LA Times reported Boxer's vote against GOP MoveOn amendment, not that she sponsored her own

Written by Kathleen Henehan

Published

On September 21, The Los Angeles Times reported that the Senate passed a nonbinding “sense of the Senate” amendment sponsored by Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) that “condemned 'personal attacks on the honor and integrity of Gen. [David] Petraeus and all members of the United States armed forces.' ” Cornyn's amendment refers to a full-page newspaper advertisement the liberal group MoveOn.org placed in The New York Times on September 10, titled, "General Petraeus or General Betray Us?" The article continued: “The amendment split Democrats -- 22 voted for it, including California's Dianne Feinstein, and 24 against, including California's Barbara Boxer. It also split the chamber's two independents, with Joe Lieberman of Connecticut in favor and Bernie Sanders of Vermont opposed.” However, the article did not report that Boxer herself sponsored a “sense of the Senate” amendment to “strongly condemn attacks on the honor, integrity, and patriotism of any individual who is currently serving or has served honorably in the United States Armed Forces, by any person or organization.”

Boxer's amendment received 50 votes, but fell short of the 60-vote threshold both parties had agreed to. Cornyn's passed by a 72-25 margin.

From the September 21 Los Angeles Times article:

Republicans escalated a rhetorical war with Democrats over political advertising on Thursday, as the Senate voted 72 to 25 to condemn an attack on the U.S. commander in Iraq by the liberal activist group MoveOn.org.

President Bush entered the fray for the first time, describing a newspaper ad sponsored by MoveOn.org -- which ridiculed Army Gen. David H. Petraeus as “General Betray Us” -- as “disgusting.”

[...]

Sponsored by Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), the amendment to the defense authorization bill condemned “personal attacks on the honor and integrity of Gen. Petraeus and all members of the United States armed forces.”

The amendment split Democrats -- 22 voted for it, including California's Dianne Feinstein, and 24 against, including California's Barbara Boxer. It also split the chamber's two independents, with Joe Lieberman of Connecticut in favor and Bernie Sanders of Vermont opposed.

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), a Democratic presidential candidate, did not vote in protest of what he described as a “stunt designed only to score cheap political points.”