[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 26 (Wednesday, February 8, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E105-E106]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  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.

[[Page E106]]

  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.

                          ____________________