(AF) WASHINGTON DC - For 34 minutes, the US Congress declared May 13 to be MagWeb.com Day in recognition of the web site's efforts to "promote military history and simulations." However, when Representative M. Tuotallataylo (Ind. - Guam) voiced objection to "corporate pandering at its worst," House and Senate leaders quickly authorized a re-vote striking the resolution from the 374-page bill. MagWeb.com Day apparently slipped in as a sentence under the "Military History Awareness Week" amendment, itself tacked onto a supplemental appropriations bill for transportation and infrastructure improvement. Charles Atan, Superintendent of Legislative Process in the Congressional Publishing Office, noted that most votes of recognition are self-contained bills, not amendments, but that the amendment process is not unusual. "National Volcano Day and National Sheep Shearers Day are two examples of recognition resolutions voted in by amendment," Atan said. "Whoever heard of MagWeb.com?" Tuotallataylo criticized. "Singling out one company for recognition is corporate pandering at its worst. Congress never authorized an official day for a single company." Not so, according to Atan. Individual companies that have received Congressional recognition included "Minnesota Mining Day" (1835), "First Pan American Bank Day" (1879), "Wright Aircraft Day" (1909), and "Disney Animation Day" (1937). No corporate recognition days have been authorized since 1937, Atan added. House and Senate investigators traced the electronic tags inserted into every bill back from the floor of Congress through the CPO and to the Legislative Preparation Office. Investigators declined to comment on specific suspects, but confirmed the questioning of Congressional pages, aides, and other workers at the LPO. "That was quick," quipped a disappointed Russ Lockwood, CEO and Chief Historian of MagWeb.com, an on-line archive of 129 military history and related magazines. "Maybe I should have sent them a MagWeb ruler." Senate and House leaders declined comment, but instead issued a joint statement: "After all, it's just one big, belated April Fools joke." Back to 2nd Quarter 2005 List of News Items Back to Master List of News Items Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 2005 by Coalition Web, Inc. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com