Fumo distances himself from slavery remarks

HARRISBURG - State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo's remarks that the General Assembly would enact slavery if given a chance were met yesterday with anger and disbelief, even as the Philadelphia Democrat sought to distance himself from his own words.

Fumo made the slavery comments during an Appropriations Committee hearing Tuesday in Harrisburg on a bill that would define marriage as between a man and a woman - a measure Fumo opposes.

"What you are advocating here is that we take away the rights of a minority. And I don't think that's right," Fumo told Gilbert Coleman Jr., senior pastor of Freedom Christian Bible Fellowship in Philadelphia, during the hearing. ". . . If we introduced a bill on slavery, it might pass. That doesn't make it right."

"I doubt that, sir," responded Coleman, an African American who testified in support of the measure.

"Oh, don't bet on it in this General Assembly," shot back Fumo, who is preparing to leave the legislature after 30 years. "I know some people up here, especially on a secret ballot, it would be almost unanimous."

The comments were met with a quick rebuke by the chairman of the committee, Sen. Gib Armstrong (R., Lancaster).

"Sen. Fumo, that's out of line," he said.

David Atkinson, a top aide to Armstrong, said those present reacted "with disbelief at what they were hearing."

"It was kind of like watching an auto wreck while standing on the curb," he said. "It's not the kind of thing that you would ever anticipate."

Yesterday, Fumo said he was "only exaggerating to make a point."

In a statement, Fumo said: "If a majority would vote to approve slavery - as was done once in this country - that wouldn't make it right.

"I wanted people at the hearing to face the fact that denying human rights to any group, including homosexuals, at any point in our history, including in 2008, is wrong."

As Fumo's comments became the talk of the Capitol, many fellow legislators said they were dumbfounded and taken aback.

"I would expect that Sen. Fumo maybe got caught up in the heat of the moment and on reflection would realize that he had crossed the line," said Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi (R., Chester).

Said Rep. Daryl Metcalfe (R., Butler), one of the legislature's more conservative members: "It is so outrageous it is beyond belief. They are bitter statements made by a bitter man at the end of his career, and every legislator, I am sure, would be offended by it."

Rep. Thaddeus Kirkland (D., Delaware), chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus, said Fumo's remarks were hateful. "There's just not enough mean-spirited things going on in this world that one of the top-ranking retiring senators is equating slavery with something else," he said.

Some didn't take any insult, however.

Viewing a video clip of Fumo's comments, Sen. Lisa Boscola chuckled heartily.

"He was just feeling passionate about the issue," said Boscola (D., Northampton), who called the comments hyperbole to make a point. "I know him. I know in his heart he doesn't mean that."

Armstrong, a longtime friend and hunting buddy of Fumo's, acknowledged yesterday that he took some offense.

"That's Vince," he added. "Vince sometimes makes outrageous statements. Vince is Vince."

Fumo has never been one to bite his tongue.

In 2004, for example, he launched into a bizarre tirade on the Senate floor and called the top Republican at the time, Robert Jubelirer, a "faggot" several times. Fumo later apologized to the gay community, but not to Jubelirer.

More recently, in an April interview that aired on the Pennsylvania Cable Network, Fumo likened President Bush's former top political strategist to the Nazis' Ministry for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda.

"Karl Rove, I've said on the floor, so I'll say it again, is the greatest propagandist since Joseph Goebbels, who was Adolf Hitler's propagandist," Fumo said in the televised retrospective of his 30-year career.

Fumo will retire from the Senate at the end of his term this year to devote his attention to his scheduled September trial on 139 federal corruption counts.

Coleman, the object of Fumo's comments, said yesterday that Fumo had caught him off guard and that the remarks were "misguided."

"It certainly came out of left field," he said, adding that he nonetheless was not outraged at them "because of the source where it was coming from."

"They came from an angry man, angry over his own personal situation."

John J. Dougherty, business manager of the electricians union in Philadelphia and a longtime Fumo foe who lost his bid in the primary to replace Fumo, said Fumo's remarks were "beneath an elected official."

"It obviously doesn't help with the advancement of gay rights," Dougherty said. "But maybe he is smarter than everyone else. Maybe he is looking to set up an insanity defense for his trial."

Others had fun with Fumo's words yesterday.

Said Chuck Ardo, Gov. Rendell's press secretary, "I can tell you unequivocally that if a pro-slavery bill were to reach the governor's desk, this governor would certainly veto it."