The speaker of the Wisconsin Assembly apologized Monday for calling three fellow Republican lawmakers "terrorists" over how they negotiated the state budget with Gov. Scott Walker.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos issued a written apology, a day after he called the state senators terrorists during a television interview. The comment elicited a bipartisan rebuke and calls from Republicans for Vos to apologize.
Vos said he regretted using the word terrorist to describe the conservative state senators and apologized, but he continued to call them "rogue holdouts" who stepped outside of the routine budget negotiating process to get what they wanted.
Vos was referring to a deal Walker cut with conservative Republican state Sens. Duey Stroebel, of Saukville, Steve Nass, of Whitewater, and Chris Kapenga, of Delafield, to veto parts of the budget they objected to in exchange for their support for the larger plan that was already 10-weeks past due.
Nass on Monday says the comment was "beyond outrageous" and Vos should apologize.
Nass notes that he served in the Wisconsin Air National Guard for 33 years and "the people of Wisconsin have a sacred comprehension of the evils associated with terrorism since this country was attacked on September 11, 2001."
Vos in late September texted his displeasure to Walker over how the budget vetoes were being handled, telling him he was "very disappointed in the way I've been treated" and "I won't forget this."
But he went a step further in the Sunday interview.
"For the individual rogue senators to say, `I've been involved in this process the entire time, but I'm going to put my foot down and I'm not going to vote for it unless I get that,' that is wrong," Vos said. "Frankly, I wish Governor Walker wouldn't have negotiated with terrorists."
Gousha followed up asking Vos if he was calling those senators terrorists.
"Yeah, that's what they are," Vos said. "Because you don't hold somebody hostage for your own personal needs. You negotiate, you give and you take."
Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald says the comment is "beyond inappropriate" and he is calling on Vos to apologize.
"Negotiating vetoes is as much a part of the budget process as anything else, and the speaker's comments demonstrate a weak grasp on the events that transpired in the hours before the budget was passed on the Senate floor," Fitzgerald said in a statement.
Stroebel, one of the three Republicans Vos called a terrorist, said people expect more from their leaders than "these kind of personal attacks."
"Brave men and women in uniform combat terrorists every day," Stroebel said in a statement. "Terrorists use violence in an effort to destroy our American way-of-life. To imply fellow Republican legislators are terrorists is the type of hyperbolic rhetoric Wisconsinites are tired of hearing."
Walker spokesman Tom Evenson said in a statement that, "It's unacceptable the word was used to describe good public servants at a time when our men and women in uniform are fighting terrorism around the world."
The deal the three senators struck with Walker resulted in him vetoing several parts of the budget they objected to. Some of the vetoes including making repeal of the state's prevailing wage requirement take effect immediately rather than in a year, limiting days when school districts can seek referendum votes and doing away with a $2.5 million study on tolling.
Bad feelings from the budget negotiations between Republicans who control the Senate and Assembly were expected to hamper progress on a variety of bills pending before the Legislature this fall.
