Marilyn Monroe post office gives congressman chance to jab at Trump

Rep. Tony Cardenas’ legislation naming the Van Nuys post office after Marilyn Monroe “is the most important piece of legislation ever etched into the Congressional Record,” according to a news release from the Los Angeles Democrat’s office that takes a tongue-in-cheek swing at Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

“All of the pieces of legislation introduced this year have been losers,” the release states. “This law is going to be so good and so smart that it will completely make America great again. America is going to be the best.”

Monroe attended Van Nuys High School in the 1940s. Legislation naming federal buildings is fairly routine and often passes without objection, making it an ideal vehicle for a dig at Trump’s bombastic rhetoric, Cardenas’ spokesman Paul Kincaid said.

“It’s tongue-in-cheek, obviously, and it’s a funny letter,” he said. “Trump isn’t funny, and to have him be on a sketch comedy show ... despite all that he’s said is something that should be called into question.”

Cardenas, other members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and advocates in the Latino community have criticized NBCUniversal for having Trump host “Saturday Night Live” this weekend.

After Trump said in June that the Mexicans coming to the United States were rapists and drug carriers, NBCUniversal announced it was cutting business ties with Trump.

NBC hasn’t publicly responded to the efforts to drop Trump as host.

Cardenas authored a column in Time magazine on Thursday detailing why he thinks Trump shouldn’t appear on “SNL.”

Kincaid said the Time column inspired the news release.

“It’s very frustrating to him the racial and misogynist language Trump has used,” he said. “It’s silly, but that column, as a background, it does have some significance of mentioning who Trump is.”

This isn’t the first lighert-toned news release Cardenas has sent out.

During investigations into the Internal Revenue Service by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in 2014, he suggested that Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista) should build a “truth pond” to help streamline the committee’s “witch hunts.”

“My boss has a great sense of humor,” Kincaid said.

Here’s the full news release:

Cárdenas So Proud Of Best Bill Ever Written

(Washington, D.C.) – With the support of nearly the entire California House delegation, U.S. Rep. Tony Cárdenas (D-Beautiful San Fernando Valley, Calif.) this week introduced the most important piece of legislation ever etched into the Congressional Record.

This law is going to be so good and so smart that it will completely make America great again. America is going to be the best.

“All of the pieces of legislation introduced this year have been losers,” said Cárdenas. “Anyone can negotiate a multi-year transportation funding program, but in order to do what I’ve done, you have to be able to make deals. That is the reason I was elected, because I know how to make deals and I’ve got the best people, and they also know how to make deals. That’s how we got this done.”

Cárdenas used the most spectacular office staff in the Congress to pull together almost every California House member to support this absolutely huge bill.

Not only is the bill being supported by the greatest, classiest Congressional delegation ever assembled, but the Van Nuys Neighborhood Council unanimously approved it, because they know it will be a super law.

Cárdenas’ bill, H.R. 3938, will rename the Van Nuys post office after Marilyn Monroe, who attended Van Nuys High School in the 1940s. Monroe, born Norma Jeane Mortenson, referred to the time during which she lived in Van Nuys as the happiest in her life.

Marilyn Monroe was the best.

sarah.wire@latimes.com

Follow @sarahdwire on Twitter

Read more about the 55 members of California’s delegation at latimes.com/politics.

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