Lautenberg demands Andrews refund taxpayers

Dismayed by his opponent’s attendance record on the floor of the U.S. House in recent weeks, U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) fired off a press release this afternoon demanding that the hard-campaigning U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews (D-1) compensate his constituents for time missed on the job.

Andrews promptly issued a hard-edged response.

Lautenberg wants Andrews to reimburse the taxpayers of his district 70% of his salary since April 3, since he has missed 70% of all House votes, according to the senator's campaign. 

"Rob Andrews is a no-show congressman who thinks he has a no-show job," said Lautenberg campaign spokesperson Julie Roginsky.

"He should realize that there is more to his job than co-authoring and lobbying for the Iraq War," Roginsky added. "He was elected by his constituents and paid ($169,300 annually) by the taxpayers to do a job, which includes showing up for votes in Washington. If he wants to campaign, he should do it on his time and not on the taxpayers’ dime."

In arguably his harshest words for Lautenberg to date, Andrews said in reply, "If I owe the citizens six weeks of salary, Frank Lautenberg owes them his salary for the last six years."

Michael Murphy, spokesman for the Andrews campaign, fleshed out the candidate’s response, noting that the senator’s critique of Andrews’s record amounted to bad timing.

"Rob’s on the House floor as we speak voting against funding for the Iraq War," Murphy said. "This press release of theirs is a non-starter. He’s missed some votes but he hasn’t missed critical votes."

One of Andrews’s biggest obstacles to date in his fight with Lautenberg has been the primary era campaign fodder created by his 2002 co-sponsorship of the Iraq War resolution.

But as the congressman today attempted to correct Lautenberg’s depiction of him as an early Bush enabler, the senator’s camp also singled out Andrews’s missed votes over the past few weeks on health care and small business and job protection.

"He has missed more votes than any other member of the New Jersey congressional delegation, despite continuing to accept the salary that a full-time member of Congress enjoys," Roginsky said.