House Veterans' Affairs Chairman Charged After Airport Incident
House Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Bob Filner, D-Calif., faces misdemeanor charges of assault and battery after a Sunday night incident in which Filner allegedly shoved a United Airlines baggage employee at Dulles International Airport.
Filner, who took the reins of the panel early this year, "allegedly attempted to enter an area authorized for airline employees only, pushed aside the employee's outstretched arm and refused to leave the area when asked by an airline employee," according to a statement from airport police.
Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority spokesperson Courtney Prebich said Filner was not arrested or handcuffed, but must appear Oct. 2 in Loudoun County General District Court to answer the charges. Filner has not yet been served with the summons, she said.
Filner is scheduled this week to lead a congressional delegation to Iraq and Germany to study the transition of military service members to civilian life.
His office said in a statement that "the story that has appeared in the press is factually incorrect -- and the charges are ridiculous," saying Filner "will have a full statement when he returns."
Filner, now serving his eighth term, is known for his fiery temper -- a reputation that nearly cost him the chairmanship of the Veterans' Affairs Committee at the start of the 110th Congress. Critics cited his frequent fights with former GOP Chairman Steve Buyer of Indiana, and a profanity-laced tirade last year outside VA headquarters calling for Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson's resignation and blasting the Bush administration's stewardship of the department.
Unexpectedly, he has since forged a close bond with Nicholson, who was scheduled to join him on the trip to Iraq and Germany.
Filner won the committee gavel only after an unusual runoff election within the full House Democratic Caucus, defeating Rep. Michael H. Michaud of Maine by 112-69. The Dec. 8, 2006, vote confirmed an earlier decision by the Democratic Steering Committee, headed by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to award the chairmanship to Filner.
"This whole fuss was made about style, that Filner is too emotional, too passionate," said one Democrat at the time.
Filner also serves on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, where he the second most-senior Democrat on the Aviation Subcommittee.
The mercurial Californian, a 1960s civil rights activist, is the son of a former union organizer and businessman who was an early fundraiser for the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King. He left college to join the Freedom Riders in 1961 and was arrested during a sit-in at Mississippi lunch counter with John Lewis, now his Democratic House colleague from Georgia.
No major challengers have announced their candidacies for Filner's 51st District seat in 2008, but the Hispanic community has not given Filner a free pass in recent primary elections and would be unlikely to do so next fall.
Hispanic activists argue that the Hispanic-majority district, which runs along the Mexican border, should be led by a representative of Mexican-American heritage. But Filner's positive relations with his Hispanic constituency and strongly liberal voting record have helped him overcome past attempts to oust him from Congress.
In last year's primary contest, Filner garnered many endorsements from Hispanic organizations in the district and was dubbed the "real Latino candidate" by some local leaders. Filner won re-election with 67 percent of the vote after surviving the 2006 primary with 51 percent against a pair of Hispanic candidates.