The other day I mentioned that it’s inexcusable for members of Congress to not read major pieces of legislation before voting on them, but that they “don’t necessarily have to read every bill that renames a post office or recognizes National Whatever Month and other largely symbolic resolutions.”

A reader calls my attention to this anecdote, which suggests that a lawmaker would be wise to read everything they vote on:

In 1971, Rep. Tom Moore, Jr. of Waco, Texas, knowing that his fellow legislators in the Texas House of Representatives often passed bills and resolutions without fully reading or understanding them, pulled an April Fool’s joke on the House by sponsoring a resolution commending Albert de Salvo for his unselfish service to “his county, his state and his community.” The resolution read, in part:
This compassionate gentleman’s dedication and devotion to his work has enabled the weak and the lonely throughout the nation to achieve and maintain a new degree of concern for their future. He has been officially recognized by the state of Massachusetts for his noted activities and unconventional techniques involving population control and applied psychology.
The joke, of course, was that Albert de Salvo was more commonly known as the “The Boston Strangler”, assumed to be responsible for the murders of thirteen women in the Boston area between 1962 and 1964.