Two weeks ago, State Rep. John Bel Edwards launched a blistering campaign commercial against Sen. David Vitter, pointing out that Vitter missed a vote to honor American veterans from the first Gulf War because, as phone records reveal, he was busy calling the D.C. Madam, Deborah Jeane Palfrey.
Well, it turns out this wasn’t the only time David Vitter put prostitutes before patriots, to borrow a line from Edwards’s commercial.
David Vitter’s phone number appeared five times on Palfrey’s phone logs: Oct. 12, 1999, Sept. 18, 2000, Oct. 26, 2000, Feb. 11, 2001 and Feb. 27, 2001.
On Oct. 12, 1999, David Vitter missed a key government reform committee meeting focused on the development of vaccines for soldiers as a way of defending against biological warfare.
You can find the minutes from the meeting here.
Dan Burton, the meeting’s chairman, said the committee hearing was to discuss, “The Role Of Vaccines As A Defense Mechanism For Biological Warfare.” Quoting from the transcript (bold mine):
During the House Committee on Government Reform, Chairman Dan Burton said, “We’re here this afternoon to discuss the development of the U.S. defense vaccine policy. The Subcommittee on National Security, Veterans Affairs, and International Relations chaired by Mr. Shays has conducted a series of hearings looking at the Defense Department’s current anthrax vaccine program. The full committee today will examine the overall picture of vaccines for defense. As part of our ongoing investigation into vaccines we’re examining their safety, efficacy, the importance of informed consent, the concerns about vaccine ingredients, purity, and the long-term safety concerns. We’re looking into the role of vaccines as a defense mechanism for biological warfare. Is it viable and appropriate to use vaccines as a defense mechanism? Will it be possible and practical to develop vaccines to protect against all known and potential biological threats? Much has been said by numerous government officials about the biological warfare threat. We’ve been told in previous hearings and in testimony prepared for today that, “At least 10 nation states and two terrorist groups are known to possess or have in development a biological warfare capability.” Are all these nation states our enemies? How many are confirmed to actually have weapon dispensable anthrax poised and ready to launch?” [House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform – DEFENSE VACCINES: FORCE PROTECTION OR FALSE SECURITY?, 10/12/99]
Are you/we going to publish that one last bombshell about David Vitter I kept referring to tonight? Just wondering.