US Senator Joseph Lieberman, a shomer Shabbos, will make arrangements to take part in any economic stimulus package vote that falls on Shabbos, an aide said today.
Lieberman, who attends a frum shul in Washington and in his home state of Connecticut, “will not miss” what was expected to be a close vote well after nightfall, said the aide. But he will walk to and from his office, as needed, and will not ride in the senate elevators or special subways underneath the capitol – routine perks for lawmakers set to decide the fate of the 789-billion-dollar package.“He has always made sure that, on a critical vote like this, if it falls on the Sabbath, he will vote. He will not miss it,” the aide said.
The exact timing of the Senate vote was unclear, because it hinged in part on the return of Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown from a memorial service for his mother, but congressional aides pinned it at around 10 p.m.
Lieberman has walked to critical Senate sessions before, such as the 1999 impeachment trial of then-president Bill Clinton.
{ELisha Ferber-Matzav.com Newscenter}
