New York’s McNulty Becomes First House Democrat to Retire

New York’s McNulty Becomes First House Democrat to Retire
By CQ Staff | 2:24 PM; Oct. 26, 2007 |


By Marie Horrigan and Jonathan Allen

Rep. Michael R. McNulty, D-N.Y., will announce Monday that he intends to retire at the end of his current term, a senior Democratic aide said.

McNulty’s office confirmed that the 10-term lawmaker has scheduled a noon announcement in Albany “concerning the future of New York’s 21st Congressional District.”

McNulty would be the first Democrat in Congress to announce he is retiring at the end of his current term. Two other Democrats are leaving their House seats to run for the Senate.

McNulty found himself in the spotlight Aug. 2 when he presided over a bitterly contested floor vote set off by a Republican motion to send the fiscal 2008 Agriculture spending bill back to committee with instructions to amend it to bar use of funds to employ or provide housing for illegal immigrants.

McNulty ruled that the motion had been defeated, even though the chamber’s electronic tally board counted 215 votes for it and 213 against as the gavel fell. That prompted an outcry by Republicans and the appointment of a bipartisan House panel charged with exploring the circumstances surrounding the vote.

He won a seat on the powerful Ways and Means Committee after his first two terms in the House, and became chairman of the Social Security Subcommittee in 2007.

A reliable Democratic vote on most issues, McNulty broke with his party and was one of only 14 Democrats to vote against a 2007 supplemental spending bill providing additional funding for military operations in Iraq. The measure also set a deadline of August 2008 for a U.S. troop withdrawal. Like half the Democratic naysayers, McNulty wants a more expeditious U.S. exit.

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http://www.cqpolitics.com/2007/10/new_yorks_mcnulty_becomes_firs_1.html

Mike is a real good guy.