Not every newlywed groom runs out of his own wedding reception. But Rep. Bill Orton, D-Utah, did on Tuesday - literally - but only to cast a vote in Congress.
He and his new wife, Jacquelyn, were hosting a reception for their Washington friends Tuesday evening when the inevitable happened. Orton's beeper warned that he had a vote on the House floor.So he left his wife alone at the reception - on a balcony overlooking the historic Grand Hall in Union Station - and ran the four blocks to the House floor to vote on an amendment to the Intelligence Appropriations bill.
"It's his job. What can I say. We knew it might happen," Jacquelyn said.
"But he did leave a conference (on a banking bill) to be here," she said. "That conference was supposed to start at 10 a.m., then 2 p.m. and finally didn't get going until 3:45. He gave (House Banking Committee Chairman) Henry Gonzalez a note saying he just got married and had to go to his reception (from 6 to 7:30 p.m.)."
Soon, Orton reappeared at the reception wiping sweat from his face with a handkerchief after his run back from the Capitol, with his tie still askew and his collar unbuttoned.
"I had a vote," he explained to people wandering about. "Not every groom has to do that."
The Ortons were married in Utah on July 2. They had a public barbecue at the Utah State Capitol on July 4 to celebrate their marriage, then went on a honeymoon to Hawaii during the weeklong July 4 recess in Congress.