[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 9 (Wednesday, January 16, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H662-H663]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
{time} 1800
RAISING A QUESTION OF THE PRIVILEGES OF THE HOUSE
Mr. RUSH. Madam Speaker, I rise to a question of the privileges of
the House and offer a resolution previously noticed.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the resolution.
The Clerk read as follows:
H. Res. 53
Whereas the United States has always been a proud
multicultural Nation;
Whereas since early in our history our Nation has
recognized the strength that our diversity brings by making
our national motto E Pluribus Unum;
Whereas on July 13, 2006, on the floor of the House of
Representatives, comparing immigrants to livestock,
Representative Steve King of Iowa stated, ``We could also
electrify this wire with the kind of current that would not
kill somebody, but it would simply be a discouragement for
them to be fooling around with it. We do that with livestock
all the time.'';
Whereas on March 8, 2008, in an interview with KICD
Studios, Representative King stated, ``I don't want to
disparage anyone because of their race, their ethnicity,
their name--whatever their religion their father might have
been. . . . I'll just say this: When you think about the
optics of a Barack Obama potentially getting elected
President of the United States--I mean, what does this look
like to the rest of the world? What does it look like to the
world of Islam?'';
Whereas on May 21, 2012, while speaking with constituents
in Pocahontas, Iowa, Representative King compared vetting
immigrants to choosing hunting dogs saying, ``You want a good
bird dog? You want one that's going to be aggressive? Pick
the one that's the friskiest.'';
Whereas in July 2012, at a tele-townhall, on President
Barack Obama's place of birth, Representative King stated,
``It would have been awfully hard to fraudulently file the
birth notice of Barack Obama being born in Hawaii and get
that into our public libraries and that microfiche they keep
of all the newspapers published. That doesn't mean there
aren't some other explanations on how they might've announced
that by telegram from Kenya. The list goes on. But drilling
into that now, even if we could get a definitive answer and
even if it turned out that Barack Obama was conclusively not
born in America, I don't think we could get that case sold
between now and November.'';
Whereas on January 4, 2013, in a press release announcing
the introduction of his bill, H.R. 140, Representative King
stated, ``The current practice of extending U.S. citizenship
to hundreds of thousands of `anchor babies' must end because
it creates a magnet for illegal immigration into our country.
Now is the time to ensure that the laws in this country do
not encourage law breaking.'';
Whereas on July 24, 2014, in an interview with Newsmax
discussing undocumented immigrants in the United States,
Representative King stated, ``For everyone who's a
valedictorian, there's another 100 out there who weigh 130
pounds--and they've got calves the size of cantaloupes
because they're hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the
desert.'';
Whereas on July 20, 2016, in an interview with The
Washington Post, Representative King stated, ``The idea of
multiculturalism, that every culture is equal--that's not
objectively true.'';
Whereas on July 18, 2016, in an appearance on MSNBC,
Representative King stated, ``Where did any other subgroup of
people contribute more to civilization [than White
people]?'';
Whereas on September 18, 2016, on Twitter, Representative
King stated, that ``Cultural suicide by demographic
transformation must end.'';
Whereas on March 12, 2017, on Twitter, Representative King
shared a story about far-right Dutch politician Geert Wilders
and added, ``We can't restore our civilization with somebody
else's babies.'';
Whereas on March 13, 2017, on CNN, Representative King
stated, ``I'd like to see an America that's just so
homogenous that we look a lot the same'' and ``There's been
this effort, we're going to have to replace that void with
somebody else's babies. That's the push to bring in [so] much
illegal immigration into America, living in enclaves,
refusing to assimilate into the American culture and
civilization.'';
Whereas on June 12, 2018, Representative King retweeted
Mark Collett, a self-described ``Nazi sympathizer'';
Whereas on September 2, 2018, in an interview with
Unzensuriert, a publication linked to a fascist Austrian
political party, Representative King stated, ``What does this
diversity bring that we don't already have? Mexican food,
Chinese food, those things--well, that's fine. But what does
it bring that we don't have that is worth the price? We have
a lot of diversity within the U.S. already.'';
Whereas on January 10, 2019, in the New York Times,
Representative King stated ``White nationalist, White
supremacist, Western civilization--how did that language
become offensive?'';
Whereas Representative King's statements have drawn praise
from known White supremacists like former Ku Klux Klan leader
David Duke;
Whereas Representative King dishonors not only immigrants
but every American with his racist and xenophobic rhetoric;
and
Whereas Representative King has failed to retract his
statement and apologize to the Members of the House
or Americans across the country: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That--
(1) Representative Steve King of Iowa, by his despicable
conduct, has dishonored himself and brought discredit to the
House and merits the censure of the House for the same;
(2) Representative Steve King of Iowa be censured;
(3) Representative Steve King of Iowa forthwith present
himself in the well of the House of Representatives for the
pronouncement of censure; and
(4) Representative Steve King of Iowa be censured with the
public reading of this resolution by the Speaker.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The resolution presents a question of
privilege.
Motion to Refer
Mr. HOYER. Madam Speaker, I have a motion at the desk.
[[Page H663]]
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the motion.
The Clerk read as follows:
Mr. Hoyer moves to refer the resolution to the Committee on Ethics.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Maryland is recognized 1
hour.
Mr. HOYER. Madam Speaker, I am moving to refer this resolution to the
Committee on Ethics.
Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the
previous question on the motion.
The previous question was ordered.
The motion to refer was agreed to.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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