The publication is reproduced in full below:
REMOVING A CERTAIN MEMBER FROM A CERTAIN STANDING COMMITTEE OF THE
HOUSE
______
speech of
HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE
of texas
in the house of representatives
Thursday, February 2, 2023
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to H. Res. 76--Removing a certain Member from a certain standing committee of the House.
H. Res. 76 is a brazen, hypocritical and offensive effort to oust Rep. Omar from the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Once again, Speaker McCarthy and House Republicans are putting extreme political stunts over solving the actual problems facing the American people.
In modern American history, the punishment of stripping Members of Congress of their committee assignments has been reserved for only the most egregious wrongdoers: those convicted or indicted on corruption, bribery, sexual misconduct, encouraging violence, and other grave charges.
This pure partisan move to strip Ilhan Omar from her committee is not only a political stunt, but also a blow to the integrity of our democratic institutions and a threat to national security.
We're thankful to Leader Jeffries for taking up this fight--if Republicans want to degrade the integrity of the House and its committees, Democrats will always stand up against those efforts.
These antics are meant to suppress the work of Omar--simply because Republicans in Congress don't like her and her views, all while claiming that they respect and welcome differing opinions.
Questioning someone's objective decision making is the most illegitimate litmus test for serving on a committee.
We know this is true because the Speaker has admitted in a fundraising appeal that he was ``firing'' her because of her
``antics.''
Ultimately, this is just the latest chapter in the Speaker's bargain with extreme MAGA Republicans.
The Speaker could not become Speaker without the support of extremist members and removing Omar from the House Foreign Affairs committee is the price he was all-too-eager to pay.
This is political vengeance for investigating and speaking truth about the twice-impeached former president.
The ramifications for the American public, our national security, and foreign relations are real.
Omar is an experienced, knowledgeable legislator, who has served on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the House Education and Labor Committee for the past two terms, committees and has lived experience and expertise in.
Omar is a child survivor of war who lived in a refugee camp. Omar is the first African-born member to serve as a Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations, and brings a wealth of lived experiences to the panel.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Rep. Paul Gosar were removed from their committees last session on a bipartisan basis for encouraging violence against their colleagues, even after a deadly insurrection.
In February 2021, just a month after she was sworn into Congress, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to censure and remove Greene from her committee assignments for her many extreme, bigoted, and threatening statements--including her past embrace of conspiracy theories and social media interactions encouraging violence against Democratic officials,
In November 2021, the House voted to censure Gosar and strip him from his committee assignments after he posted an edited anime video on Twitter that depicted him swinging swords at President Biden and killing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY). Gosar said on the House floor that he does not ``espouse violence towards anyone,'' and voluntarily took the video down ``out of compassion for those who genuinely felt offense.''
Greene and Gosar went on to appear at a conference hosted by white nationalist Nick Fuentes in early 2022, prompting widespread condemnation from leaders in both parties.
Sen. Tommy Tuberville and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene are coming under fire for making racist comments during separate Donald Trump rallies over the weekend.
The remarks come on the heels of Trump himself using an anti-Asian slur to refer to Elaine Chao--his former transportation secretary and the wife of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell--and raise questions about whether some Republicans are growing more comfortable using overtly racist rhetoric.
During a rally Saturday night in Minden, Nevada, Tuberville, R-AL, Democrats ``want reparations because they think the people that do the crime are owed that,'' drawing a direct line between crime and African Americans.
On Sunday in Mesa, Arizona, Greene, R-GA, espoused rhetoric that echoed the ``Great Replacement'' conspiracy theory long promoted by white nationalists that nonwhite immigrants could eventually displace native-born white Americans.
There is simply no comparison here. Doing the right thing should never be a precedent for doing wrong.
And yet, both Reps. Marjorie Taylor Green (R-GA) and Paul Gosar (R-
AZ) have since been reassigned to House committees after being stripped off their panel roles in the Democratic-controlled Congress in 2021.
The House GOP Steering Committee assigned Greene (R-GA) to the House Homeland Security and Oversight Committees and Gosar (R-AZ) to the House Natural Resources and Oversight Committees, according to multiple reports, received committee assignments back after being stripped from their assignments in the Democratic-controlled Congress in 2021.
Let's be very clear here: Rep. Omar immediately apologized when she was told by the Jewish community that her words were hurtful and sought out Members of the Jewish community to learn how she could be an ally in the fight against antisemitism.
Other members of this body however regularly spread antisemitic conspiracy theories, talks about Jewish space lasers, and threatens violence against their colleagues.
While the Republican Party leader and former President dine with open neo-Nazis like Nick Fuentes and vile antisemites like Kanye West.
Trump dined also with Nazis, and said ``Jews have to get their act together,'' and also said to a group of Jewish leaders, ``You're brutal killers. Not nice people at all. But you have to vote for me; you have no choice.'' He never apologized.
We must continue to support Representative Omar. Her goal is to work for her constituents, and they reelected her to do just that.
Republicans cannot continue with these stunts. We must work on legislation that actually impacts the American people instead of these political stunts that do no good.
____________________
SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 169, No. 26
The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
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