[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 504 Laid on Table in House (LTH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 504

           Raising a question of the privileges of the House.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           December 20, 2011

 Ms. Edwards submitted the following resolution; which was laid on the 
                                 table

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
           Raising a question of the privileges of the House.

Whereas an article on December 15, 2011, on the ``Politico Pro'' newspaper 
        website quoted the Representative from Florida, Mr. West, as saying, 
        ``If Joseph Goebbels was around, he'd be very proud of the Democrat 
        Party because they have an incredible propaganda machine. I think that 
        you have, and let's be honest, you know, some of the people in the media 
        are complicit in this, in enabling them to get that type of message 
        out.'';
Whereas Joseph Goebbels served as the Third Reich's Minister of Public 
        Enlightenment and Propaganda in Nazi Germany from 1933-1945;
Whereas Joseph Goebbels openly used xenophobia and racism in his quest to 
        dehumanize European Jewry;
Whereas Joseph Goebbels made Jews the scapegoat of German economic insecurity, 
        fostering flagrant anti-Semitism;
Whereas the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum reports ``that Joseph 
        Goebbels delivered a passionate anti-Semitic speech to the Nazi party 
        faithful in Munich on November 9, 1938 . . . After the speech, Nazi 
        officials order the Storm Troopers (SA) and other party formations to 
        attack Jews and to destroy their homes, businesses, and houses of 
        worship. The violence against Jews lasts into the morning hours of 
        November 10th, and becomes known as Kristallnacht--the `Night of Broken 
        Glass'. Several dozen Jews lose their lives and tens of thousands are 
        arrested and sent to concentration camps.'';
Whereas Nazi Germany and their collaborators killed six million European Jews 
        and millions of others as part of their ``Final Solution'';
Whereas by invoking the specter of Joseph Goebbels, the Representative from 
        Florida, Mr. West, thoroughly belittles the horrors and suffering 
        experienced by the victims and survivors of the Holocaust;
Whereas the American Jewish Committee issued a December 15, 2011, statement 
        saying ``To make a linkage between any mainstream political party in the 
        United States and the heinous atrocities committed by the Third Reich 
        should be simply beyond the pale, whatever political differences may 
        arise in a heated electoral season . . . By invoking the image of Joseph 
        Goebbels and the Gestapo, Representative West has displayed a complete 
        lack of understanding of the worst genocidal era in human history. 
        Moreover, he has diminished and trivialized the unique evil perpetrated 
        by the Third Reich through his unfortunate use of language'';
Whereas the Anti-Defamation League said in a December 16, 2011, letter to the 
        Representative from Florida, Mr. West, ``We were deeply dismayed by Rep. 
        West's remark comparing the Democratic Party's attempts to articulate 
        views to the American people through the media to the efforts of the 
        Nazi propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels . . . Such outrageous 
        Holocaust analogies have no place in our political dialogue. They are 
        offensive, they trivialize real historical events, and they diminish the 
        memory of the six million Jews and millions of others who perished in 
        the Holocaust'';
Whereas the Representative from Michigan, Mr. Conyers, wrote in a letter to the 
        Representative from Florida, Mr. West, that the Representative from 
        Florida should ``help raise the level of congressional discourse in a 
        vigorous debate'';
Whereas the Representative from Florida, Mr. West, responded back in a letter to 
        the Representative from Michigan, Mr. Conyers, that ``The Democrat Party 
        does indeed have a vicious propaganda machine, it espouses lies and 
        deceit and the Master of deceptive information would be truly proud'';
Whereas in the repetition of this abhorrent and outrageous sentiment to the 
        Representative from Michigan, Mr. Conyers, the Representative from 
        Florida, Mr. West, demonstrates not only the willful and malicious 
        misapplication of history, but also his disdain for the decorum of the 
        Congress; and
Whereas the conduct of the Representative from Florida was repugnant: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives disapproves of the 
behavior of the Representative from Florida, Mr. West, for bringing 
discredit to the House by offending the memory of those who died during 
the Holocaust.
                                 <all>