Democrat introduces ‘Restrain Steve King from Legislating Act’

Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) stepped up his feud against Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) by proposing a bill that would ban him from legislating entirely. 

His office announced the “Restrain Steve King from Legislating Act” in a statement Friday afternoon that bashed King for his own “Restrain the Judges on Marriage Act,” which King revealed on Wednesday. King’s bill aims to take marriage cases out of the jurisdiction of federal courts in favor of states, a move prompted by next week’s Supreme Court oral arguments on gay marriage cases.

{mosads}“For too long, Steve King has overstepped his constitutionally nonexistent judicial authority,” Polis said in the statement. 

“Mr. King has perverted the Constitution to create rights to things such as discrimination, bullying, and disparate treatment. These efforts to enshrine these appalling values as constitutional rights were not envisioned by the voters, or by King’s colleagues who must currently try to restrain his attempts to single-handedly rewrite the nation’s founding principles on a bill-by-bill basis.” 

A Polis aide told The Hill that the bill is satirical in order to highlight King’s “very real bill.” The Colorado Democrat is one of the few openly gay members of Congress. 

Polis and King have a history of disagreements. Last July, the Democrat chastised King over his comments that that many illegal immigrants have “calves the size of cantaloupes” because they were smuggling drugs across the border. 

“I’d like to inquire as to what calves you inspected on your recent trip and exactly what you saw,” Polis asked during a House Rules Committee meeting over how to deal with the influx of minors crossing the border, according to the Huffington Post.

“I would also point out I did have the opportunity two weeks ago to go to the border, I did not see any calves that were in any way unusual.”