SENATE MEMORIAL 94

49th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2009

INTRODUCED BY

Tim Eichenberg

A MEMORIAL

HONORING THE SENATE MAJORITY FLOOR LEADER FOR HIS USE OF A LOWLY SAUSAGE AS A REMINDER TO HIS FELLOW LEGISLATORS OF THE COMPLEXITY AND REFINEMENT OF THE TASK OF MAKING LAW.

     WHEREAS, senate majority leader Michael S. Sanchez is known for his predictable reaction to the question, "What shall we eat?"; and

     WHEREAS, his enthusiastic answer invariably will be "A baloney sandwich!"; and

     WHEREAS, Senator Sanchez is known for bringing extremely savory baloney sandwiches to committee meetings late at night, during the day and, it is rumored, even to breakfast; and       WHEREAS, Senator Sanchez has never been known to refuse an offer of a sandwich of the lowly meat, and he is known to keep ample supplies of baloney, white bread, Miracle Whip and, for special favorites, catsup, in his office for consumption whenever the mood should strike; and

     WHEREAS, whether on the floor or for lunch, whether baked or cold, the senator knows how to spread it around; and

     WHEREAS, baloney, like the law, is known to contain ingredients no one would care to name; and

     WHEREAS, baloney is said to be made from pork or beef "odds and ends", whatever they may be; and

     WHEREAS, Senator Sanchez knows how to bring home the pork, knows the answer to "Where's the beef?" and spices his bills with liberal doses of odds and ends; and

     WHEREAS, baloney has traditionally been made of inferior meat, specifically the meat of elderly bulls that was too tough for any other use; hence, the word "baloney" has come to mean "rubbish"; and

     WHEREAS, baloney is also a synonym for bull, bunk, hogwash, hooey, humbug, nonsense, balderdash, blather, bunkum, claptrap, drivel, garbage, idiocy, piffle, poppycock, rigmarole, rubbish, tomfoolery, trash, twaddle, malarkey and blarney and is more politically palatable than unprintable expletives; and

     WHEREAS, Senator Sanchez is known to be tough even at his tender age, has weathered being called any number of epithets and is said to be full of any number of substances, including baloney; and

     WHEREAS, the exclamation "Baloney!" was popularized by New York Governor Alfred E. Smith, who ran against Herbert Hoover in 1928; and

     WHEREAS, Governor Smith reportedly said, "No matter how thin you slice it, it's still baloney.", and he was also quoted as saying, "All the ills of democracy can be cured by more democracy."; and

     WHEREAS, the sentiments expressed in either of Governor Smith's famous sayings could easily be those of Senator Sanchez at any given moment;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that Senator Michael S. Sanchez be recognized for his influence on the cuisine of the legislature of this state and that he be honored for his frequent ingesting of the lowly sausage that symbolizes the complex and refined task of making law; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the "Sanchez Sandwich" be named the official food of the New Mexico senate.

- 3 -