[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 197 (Tuesday, December 20, 2011)]
[House]
[Pages H9986-H9987]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   NOTICE OF INTENTION TO OFFER RESOLUTION RAISING A QUESTION OF THE 
                        PRIVILEGES OF THE HOUSE

  Ms. EDWARDS. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to clause 2(a) paragraph 1 of rule 
IX, I rise to give notice of my intention to offer a resolution to 
raise a question of the privileges of the House.
  The form of the resolution is as follows:

       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.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under rule IX, a resolution offered from the

[[Page H9987]]

floor by a Member other than the majority leader or the minority leader 
as a question of the privileges of the House has immediate precedence 
only at a time designated by the Chair within 2 legislative days after 
the resolution is properly noticed.
  Pending that designation, the form of the resolution noticed by the 
gentlewoman from Maryland will appear in the Record at this point.
  The Chair will not at this point determine whether the resolution 
constitutes a question of privilege. That determination will be made at 
the time designated for consideration of the resolution.

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