[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 116 (Tuesday, July 18, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H7153-H7154]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                               GOP POSTER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Rush] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. RUSH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today as a proud member of a body that 
was created to allow for differences of opinion and stands for the kind 
of bipartisan debate and discussion that provides for true 
representation of all Americans.
  It is with great sadness and considerable regret that I learned that 
my Republican colleagues believe that, in this great House, there is 
room only for their political opinions and their lock-step ideology--an 
ideology that smacks of racism, antisemitism, and sexism.
  And, as evident by the latest GOP fundraising tactic--a liberals 
``Wanted'' poster--this is an ideology that provokes violence and the 
worst possible kind of hatred.
  The Republican Party clearly knows no bounds when it eagerly targets 
lawmakers like myself and likens us to outlaws and criminals.
  How shameful, that in the age of terrorism that has already struck in 
Oklahoma City and has made a virtual fortress out of the Nation's 
Capitol, the Republicans have made my picture into a virtual bull's eye 
that dares any right wing extremist to take aim and to shoot.
  I will not allow a bounty to be placed on my head or on the heads of 
other black, Jewish, hispanic, or female Members of Congress. Those of 
us whose faces are plastered on the GOP's Wanted poster speak for 
thousands of Americans who have sent us to these hallowed halls so that 
their voices will be heard.
  And even a gimmick as dirty and as sinister as this poster will not 
silence our voices.
  We will continue to speak out loudly and clearly as the members of 
the loyal opposition who dare to take issue with Republican cuts in 
medicare; with Republican proposals to do away with student aid; and 
with a Republican agenda that seeks to disenfranchise all but the 
handful of rich fat cats that fill the Republican coffers.
  It is with bitter irony that, after spending much of my lifetime as a 
target of the FBI, the Chicago police department, and others, my face 
appears 

[[Page H 7154]]
on a Wanted poster only after becoming a Member of Congress. And the 
individuals who put me there are my own colleagues.
  I and the American people have seen these Republican scare and divide 
tactics before. I well remember the days of Watergate and Richard 
Nixon's enemies list. Now it looks like Newt Gingrich and the 
Republican Party has their own hit list too.
  Those of us who are targets of this cheap shot are ready to fight 
back.
  But, ours will be a fair fight.
  One that is based on the issues that the American citizens who sent 
us here care about.
  Mr. Speaker, I include for the Record an editorial from the Buffalo 
News, as follows:

                 [From the Buffalo News, July 16, 1995]

  Nasty Politics From Paxon--Poster Targets Minorities But Demeans GOP

       The National Republican campaign machine, with a crude 
     ``wanted'' poster, has identified itself with racial politics 
     again. This time it's a Western New Yorker, Rep. Bill Paxon, 
     coming up with a gimmick that puts an ethnic face on ideas 
     that should be debated on their own merits.
       The disproportionate loading of the now-infamous poster 
     with the faces of African-American, Jewish and female members 
     of Congress is hard to read as inadvertent.
       The poster says ``liberal Democrats'' who voted against at 
     least seven out of 10 provisions of the Contract With America 
     are its target. But the pictures below show a group that 
     others might have chosen as demonstrating a positive picture 
     of the diversity of this country--a diversity that is still 
     all too poorly represented in the ranks of Congress.
       By Paxon's own statement, more than 170 Democrats ``failed 
     the Contract With America test.'' Yet, of the 28 members 
     pictured, 10 are black and eight are Jewish. Nine also are 
     female.
       Those numbers in no way reflect the make-up of the 
     Democratic caucus or Democratic opposition to the contract's 
     regressive, counterproductive provisions.
       The poster was released as part of a fund-raising letter by 
     the National Republican Congressional Committee. As head of 
     the committee, Paxon must take full responsibility for its 
     divisive tenor. The Republicans should have learned their 
     lesson after the infamous Willie Horton campaign in 1988 
     linked the Democratic Party to minorities in a way calculated 
     to frighten white voters. But here, the pattern seems to be 
     repeated.
       Paxon, who represents a carefully gerry-mandered safe 
     Republican district stretching from Amherst east to Auburn, 
     has little to lose personally no matter what campaign tactics 
     he becomes identified with. But the nation loses when 
     politics sinks to a level that panders to ethnic fears.
       The selection of pictures says to the white male voters who 
     increasingly make up the Republican base that the GOP's 
     enemies are the people who don't look like them.
       That, in turn, is likely to appeal to the anger many on the 
     economic margin already feel over declining economic 
     opportunities that Republicans want to blame on blacks and 
     women trying to penetrate the job markets.
       The incident doesn't say much for Paxon's confidence in the 
     Republican platform or the party's ideology. The Republicans 
     should learn to rely on the power of their ideas to win 
     voters' support.
       Paxon and the other party honchos are defending their 
     poster. Instead, they should be acknowledging it as a mistake 
     and backing away from what it implies as fast as they can 
     move.

  Ms. ESHOO. Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak out on something which never 
should have seen the light of day in our political process--a new low 
in tactics to raise money to win elections.
  As part of a recent fund raising drive, the National Republican 
Congressional Committee has issued a special ``wanted'' poster. This 
poster features pictures of 28 Democrats who it claims to be targeting 
for defeat because they voted against the Contract With America 70 
percent of the time.
  Ninety Democrats have similar voting records, yet the Republican 
wanted poster consists almost entirely of people who are seldom 
associated with Republican fund raising lists--African-Americans, 
women, Jewish-Americans, and Hispanics. In fact, only 6 of the 28 
targeted Democrats are white men who are not Jewish.
  Despite Republican protests to the contrary, this wanted poster is 
less about raising money than it is about raising the ugly specter of 
racism, sexism, and antisemitism.
  It's all about appealing to the most base elements of human nature. 
It's all about degrading the opposition with thinly veiled personal 
attacks. It's all about manipulating the political forces of division 
and hate.
  This wanted poster illustrates how far the party of Lincoln has 
fallen.
  Today's Republican Party has been captured by the forces of extremism 
and intolerance. Moderate Republican voices are being drowned out by a 
chorus of right-wing ideologues who are far outside the mainstream of 
American thinking.
  This wanted poster sends several messages.
  It says that while Pat Buchanan and David Duke may have failed in 
their efforts to win national public office, they have won the hearts 
and minds of the national Republican Party.
  It says that Republicans would rather run with Willie Horton than run 
on the issues.
  It says that Republicans are less concerned about controlling illegal 
immigration than they are about whipping up fear over Hispanics 
increasing their presence in our communities.
  It says that women who stand up for the right to choose should sit 
down and be silent.
  It says that the gay-baiting and bashing openly practiced by 
Republican leaders in the House and Senate is a deliberate policy, not 
a slip of the tongue.
  Finally, it says that Republicans are willing to inflame the anti-
Government sentiment which contributed to the Oklahoma City tragedy 
instead of reminding people that public service is a noble calling.
  The Republican wanted poster demonstrates a dark side of the majority 
party and their politics. These below-the-belt tactics have no place in 
this Nation and its body politic.
  I think the Republican Party needs a new wanted poster, and here's 
what it should say: ``Wanted--Tolerance. Civility. Moderation. 
Inclusion. If found, please apply to the Republican National 
Congressional Committee for reward.''
  Mr. Speaker, bigotry belongs in the trash bin of American history, 
not in the envelopes of Republican fund raising letters.
  It's time for those who instigated this effort to recognize their 
mistake and apologize to the people who they attacked and withdraw this 
shameful effort.
  It's time for them to pledge to the American people that it will 
never happen again.
  And it's time for them to heed the words of President George 
Washington who wrote that our Government should be one which ``* * * 
gives bigotry no sanction; to persecution no assistance.''


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