A resolution honoring the state Secretary of Veterans Affairs did not get a Senate vote Tuesday. Secretary John Scocos is slated to deploy to Iraq as an Army Reservist. The resolution honoring him was not on Tuesday's Senate calendar, and Oshkosh Republican, Carol Roessler, attempted to bring it to a vote. “It would be very unusual for us to hold up a resolution of this nature,” said Roessler.
Senate Majority Leader Judy Robson said a vote on the resolution had not been requested, and offered to put it on the Senate calendar next week. But Middleton Democrat Jon Erpenbach questioned why Scocos is getting special recognition. “We have seemed to set a standard here,” said Erpenbach. “We've only honored people who have gone overseas and lost their lives in action.” Erpenbach said thousands of state residents and hundreds of state employees have served in Iraq, and suggested that resolution be amended to honor all of them. Roessler's motion to get the resolution to the floor was defeated on a partisan vote.
