Infinitive Splitter

The driver of this car changed lanes abruptly in front of me in heavy traffic on K Street this afternoon. As you can see, it’s registered in California and bears a license plate marked “U.S. CONGRESS 46.”

Does Rep. Dana Rohrabacher drive a green Oldsmobile Aurora?

As far as I can tell, it is — or should be — his car. The California Department of Motor Vehicles says this of such licenses:

The number represents the congressional district. The small “A,” when present, indicates a second vehicle owned by a member of Congress. A small “R,” when present indicates a retired member of Congress. A small “1″ after “R,” indicates a second vehicle owned by a retired member of Congress.

There are no small letters or numbers next to the “46″ above, so this appears to be Rohrabacher’s primary automobile. I didn’t get a better look at the driver than what’s visible in the photo, so I can’t confirm the congressman was behind the wheel.

If it is Rohrabacher’s car, he’s had it since at least 2000, when Space.com published an article that began thus:

A sign above the congressional office door of Rep. Dana Rohrabacher sums up his mindset: “Fighting for freedom and having fun.”

That might help explain why the California Republican, who loves a good battle over space issues on Capitol Hill, was cruising his district’s scenic coastline in his Buick Aurora recently when a reporter reached him by cell phone.

Case closed!

Postscript: if I’m ever unlucky enough to be a member of Congress, I certainly will not pay extra to have a license plate that invites bloggers with too much time on their hands to investigate my identity when I make a questionable decision on the road. California’s DMV charges legislators $12 for the privilege of announcing themselves to drivers behind them.