Lawmakers want George Clooney's help for MM bill

Lawmaker seeks George Clooney's help with Monuments Men bill

Hey, George Clooney: A Texas congresswoman could use a hand in honoring the real-life Monuments Men.

Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas, is plugging away on her bill to award the Congressional Gold Medal – one of the highest civilian awards in the nation — to the five surviving members of the monuments men and women who were tapped during World War II to find and return works of art confiscated by the Nazis. The efforts of these men and women are featured in a new movie called Monuments Men, starring Clooney, Matt Damon, Cate Blanchett, Bill Murray and John Goodman, that’s in theaters now.

Granger recently told The Hill that she enlisted Murray’s help with her bill, which now has 80 co-sponsors as of Monday. She’s not shy about saying she’d also like the help of Clooney, the mega-watt star who bought the rights to Robert Edsel’s 2009 book and brought it to the big screen.

“I don’t believe it can be overstated how significant the contributions of the Monuments Men are to the preservation of many of the world’s most remarkable pieces of art,” Granger said in December when she introduced the legislation. “The story of the Monuments Men is one that has to be told, and should be shared as an instrumental part of U.S. and world history.”

The Kimbell Art Museum in Granger’s Fort Worth district has in its collection a terra cotta bust that was found at an Austrian salt mine that was among Adolf Hitler’s stolen cache, destined for the Fuhrer Museum.

Granger told The Hill that the publicity for the movie — along with support from its stars — will help the legislation. She likens her effort to the push for a Congressional Gold Medal for the Navajo code talkers, the Native Americans who used their language to transmit coded messages during World War II. Once the code talkers story became widely known, she said, it became easier to get congressional support for the gold medal awarded to them in 2000.

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Very surprised she didn't make the guest list at the screening then.............

She may very well have been invited but declined because she has an (R) after her name, so she probably doesn't want to be seen in close proximity with President Obama, depending upon how right wing conservative the district she represents is and how they view the President.  I don't think the President has a lot of fans in Texas quite yet, although I expect Texas to go purple this election cycle in November and I am becoming more optimistic as the months go by that it will turn solid blue in 2016, if the Republicans persist in denigrating and alienating the Latino voting population.

Mm, but I would surprised that Robert Edsel hasn't influenced things. He was saying how imperative this was, given there are only four or five of them left now - and that presumbably includes Harry and Mrs Bell - on his C-Span talk.

Would be really good if they could leave the politics out of this - and even try to connect Granger in the film (Matt Damon) to Granger (Coongressman)!

Oh don't misunderstand me.  I didn't mean that they wouldn't go ahead with the bill and awarding the medals.  She is after all, the original sponsor of this bill.  No, what I meant was that she would pass being in attendance for a function at the White House, for any reason whatsoever.  That's the pathetic state of our national politics.  Chris Christie was just about drawn and quartered by the conservatives for embracing the President right after Hurricane Sandy! His state desperately needed the federal government's help but they still crucified him in the conservative press.

They will get their medals, I'm sure but there isn't a Republican in the country that would willingly embrace the President during an election year, especially one from Texas.

It would be nice if the families of the other members of the Monuments Men received something recognizing the contributions of their relatives. Even posthumously, it would be something the families could be proud of.

Lighterside wrote:She may very well have been invited but declined because she has an (R) after her name, so she probably doesn't want to be seen in close proximity with President Obama, depending upon how right wing conservative the district she represents is and how they view the President.  I don't think the President has a lot of fans in Texas quite yet, although I expect Texas to go purple this election cycle in November and I am becoming more optimistic as the months go by that it will turn solid blue in 2016, if the Republicans persist in denigrating and alienating the Latino voting population.

There is a lot going on in Texas in regarding turning the state blue. We have a whole network on twitter supporting them. I only hope that does not affect the out come of the medals. A lot of the time they have to trade off some offer issues to get their bill past.