A reminder of the Golden Rule is a lecture you might think is reserved for a child, but on Wednesday, members of Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives received a scolding about their behavior.

In a rare moment at the end of Wednesday’s session, House Republican Leader Bryan Cutler and Democratic Leader Frank Dermody came together at a podium at the front of the chamber to respond to a series of incidents involving House members in recent weeks and months that have given the chamber a bad look.

People “expect better from us," said Cutler of Lancaster County.

The House has endured a string of controversies this year.

Rep. Brian Sims, D-Philadelphia, last week berated a woman protesting abortion outside a Philadelphia clinic. After receiving heated criticism, Sims later vowed to do better.

Rep. Stephanie Borowicz, R-Clinton County, this week was caught by Raging Chicken blogger Sean Kitchen taking a selfie at a gun rights rally at the Capitol with members of the American Guard, which the Southern Poverty Law Center classifies as a hate group and the Anti-Defamation League has labelled an extremist group.

House Speaker Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny County, made a statement at an anti-abortion event in Dauphin County in March that some construed as comparing abortion rights advocates to “the Nazi regime” although his spokeswoman says it was taken out of context.

Rep. Danielle Friel Otten, D-Chester County, drew media attention in late April after engaging in a Twitter exchange with a group representing pipeline workers over how protesters, who she defended, were preventing workers from doing their jobs. She wrote in the now-deleted tweet, “The Nazis were just doing their jobs too.”

Also worthy of mention are the sexual assault allegations against former Rep. Brian Ellis, a Butler County Republican, which led to his resignation in March, and a DUI charge filed in January against Rep. C. Tedd Nesbit for having a blood-alcohol level more than twice the state’s legal limit.

In the wake of complaints about those and other members’ behavior, leaders apparently had had enough.

Cutler urged members to reflect on William Penn’s words about his vision for Pennsylvania as displayed around the top of the Capitol Rotunda as he recited them:

“There may be room there for such a holy experiment. For the nations want a precedent. And my God will make it the seed of a nation. That an example may be set up to the nations. That an example may be set up to the nations. That we may do the thing that is truly wise and just.”

Cutler said, “Penn’s words rang true in the 1680s and they are still true today. There is no room for hate in any form in this chamber or in our own lives. People of Pennsylvania expect better from us. And we’ve all promised to serve the people of our commonwealth to the best of each of our abilities.”

Dermody, D-Allegheny County, immediately followed. He first noted that the spirited nature of the debate over a procedural matter involving an amendment to a controversial bill to ban abortions of fetuses diagnosed with Down syndrome that preceded the lecture.

“That’s the way it should be but we need to respect and we all should respect the views of all Pennsylvanians and we need to respect each other. To do anything different does nothing to further the mission we share of improving the lives of Pennsylvanians,” he said.

The attention-grabbing antics of late by some House members include last month’s polarizing prayer offered by Borowicz, a conservative Christian, on swearing-in day for Rep. Movita Johnson-Harrell, the state’s first Muslim woman representative.

In light of such moments, Dermody said, “The nation is watching this chamber."

"Let’s work in a way that will not only accomplish great things for the commonwealth, let’s work in a way that makes sense for our constituents and make our constituents proud of the people they’ve sent here.”

Dermody’s spokesman Bill Patton said the leaders felt it was important to join forces to “underline the importance of respectful civil discourse.”

Cutler’s spokesman Mike Straub said “a large number of people” contacted House leaders about the recent behavior of House members.

“Both leaders agreed to speak together to remind all members of the responsibility of upholding the public trust in how they act both on and off the floor," Straub said.

Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @JanMurphy.

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