted against the use of force in Iraq and against money to finance the war. It's a definition of hypocrisy to complain about lack of armor on trucks after voting against giving the troops any trucks at all.

While Hooley did vote against the resolution authorizing the use of force in Iraq, she voted for the $87 billion defense supplemental appropriations bill for 2004, which included funding for military vehicle armor. A May 17 Newport News-Times article quoted Hooley's Democratic primary opponent as saying that Hooley “was the only Oregon Democrat to vote with President Bush for the $87 billion he requested for the war.” Hooley also voted for the Emergency Wartime Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2003, a bill that contained $77.9 billion in emergency supplemental appropriations, including $62.5 billion for military operations in Iraq and the war on terrorism.