[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 184 (Tuesday, November 7, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H5494-H5503]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           RAISING A QUESTION OF THE PRIVILEGES OF THE HOUSE

  Mr. McCORMICK. Mr. Speaker, I rise to a question of the privileges of 
the House and offer the resolution that was previously noticed.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the resolution.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                              H. Res. 845

       Whereas Israel has existed on its lands for millennia and 
     the United States played a critical role in returning Israel 
     to those lands in 1948 immediately following the Holocaust in 
     recognition of its right to exist and as an indelible signal 
     of our solidarity with the Jewish people;
       Whereas Israel is a critical ally to the American people 
     and to our strategic national security interests in the 
     Middle East;
       Whereas the people of Israel--including American citizens--
     were brutally attacked on October 7, 2023, by Hamas;
       Whereas Representative Rashida Tlaib, within 24 hours of 
     the October 7 barbaric attack on Jewish citizens of the State 
     of Israel, representing the deadliest day for Jews since the 
     Holocaust, defended the brutal rapes, murders, be-headings, 
     and kidnapping--including of Americans--by Hamas as justified 
     ``resistance'' to the ``apartheid state'';
       Whereas Representative Tlaib's October 8 statement claimed 
     that Hamas' October 7 attack on the Jewish people was partly 
     attributable to United States security aid provided to 
     Israel, which ignores the fact that the Iron Dome, a co-
     developed air defense system, saved lives that day by 
     intercepting rockets launched from the Gaza Strip against 
     Israeli civilian targets;
       Whereas, on October 18, 2023, Representative Tlaib 
     continued to knowingly spread the false narrative that Israel 
     intentionally bombed the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital on October 17 
     after United States intelligence, Israeli intelligence, and 
     President Biden assessed with high confidence that Israel did 
     not cause the explosion;
       Whereas, on November 3, 2023, Representative Tlaib 
     published on social media a video containing the phrase 
     ``from the river to the sea'', which is widely recognized as 
     a genocidal call to violence to destroy the state of Israel 
     and its people to replace it with a Palestinian state 
     extending from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea;
       Whereas Representative Tlaib doubled down on this call to 
     violence by falsely describing ``from the river to the sea'' 
     as ``an aspirational call for freedom, human rights, and 
     peaceful coexistence'' despite it clearly entailing Israel's 
     destruction and denial of its fundamental right to exist; and
       Whereas Representative Tlaib has repeatedly displayed 
     conduct entirely unbecoming of a Member of the House of 
     Representatives by calling for the destruction of the state 
     of Israel and dangerously promoting false narratives 
     regarding a brutal, large-scale terrorist attack against 
     civilian targets inside the sovereign territory of a major 
     non-NATO ally while hundreds of Israeli and American hostages 
     remain in terrorist captivity: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That Representative Rashida Tlaib be censured.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The resolution qualifies.

                              {time}  1430


                            Motion to Table

  Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, I have a motion at the desk.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the motion.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Ms. Clark of Massachusetts moves to lay the resolution on 
     the table.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion to table.
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the noes appeared to have it.
  Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas 
and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. This is a 5-minute vote.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 208, 
nays 213, answered ``present'' 1, not voting 11, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 608]

                               YEAS--208

     Adams
     Aguilar
     Allred
     Auchincloss
     Balint
     Barragan
     Beatty
     Bera
     Beyer
     Bishop (GA)
     Blunt Rochester
     Bonamici
     Bowman
     Boyle (PA)
     Brown
     Brownley
     Buck
     Budzinski
     Bush
     Caraveo
     Carbajal
     Cardenas
     Carson
     Carter (LA)
     Cartwright
     Casar
     Case
     Casten
     Castor (FL)
     Castro (TX)
     Cherfilus-McCormick
     Chu
     Clark (MA)
     Clarke (NY)
     Cleaver
     Clyburn
     Cohen
     Connolly
     Correa
     Costa
     Courtney
     Craig
     Crockett
     Crow
     Cuellar
     Davids (KS)
     Davis (IL)
     Davis (NC)
     Dean (PA)
     DeGette
     DeLauro
     DelBene
     Deluzio
     DeSaulnier
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Duarte
     Escobar
     Eshoo
     Espaillat
     Evans
     Fletcher
     Foster
     Foushee
     Frankel, Lois
     Frost
     Gallego
     Garamendi
     Garcia (IL)
     Garcia (TX)
     Garcia, Mike
     Garcia, Robert
     Golden (ME)
     Goldman (NY)
     Gomez
     Gonzalez, Vicente
     Gottheimer
     Green, Al (TX)
     Grijalva
     Harder (CA)
     Hayes
     Higgins (NY)
     Himes
     Horsford
     Houlahan

[[Page H5495]]


     Hoyer
     Hoyle (OR)
     Huffman
     Ivey
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson (NC)
     Jacobs
     Jayapal
     Jeffries
     Johnson (GA)
     Kamlager-Dove
     Kaptur
     Kelly (IL)
     Khanna
     Kildee
     Kilmer
     Kim (NJ)
     Krishnamoorthi
     Kuster
     Landsman
     Larson (CT)
     Lee (CA)
     Lee (NV)
     Lee (PA)
     Leger Fernandez
     Levin
     Lieu
     Lofgren
     Lynch
     Magaziner
     Manning
     Massie
     Matsui
     McBath
     McClellan
     McClintock
     McCollum
     McGarvey
     McGovern
     Meeks
     Menendez
     Meng
     Mfume
     Moore (WI)
     Morelle
     Moskowitz
     Moulton
     Mrvan
     Mullin
     Nadler
     Napolitano
     Neal
     Neguse
     Nickel
     Norcross
     Ocasio-Cortez
     Omar
     Pallone
     Panetta
     Pappas
     Pascrell
     Payne
     Peltola
     Perez
     Peters
     Pettersen
     Pingree
     Pocan
     Porter
     Pressley
     Quigley
     Ramirez
     Raskin
     Ross
     Ruiz
     Ruppersberger
     Ryan
     Salinas
     Sanchez
     Sarbanes
     Scanlon
     Schakowsky
     Schiff
     Scholten
     Schrier
     Scott (VA)
     Scott, David
     Sewell
     Sherman
     Sherrill
     Slotkin
     Smith (WA)
     Sorensen
     Soto
     Spanberger
     Stansbury
     Stanton
     Stevens
     Strickland
     Sykes
     Takano
     Thanedar
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Titus
     Tlaib
     Tokuda
     Tonko
     Torres (CA)
     Torres (NY)
     Trahan
     Trone
     Underwood
     Vargas
     Vasquez
     Veasey
     Velazquez
     Wasserman Schultz
     Waters
     Watson Coleman
     Wexton
     Williams (GA)
     Zinke

                               NAYS--213

     Aderholt
     Alford
     Allen
     Amodei
     Armstrong
     Arrington
     Babin
     Bacon
     Baird
     Balderson
     Barr
     Bean (FL)
     Bentz
     Bergman
     Bice
     Biggs
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (NC)
     Boebert
     Bost
     Brecheen
     Buchanan
     Bucshon
     Burchett
     Burgess
     Burlison
     Calvert
     Cammack
     Carey
     Carl
     Carter (GA)
     Carter (TX)
     Chavez-DeRemer
     Ciscomani
     Cline
     Cloud
     Clyde
     Cole
     Collins
     Comer
     Crane
     Crawford
     Crenshaw
     Curtis
     Davidson
     De La Cruz
     DesJarlais
     Diaz-Balart
     Donalds
     Duncan
     Dunn (FL)
     Edwards
     Ellzey
     Emmer
     Estes
     Ezell
     Fallon
     Feenstra
     Ferguson
     Finstad
     Fischbach
     Fitzgerald
     Fitzpatrick
     Fleischmann
     Flood
     Foxx
     Franklin, Scott
     Fry
     Fulcher
     Gaetz
     Gallagher
     Garbarino
     Gimenez
     Gonzales, Tony
     Good (VA)
     Gooden (TX)
     Gosar
     Granger
     Graves (LA)
     Graves (MO)
     Green (TN)
     Greene (GA)
     Griffith
     Grothman
     Guest
     Guthrie
     Hageman
     Harris
     Harshbarger
     Hern
     Higgins (LA)
     Hill
     Hinson
     Houchin
     Hudson
     Huizenga
     Hunt
     Issa
     Jackson (TX)
     James
     Johnson (LA)
     Johnson (OH)
     Johnson (SD)
     Jordan
     Joyce (OH)
     Joyce (PA)
     Kean (NJ)
     Kelly (MS)
     Kelly (PA)
     Kiggans (VA)
     Kiley
     Kim (CA)
     Kustoff
     LaHood
     LaLota
     LaMalfa
     Lamborn
     Langworthy
     Latta
     LaTurner
     Lawler
     Lee (FL)
     Lesko
     Letlow
     Loudermilk
     Lucas
     Luetkemeyer
     Luna
     Luttrell
     Mace
     Malliotakis
     Mann
     Mast
     McCarthy
     McCaul
     McClain
     McCormick
     McHenry
     Meuser
     Miller (IL)
     Miller (OH)
     Miller (WV)
     Miller-Meeks
     Mills
     Molinaro
     Moolenaar
     Mooney
     Moore (AL)
     Moore (UT)
     Moran
     Murphy
     Nehls
     Newhouse
     Norman
     Nunn (IA)
     Obernolte
     Ogles
     Owens
     Palmer
     Pence
     Perry
     Pfluger
     Posey
     Reschenthaler
     Rodgers (WA)
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rose
     Rosendale
     Rouzer
     Roy
     Rutherford
     Salazar
     Santos
     Scalise
     Schneider
     Schweikert
     Scott, Austin
     Self
     Sessions
     Simpson
     Smith (MO)
     Smith (NE)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smucker
     Spartz
     Stauber
     Steel
     Stefanik
     Steil
     Steube
     Strong
     Tenney
     Thompson (PA)
     Tiffany
     Timmons
     Turner
     Valadao
     Van Drew
     Van Duyne
     Van Orden
     Wagner
     Walberg
     Waltz
     Weber (TX)
     Wenstrup
     Westerman
     Williams (NY)
     Williams (TX)
     Wilson (SC)
     Wittman
     Womack
     Yakym

                        ANSWERED ``PRESENT''--1

       
     Wild
       

                             NOT VOTING--11

     Banks
     Blumenauer
     D'Esposito
     Jackson Lee
     Keating
     Larsen (WA)
     Pelosi
     Phillips
     Swalwell
     Webster (FL)
     Wilson (FL)


                Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (during the vote). There are 2 minutes 
remaining.

                              {time}  1437

  So the motion to table was rejected.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                              {time}  1445

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. DesJarlais). Pursuant to clause 2 of 
rule IX, the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. McCormick) and the gentleman 
from Maryland (Mr. Raskin) each will control 30 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Georgia.
  Mr. McCORMICK. Mr. Speaker, Representative Tlaib has repeatedly made 
atrocious statements against our ally Israel and in support of Hamas, a 
terrorist group responsible for the largest massacre of Jews since the 
Holocaust.
  Represent Tlaib has levied unbelievable falsehoods about our greatest 
ally, Israel, and the attack on October 7. Recently, she even falsely 
blamed them for bombing the Al Ahli Arab hospital, but all of our 
current intelligence shows that Israel was not responsible.
  As stated in my resolution on November 3, Representative Tlaib said: 
``From the river to the sea is an aspirational call for freedom, human 
rights, and peaceful coexistence, not death, destruction, or hate. My 
work and advocacy is always centered in justice and dignity for all 
people no matter faith or ethnicity.''
  Mr. Speaker, let me break down the saying, ``From the river to the 
sea.'' The river is the Jordan River, and the sea is the Mediterranean 
Sea. This is a call for the complete destruction of Israel. It is 
disgusting when it is used in this context that was meant.
  Representative Tlaib boycotted Israeli President Herzog's address to 
Congress, releasing a joint statement with Representative Bush that 
said: ``Bestowing President Herzog with the rare honor of a joint 
address to Congress while the Israeli apartheid government continues to 
enable and directly support racism and brutal settler attacks is a slap 
in the face to victims, survivors, and their loved ones. . . .''
  This kind of hatred against our ally Israel is unacceptable. Israel 
has a right to exist. For thousands of years, the Jewish people resided 
in that land and, after being displaced for centuries, returned in 1948 
after the Holocaust.
  Mr. Speaker, we have seen the effects of the reprehensible rhetoric 
of Representative Tlaib across the Nation. At schools and colleges 
around the country, Jewish students have been forced to be on alert as 
their anti-Semitic peers have engaged in disgusting demonstrations, 
chanting anti-Semitic slogans.
  At The Cooper Union, a private college in New York, Jewish students 
were forced to hide from pro-Hamas protesters in a library where they 
feared for their safety.
  At George Washington University, just about a half mile from this 
building, students broadcast ``Glory to our martyrs,'' and ``Free 
Palestine from the river to the sea,'' on the side of a campus 
building.
  Further, yesterday, in Ventura County, California, Paul Kessler, a 
Jewish man protesting for Israel, was killed in an altercation with 
pro-Palestinian protesters.
  These anti-Semitic incidents are happening right now in America in 
2023. Quite frankly, in my entire lifetime, I have never seen anything 
like it.
  The same Nation that defeated Nazism in World War II must now defeat 
an internal rot promoting the same senseless violence and hatred of 
Jewish people.
  It is a sad fact, but this type of anti-Semitic hate is being 
promoted by a small group of Members in this body--chiefly, 
Representative Tlaib. We must hold her accountable.
  This war in Israel is affecting everyone, whether it is innocent 
Palestinians at risk because of Hamas' actions; or our fellow Jewish 
Americans, who now have to worry each day about the possibility of an 
anti-Semitic attack; or Sergeant Elisheva Rose Ida Lubin, a young 
Jewish woman who was a member of the Israeli Border Police and grew up 
in Dunwoody, Georgia, and was killed by a Palestinian assailant.
  For the safety and security of our Nation, we must continue to 
support Israel, a nation fighting for democracy, decency, and Western 
values.
  Representative Tlaib has undermined U.S. interests with her 
statements and must be censured.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I have images of three politicians in my office: Abraham 
Lincoln, Robert F. Kennedy, and Samuel H. Bellman, who was the first 
Jewish person ever elected to the Minnesota Legislature, a great 
champion of civil rights and civil liberties in the Constitution and of 
the creation of the

[[Page H5496]]

State of Israel, the Jewish democratic state in 1948. He was my 
grandfather.
  He was elected at a time of terrible anti-Semitism, not unlike today. 
Minneapolis was actually called the anti-Semitism capital of America, 
and my grandpa told me a story I will never forget.
  The Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and Republican Caucuses both had 
their annual retreats at a country club that did not allow Jews or 
Blacks to enter. My grandfather complained privately to the speaker 
about the fact that he wouldn't be able to go to his own retreat. The 
speaker apologized but said that it was a tradition.
  So my grandfather, the only Jewish person in the chamber, spoke on 
the floor about anti-Semitism. He was booed and jeered at, and members 
left as he tried to speak.
  When the minority leader asked me to manage our time today, I thought 
about my grandfather and how he must have felt on that day. I rise here 
not in spite of the fact that I am a Jewish American who supports the 
Constitution and the Jewish democratic state and hates all the anti-
Semitic tyrants and terrorists of the world, from Putin in Russia and 
Mohammed bin Salman in Saudi Arabia to Hezbollah in Hamas. I am here 
because of these things and because of everything that I believe in and 
stand for.
  At this moment when democracy is under siege all over the world, 
America must stand tall for the Constitution of the United States. This 
resolution is about one thing and one thing only: the punishment of 
speech.
  We have the chance to show the world what the American Constitution 
means and how we hold fast to our core principles even when we are 
drawn away from them by our passions and our righteous anger.

  The Constitution is the supreme law of the land, and the very heart 
of it is our First Amendment, which protects every citizen's freedom of 
speech and says Congress shall make no law abridging it.
  The freedom to speak includes the freedom to disagree, the right to 
think radically differently from the majority about important things, 
or else it is no freedom at all. It is easy to defend freedom of speech 
for people when you agree with them. The test for each Member today is 
whether you can defend freedom of speech for people when you most 
fundamentally and vehemently disagree with them.
  The First Amendment is like an apple, and everybody wants to take 
just one little bite out of it--leftwing speech, rightwing speech, 
sexist speech, feminist speech, homophobic speech, pro-LGBTQ speech, 
anti-war speech, pro-war speech, religious speech, sacrilegious speech. 
Everybody wants a bite out of the apple.
  At the end of the day, after everybody has taken his or her bite, do 
you know what is left? Nothing. There is nothing left.
  If you want to save the apple, you have to learn to tolerate not just 
the speech you love the most but the speech you hate the most.
  Now, like the First Amendment, the Speech or Debate Clause embodies 
this central value in the proceedings of this body. It states that 
Members of Congress ``shall in all cases, except treason, felony, and 
breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance 
at the session of their respective Houses, and in going to and 
returning from the same; and for any speech or debate in either House, 
they shall not be questioned in any other place.''
  In the two-and-a-half-century history of this great Chamber, Members 
have been overwhelmingly censured for their actions, not for their 
speech--actions like participating in the violent assault against 
Charles Sumner of Massachusetts; assaulting Representative Grinnell, of 
Iowa, with a cane; selling military academy appointments; taking 
bribes; engaging in mail fraud and payroll fraud; improper spending of 
campaign funds; embezzling congressional money; engaging in sexual 
misconduct with a House page.
  Do you see the difference? It is not what they said. It is what they 
did.
  I can find only three categories of cases where speech is the sum and 
substance of the charge, and all are exceptions that have been ratified 
by the Supreme Court:
  One, violent threats against other Members of this body, which the 
Court has found, as recently as April, are not protected by the First 
Amendment.
  Two, fighting words: the use of unparliamentary or aggressively 
insulting language on the House floor that constitutes a direct affront 
to another Member. The Supreme Court has said that fighting words are 
not protected.
  Three, speech advocating or promoting treason, secession, or 
insurrection, all of them outside of the First Amendment because of 
numerous provisions in our Constitution condemning and opposing 
insurrection.
  That is it: violent threats against other Members, fighting words on 
the floor, speech inciting insurrection.
  The resolution offered against the gentlewoman from Michigan is all 
about censuring her for her political speech and literally nothing 
else. No actions, no conduct, is being alleged or punished. The entire 
motion is about her speech and how much we hate it and how wrong we 
think it is, and all of that is fine for all of us to express 
individually on the floor, in the media, on social media.
  I have said to Ms. Tlaib myself that the phrase ``from the river to 
sea'' is abhorrent to me, even with her published explanation of what 
she means by it, which is very different from what Hamas says about it 
and how Hamas uses it, but I would never think of punishing her or 
disciplining her because we disagree about that.
  The resolution proposes to condemn her for quoting this objectionable 
phrase in her video, a video which is indisputably protected speech 
under the First Amendment.
  Unlike the gentleman from New York, Mr. Santos, whose proposed 
expulsion by members of the majority was rejected by a commanding 
bipartisan majority last week because he has not been convicted of 
either the criminal or the ethics charges outstanding against him, Ms. 
Tlaib has been criminally charged with nothing. She has been civilly 
sued for nothing. She has no ethics charges outstanding before the 
Ethics Committee in any way.
  It is easy to see why. She cannot face criminal punishment or civil 
liability for her speech because, in the United States of America, we 
don't punish people for their political ideas, no matter how 
wrongheaded or offensive we think they are. The majority might think 
they are, or it might not, but in any event, it doesn't make any 
difference.
  She won reelection with 71 percent of the vote in Michigan's 12th 
District, and if anyone is going to punish her for her political ideas 
or performance, it must be the people of her own district who sent her 
here to represent them.
  Mr. Speaker, the disciplinary process should never be used to punish 
the political speech or viewpoints of a Member of this Chamber just 
because the majority disagrees.
  The punishment of political viewpoints will mean that Members will be 
censured just for being in the minority rather than in the majority, 
and that will come to stifle our dialogue and haunt all of our work.
  For example, the good Speaker of the House, who is my friend from the 
Judiciary Committee, has taken positions in the past arguing that sex 
between consenting gay adults should be a crime, that the Supreme Court 
was wrong to strike down sodomy laws in Lawrence v. Texas and wrong to 
give gay people the right to marry in Obergefell, a right that he said 
is ``the dark harbinger of chaos and sexual anarchy that could doom 
even the strongest republic.''

  The vast majority of Americans reject these positions as extreme in 
public opinion polls and believe all citizens should have the freedom 
to pursue their own love lives and to marry.
  If the House majority changes hands, should we actually censure the 
former Speaker of the House for his constitutional apostasy and thought 
crimes against the rights of millions of Americans? I sure hope not 
because the gentleman from Louisiana is absolutely entitled to his 
political and religious views, no matter how far outside the 
constitutional and American mainstream they are.
  Under the First Amendment, extremism is in the eye of the beholder, 
but how will we resist the temptation to punish him in the future if we 
set a precedent today that Members can be censured and canceled simply 
for their

[[Page H5497]]

political heresies in the eyes of the majority controlling the House?
  If we say the gentlewoman can be punished because her views of 
history are wrong, as I heard my friend say, can we then punish Members 
of this body who refuse to vote to take down in our Halls the statues 
of Members of Congress from the 19th century who joined the Confederacy 
and committed treason against the Union, people like John Breckinridge, 
a former Vice President and U.S. Senator who was expelled from the 
Senate after he defected to the Confederacy? Should we use the 
disciplinary process to impose historical orthodoxy?
  If anything, there is a stronger constitutional case for punishing 
the 120 Members of the House who voted against taking down statues of 
Confederate traitors because multiple provisions of the Constitution 
explicitly forbid and punish participation in insurrection. Do Members 
who voted that way want to risk being censured in the future by 
establishing that divergent minority views on history are a legitimate 
matter of institutional discipline?
  What about the Members who defended conspiracy theorist Alex Jones 
and stated that Sandy Hook and Parkland mass murderers of dozens of 
schoolchildren were staged by Hollywood to generate support for gun 
safety? That is not even a matter of opinion but adjudicated positive 
fact, and still, the Constitution protects your right to be wrong about 
facts unless you are deliberately defrauding or cheating someone out of 
something like money or campaign contributions.

                              {time}  1500

  What about all of those Members who have followed the former 
President in advancing the big lie that he actually won the 2020 
election? Should we convert the 60 Federal and State court decisions 
rejecting claims of election fraud and corruption into discipline and 
punishment of Members who still cling to that view?
  What about the 11 Members of this body who lost the 405-11 vote in 
2019 recognizing that the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks 
during World War I was a genocide? Does their denial of the genocidal 
character of the deaths of more than 1 million Armenians qualify them 
for collective punishment today, institutional punishment?
  Can we convert differing interpretations of history into the basis 
for disciplinary action?
  Well, perhaps you say political dissent should be uniquely punishable 
when it comes to foreign policy. Of course, the First Amendment doesn't 
distinguish between speech having domestic or foreign policy content. 
All of it is protected. If not, every Member of this body who has voted 
against aid to Ukraine and praises Vladimir Putin, as the former 
President did for his ``genius'' and his ``savvy,'' or says Putin is 
not our enemy, as a number of Members have, could be censured for it by 
this body.
  This resolution not only degrades our Constitution but cheapens the 
meaning of discipline in this body for people who actually commit 
wrongful actions like bribery, fraud, violent assault, and so on.
  When people are punished for their political ideas and expression, 
they will wear it as a badge of honor. They will fundraise on it. 
Millions of dollars will flow to people who are punished that way, and 
they will join the public in mocking the new speech censors of 
Congress.
  A secure constitutional republic, which actively protects the freedom 
of dissenting speech to allow for serious debate and growth as society, 
shows its strength, not its weakness.
  As Thomas Jefferson, whose beautiful statue is right outside of this 
room, put it: ``If there be any among us who would wish to dissolve 
this Union or to change its republican form, let them stand undisturbed 
as monuments of the safety with which error of opinion may be 
tolerated, where reason is left free to combat it.''
  Now is a moment when we will get to see who in the House of 
Representatives believes in the freedom of speech, even the speech they 
hate, versus those who want to impose a new political straitjacket of 
cancel culture on America and Congress.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. McCORMICK. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Fine speech. You talk about setting precedents. I think there is a 
precedent. You guys must have searched really high and far and long to 
find the people who voted against censuring Paul Gosar or Marjorie 
Taylor Greene. There is a precedent. You are right.
  When you talk about freedom of speech and who protects that freedom 
of speech, you are talking to a marine, and you are about to talk to a 
Navy SEAL, people who would give their lives to defend the freedom of 
speech. I understand that probably as well as anybody.
  Let me be clear. This is not about a First Amendment issue. Rashida 
Tlaib has the right to spew anti-Semitic vitriol and even call for the 
destruction of the Jewish state, but the House of Representatives also 
has the right to make it clear that her hate speech does not reflect 
the opinion of the Chamber. That is what this resolution is about.
  When you talk about ``from the river to the sea,'' we talked about 
this with the Parliamentarian, and we talked about it with legal 
counsel. We talked about precedent. We got the Intel Committee to make 
sure the facts are straight. We did our homework on whether there is a 
precedent on this.
  If this is not worthy of censure, what is? When you can call for the 
annihilation of a country and its people, if that is not worthy of 
censure, what is?
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. 
Van Orden).
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to direct their remarks 
to the Chair.
  Mr. VAN ORDEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my colleague 
from Georgia's privileged resolution to censure the Congresswoman from 
Minnesota.
  Before I do so, I remind my dear friend from Maryland that the 
Founding Fathers did not envision Twitter, but the Nuremberg War Crimes 
Tribunal decided that genocide, in fact, is a felony.
  One month ago today, October 7, 2023, savages from the terrorist 
organization, Hamas, invaded Israel from the Gaza Strip and 
intentionally targeted Jewish civilians, men, women, children, and 
infants, and then slaughtered them.
  Jews were being killed at a level not seen since the Holocaust, and 
worldwide anti-Semitism is at an all-time high. We have seen anti-
Semitic and pro-terrorist rallies at major universities across America. 
This last weekend, here in our Nation's Capital, we saw over 200,000 
people rallying in support of the terrorist organization, Hamas, that 
committed these atrocities in Israel. They defaced our national 
monuments and the White House.
  Most disturbingly, in this House, the House that freed men from the 
scourge that is slavery and gave women suffrage, we have a Member who 
not only supports this organization, Hamas, that slaughtered these Jews 
but has actively called for the eradication of the Jews as a people by 
promoting the slogan ``from the river to the sea'' on social media. She 
represents this as an aspirational phrase, and she is correct. It is 
aspirational for those who call for the destruction of the Jewish 
people.
  When I retired from the SEAL teams in 2014, I vowed that I would 
defend the Jewish people if any horrors like those that took place on 
October 7, 2023, were to occur. Following the murder of the innocents 
that took place on October 7, I fulfilled that promise by visiting 
Israel.
  I visited with war-wounded soldiers in medical facilities and 
consulted with military and various governmental officials. I grieved 
with the families who had lost their loved ones to this savagery. I 
visited the kibbutzim where infants were butchered by beasts, including 
one who was removed from its pregnant mother's stomach as she watched 
in horror before she herself was executed.

  I bore witness to these horrors that can barely be described so that 
no one can ever tell me that these events did not take place. Hamas is 
responsible for them and is enabled by those who parrot their slogans.
  Another massacre site I visited was the Supernova music festival, 
where

[[Page H5498]]

over 200 children were butchered. Their lives were ruthlessly 
extinguished after many were raped, tortured, dismembered, and then 
burnt.
  As I was walking through the field strewn with the detritus of this 
war crime, I noticed some cups, simple festival cups. I asked the 
Israeli minister I was with if I could take some home to the United 
States so that I would have a tangible object that could represent the 
lives of those beautiful children from around the world who were 
killed. I brought back enough of these cups to give to many of my 
colleagues, including the one I stand here today to censure.
  She and many other Members of this House need to understand that 
these are human beings. They were not slogans or a flag or a chant. 
They were children who will never be able to dance again, never be able 
to love again. Most tragically, they will never be able to look into 
the eyes of their own children they will never be able to bear.
  I ask you today, Mr. Speaker, if you had the chance to stop the 
Holocaust, would you?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
  Mr. McCORMICK. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the 
gentleman from Wisconsin.
  Mr. VAN ORDEN. Mr. Speaker, I call upon my fellow colleagues from 
both parties to say yes, we would stop the Holocaust. We will not stay 
silent as the 21st century holocaust unfolds before our very eyes. We 
will not.
  I cast my vote today to censure, to affirm our commitment to justice 
and in the defense of the Israeli people.
  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman 
from Michigan (Ms. Tlaib).
  Ms. TLAIB. Mr. Speaker, I am the only Palestinian American serving in 
Congress. My perspective is needed here now more than ever.
  I will not be silenced, and I will not let you distort my words. 
Folks forget I am from the city of Detroit, the most beautiful, 
Blackest city in the country, where I learned to speak truth to power, 
even if my voice shakes. Trying to bully or censure me won't work 
because this movement for a cease-fire is much bigger than one person. 
It is growing every single day.
  There are millions of people across our country who oppose 
Netanyahu's extremism and are done watching our government support 
collective punishment and the use of white phosphorus bombs that melt 
flesh to the bone.
  They are done watching our government, Mr. Speaker, supporting 
cutting off food, water, electricity, and medical care to millions of 
people with nowhere to go.
  Like me, Mr. Speaker, they don't believe the answer to war crimes is 
more war crimes.
  The refusal of Congress and the administration to acknowledge 
Palestinian lives is chipping away at my soul. Over 10,000 Palestinians 
have been killed. The majority were children.
  Let me be clear: My criticism has always been of the Israeli 
Government and Netanyahu's actions.
  It is important to separate people and governments, Mr. Speaker. No 
government is beyond criticism. The idea that criticizing the 
Government of Israel is anti-Semitic sets a very dangerous precedent, 
and it is being used to silence diverse voices speaking up for human 
rights across our Nation.
  Do you realize what it is like, Mr. Speaker, for the people outside 
of the Chamber right now listening in agony to their own government 
dehumanizing them, to hear the President of the United States we helped 
elect dispute death tolls as we see video after video of parents and 
dead children under rubble?
  Mr. Speaker, do you know what it is like to feel rising hate crimes, 
to know how Islamophobia and anti-Semitism make us all less safe, and 
to worry that your own child might suffer the horrors that 6-year-old 
Wadea did in Illinois?
  I can't believe I have to say this, but Palestinian people are not 
disposable. We are human beings just like anyone else. My sity, my 
grandmother, like all Palestinians, just wants to live her life with 
the freedom and human dignity we all deserve.
  Speaking up to save lives, Mr. Speaker, no matter faith, no matter 
ethnicity, should not be controversial in this Chamber. The cries of 
Palestinian and Israeli children sound no different to me. What I do 
not understand is why the cries of Palestinians sound different to you-
all.

  We cannot lose our shared humanity, Mr. Speaker. I hear the voices of 
advocates in Israel, in Palestine, across America, and around the world 
for peace. I am inspired by the courageous survivors in Israel who have 
lost loved ones yet are calling for a cease-fire and the end to 
violence. I am grateful to the people in the streets for the peace 
movement, with countless Jewish Americans across the country standing 
up and lovingly saying: ``Not in our name.''
  We will continue to call for a cease-fire, Mr. Speaker, for the 
immediate delivery of critical humanitarian aid to Gaza, for the 
release of all hostages and those arbitrarily detained, and for every 
American to come home. We will continue to work for real, lasting peace 
that upholds human rights and the dignity of all people and centers 
peaceful coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians, censures no 
one, and ensures that no person, no child, has to suffer or live in 
fear of violence.
  Seventy-one percent of Michigan Democrats support a cease-fire. You 
can try to censure me, but you can't silence their voices.
  I urge my colleagues to join with the majority of Americans and 
support a cease-fire now to save as many lives as possible. President 
Biden must listen to and represent all of us, not just some of us.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge the President to have the courage to call for a 
cease-fire and the end of killings.
  Mr. McCORMICK. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  If this was about calling for a cease-fire, we would not have these 
proceedings.
  I was wrong, by the way, when I said that it must have taken a long 
time to find somebody who hasn't voted for censorship from the other 
side of the aisle. You didn't find it. The gentleman from the other 
side of the aisle actually did vote for censorship on a First Amendment 
right. I find it rather funny. We just researched it. Unless my sources 
are wrong, the vast majority of the other side of the aisle actually 
voted for censorship based on a First Amendment right.
  I also wanted to say that my heart goes out to the Palestinian 
people--it truly does--especially those people who were bombed in the 
hospital, which my colleague knows wasn't from the Israelis.

                              {time}  1515

  Yet the statement is contrary to that, even though our intel was very 
clear, as was our President, very clear. That is what this debate is 
about.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Roy).
  Mr. ROY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Georgia for the 
time.
  With respect to the gentleman from Maryland, I understand the 
perspective with respect to free speech, and I certainly wish to always 
stand aside the protection of free speech in this country, but this 
goes well beyond that.
  We are not talking about restraining the gentlewoman from Michigan's 
ability to speak as an American citizen. We are not talking about 
punishing her and putting her in jail.
  What we are talking about is whether a Member of the House of 
Representatives, a Member of this body representing this Nation, is 
justified in putting forward a defense of the actions of Hamas 
terrorists that murdered innocent Israeli citizens and are holding 
United States citizens and Israelis hostage. In her own language, she 
was defending on October 8--a mere 24 hours into the brutal and 
barbaric attacks in which babies were beheaded, babies were placed into 
ovens, literally. Moms were raped in a house while their babies were 
put in an oven. This is a documented account, video evidence, and this 
is dismissed as resistance to an apartheid state.
  My problem is that the gentlewoman is also referring to Joe Biden 
supporting the genocide of the Palestinian people. The gentlewoman has 
put forward that by virtue of the United States of America funding, in 
solidarity the people of Israel in defense of their right to exist, 
that by virtue of our position as Americans standing in

[[Page H5499]]

front of that flag in this Chamber representing 330 million Americans, 
that by funding and supporting Israel, we are somehow perpetuating the 
call for violence that we saw unfold right before our eyes on October 7 
in the most brutal and heinous acts that some of us have ever seen.
  I do not doubt the gentlewoman's sincerity of her concern for her 
home people and concerns about the attacks on the people of Gaza.
  I had some people who called into question that I would put out my 
public support for my former colleague, Justin Amash, who lost cousins 
in a church, receiving missile fire into a building next to a church.
  I genuinely pray for the people of Israel, the people of Gaza, the 
people throughout the world that are now dealing with all of this.
  The gentlewoman cannot, as a Member of Congress, be standing up and 
telling the world that what we saw unfold in attacking Israel is 
justified. We can't.
  Free speech matters. I have grave concern right now about where this 
institution is going with respect to censures. I voted against the 
censure last week because I thought it had drafting problems and I 
thought it had significant concerns it raised.
  Mr. Speaker, I believe the work that was done by my friend from 
Georgia, he put forward a resolution that is worthy of support. I 
support the resolution and believe that we should pass it.
  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from 
Massachusetts (Ms. Pressley).
  Ms. PRESSLEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this censure 
resolution that is blatantly Islamophobic, anti-democratic, and an 
utter waste of time.
  This resolution is as dishonest as it is unproductive. Any Member who 
denies that Congresswoman Tlaib has opposed the killing of civilians--
Israeli, Palestinian, and American alike--is willfully ignoring the 
truth.
  Representative Tlaib was elected by voters in Michigan to do exactly 
what she does best: advocate for a better, safer, more just world. She 
leads with love, speaks truth to power, and seeks justice even when her 
life and that of her family and her staff are threatened.
  As a daughter, mother, sister, friend, advocate, and effective, duly-
elected, three-term, first-ever Palestinian-American Member of 
Congress, she has been a much-needed voice in an institution that has 
too often failed to listen.
  Today, Republicans are again attacking a Democratic colleague just 
because they don't like what she has to say. It is another shameful but 
predictable ploy of distraction from the real traffickers of hate who 
are obsessed with policing progressive women of color.
  Mr. Speaker, I oppose this offensive resolution for every little girl 
from Michigan to the Middle East who sees herself when they see the 
leadership of Representative Rashida Tlaib, and I urge my colleagues to 
do the same.
  Mr. McCORMICK. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman 
from Michigan (Mr. Bergman), a Marine Corps general.
  Mr. BERGMAN. Mr. Speaker, I am reminded of Proverbs 18:21, which 
says: ``Words kill, words give life; they're either poison or fruit--
you choose.''
  I take no joy in standing here today to censure a fellow Michigan 
Representative, but Congresswoman Tlaib's words and actions are 
abhorrent and beneath her office.
  Representative Tlaib has tripled-down on her anti-Semitic and anti-
Israel rhetoric, recently posting a video with protesters chanting, 
``from the river to the sea,'' with a follow-up comment explaining that 
that phrase is a peaceful aphorism about human rights.
  However, that quote has long been a rallying cry for supporters of 
Hamas and other terrorists hell-bent on destroying Israel. ``From the 
river to the sea'' refers to the area, of course, between the Jordan 
River and the Mediterranean Sea, which is the State of Israel.
  Jewish Americans are being targeted in their schools and on our 
Nation's streets. Just yesterday, a California man supporting Israel 
was murdered during competing pro-Israel, pro-Palestinian rallies.
  Words matter and words have real-world implications. Congresswoman 
Tlaib's continued assault on the only Jewish state in the world, 
Israel, is reprehensible and this body should come together to support 
this censure resolution to say to Representative Tlaib: Enough.

  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from 
Michigan (Mrs. Dingell).
  Mrs. DINGELL. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this resolution.
  Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib is an important member of our Democratic 
Caucus and our Michigan delegation. Her voice matters. She is the only 
Palestinian American in Congress, and this is a representative body. 
Her perspective reflects many that she represents, especially when it 
is not twisted.
  Congresswoman Tlaib is entitled to the same constitutionally 
protected freedom of speech and expression that every other American 
and every other Member of this body has. This resolution is an attack 
on that fundamental right.
  I spent all weekend in Michigan this last weekend talking to all the 
communities about the meaning of this phrase. There are very strong 
feelings on all sides. It is very clear that people interpret words in 
different ways. Personally, I choose not to use a phrase that is 
offensive to some and that many perceive as a threat, but I also take 
seriously living in a country that does not restrict, forbid, or 
censure free speech.
  Mr. McCORMICK. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
New Jersey (Mr. Van Drew).
  Mr. VAN DREW. Mr. Speaker, soulless, disgusting, sickening, 
reprehensible, and repulsive--these are not my words but the words of 
my Democratic colleagues when asked about the decision of 15 Members 
who refused to condemn Hamas' brutal terror attacks on innocent 
Israelis.
  Some of those 15 didn't stop there. Several of these Members have 
gone on to use their massive platforms to accuse Israel of apartheid, 
genocide, and war crimes. This rhetoric by Members of Congress is not 
only careless, it is dangerous.
  American cities and the cities around the world have been flooded 
with anti-Israeli protests. Protestors scream for an intifada. They 
demand a cleansing of Jews from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean 
Sea, the destruction of Israel, and the destruction of the United 
States of America.
  They ripped down the pictures of Jewish children and Jewish babies 
being held hostage in Gaza. It is reprehensible. It is unacceptable.
  Hamas is a terrorist organization that does not care about the 
Palestinian people. Their goal is to wipe Israel from the face of the 
Earth. Babies were burned alive. Babies were beheaded. Women were 
raped, beaten, displayed, and then murdered. Children, mothers, 
grandmothers, fathers, grandfathers, they were all killed.
  Anyone who supports this or refuses to condemn it has no place in the 
United States Congress. I don't like censure--I hate censure--but we 
have to draw a line in the sand somewhere. We do not entertain hate in 
this Congress. We confront it, and we must do it with absolute 
conviction.
  This is not a freedom of speech issue. This is an issue of the 
Congress of the United States having the right to say this is wrong.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to vote for this.
  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished 
gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern), the ranking member of the 
Rules Committee.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, we should reject this resolution for a few 
simple reasons: first is protecting this institution. I don't agree 
with a lot of what people say around here. I think a lot of what my 
Republican friends say is offensive and even racist, but I don't go 
around introducing censure resolutions.
  If we are going to start censuring anybody who says something we 
don't like, all we will do from now on is censure each other all day.
  The second reason is freedom of speech. My Republican colleagues go 
on and on about cancel culture, and here they are today trying to 
cancel someone.
  I don't want any lectures from people who are trying to create a 
1984-style

[[Page H5500]]

thought police. I don't know what is wrong with them, Mr. Speaker. If 
this is not the high point of Republican hypocrisy, I don't know what 
is.
  Mr. Speaker, I say to my Republican colleagues that they are 
unleashing something very bad here. They are setting an awful precedent 
for this institution. This is a very slippery slope.
  I strongly urge a ``no'' vote on this resolution to protect this 
institution, to protect freedom of speech, and to reject this 
majority's cynical attempts to divide and distract America.
  Mr. Speaker, I would say that if my Republican friends don't like 
listening to people they disagree with, they should get a new job.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to direct their remarks 
to the Chair.
  Mr. McCORMICK. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Ohio (Mr. Miller), a marine.
  Mr. MILLER of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I rise today at what I think is a 
very serious moment for our country and for the world.
  Hate and anti-Semitism are on the rise. Our strongest ally and great 
friend, Israel, is under siege at the hands of brutal terrorists. As a 
member of the United States Marines, I know when a Member of the House 
of Representatives is echoing a line that is a clear call to murder 
Jews and push Israel off the map--``from the river to the sea.''
  To be clear, ``from the river to the sea,'' as someone who is Jewish, 
means to exterminate my people. Never again.
  Mr. Speaker, the ADL recently reported that anti-Semitic incidents 
rose by roughly 400 percent in the 2 weeks following Hamas' evil attack 
on Israel, which began 1 month ago today.
  There is no question that these incidents are a direct result of the 
hate-filled lies and anti-Semitic rhetoric perpetuated by Members of 
this body--``from the river to the sea.''
  What exactly does that mean, ``from the river to the sea Palestine 
will be free.'' I am happy to educate all of you. It means the 
extermination of the Jewish people.
  I understand that my colleague, the gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. 
Tlaib), thinks that this is some kind of aspirational message. It is a 
joke.
  Mr. Speaker, I do think that this is an aspirational message. But it 
is not an aspiration of peaceful coexistence. It is an aspiration to 
the erasure of the State of Israel and its people, the Jewish people 
who call it home and who have been refugees since the very beginning of 
time.

                              {time}  1530

  It is an aspiration to the genocide of Jews.
  Mr. Speaker, I believe strongly that Members of this body should be 
able to speak their minds freely, but I also think there should be 
consequences for those who would use their platforms to perpetuate 
garbage that puts any American at risk especially because of their 
religion.
  Mr. Speaker, I believe that actions have consequences, and I believe 
that after a long string of anti-Semitic remarks and hate-filled 
rhetoric, censure is an appropriate consequence for the gentlewoman 
from Michigan.
  Never again, damn it, means never again.
  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from the 
Virgin Islands (Ms. Plaskett).
  Ms. PLASKETT. Mr. Speaker, I come before you today in support of my 
colleague Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib.
  All Members of Congress are entitled to freedom of speech. We also 
recognize that words matter and that they have the power to uplift or 
to harm others.
  While I have joined the statement rejecting certain harmful 
phraseology that has been used, I believe Congresswoman Tlaib's 
statement that she did not intend to wish harm to the Jewish community 
by her words.
  Congresswoman Tlaib has all since clarified that she was intending to 
make an aspirational call for freedom, human rights, and peaceful 
coexistence, not death, destruction, or hate.
  The ability to have free speech but to be willing to discuss and to 
change and clarify is not just mature but democratic. No Member should 
express harm to others, and Congresswoman Tlaib has been willing to 
listen, clarify, and express compassion.
  Yet on the other side of the aisle, we have seen repeatedly 
Republican Members make disparaging comments that have threatened our 
fellow colleagues and their families.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.
  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 10 seconds to the 
gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands.
  Ms. PLASKETT. We have had members of the Republican Conference make 
floor speeches about the great replacement theory that is suggestive of 
white nationalism.
  As a Black woman, I am offended.
  Will you censure the co-chair of your Conference, Mr. Speaker?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman's time has expired.
  Ms. PLASKETT. We need to uplift. We need to allow free speech.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands is 
no longer recognized.
  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. McCORMICK. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman 
from South Carolina (Mr. Wilson).
  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of 
Congressman Rich McCormick's resolution of censure.
  Enemies of civilization are gruesomely bold and clear on their 
murderous intentions. A heinously revealing declaration of their 
barbaric intentions by the Iranian puppet Hamas is detailed in the 
Hamas Covenant of August 18, 1988. In the midst of insane provisions is 
article 7: ``The Day of Judgment will not come about until Muslims 
fight the Jews and kill them. Then, the Jews will hide behind rocks and 
trees, and the rocks and trees will cry out: `O Muslim, there is a Jew 
hiding behind me, come and kill him.'''
  They are very clear. What they are talking about is death to Israel 
and then death to America.
  The New York Post is correct in warning last week that we in America 
are subject to another 9/11 attack being imminent by such people.
  The goal of Hamas puppets of Iran is to murder the Jews worldwide. It 
is fake news about caring for the Palestinian people. This is not about 
territory. Suffering by the Hamas-oppressed people of Gaza is solely 
Hamas dictated.
  We know the duplicitous wording of ``from the river to the sea'' is 
nothing more than a call of mass murder to Jewish people and will then 
lead to mass murder in America.
  Hamas, Houthis, and also Hezbollah are puppets of Iran with their 
intent, and we are actually in a war we did not choose between 
dictators with rule of gun attacking democracies with rule of law. This 
began with the war criminal Putin's invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 
2022, and led to the Hamas invasion of Israel on Putin's birthday, 
October 7.
  Over 30 missile attacks have already seriously injured American 
troops who are serving in this war.
  Bold and clear are the dictators with Putin's treatise of July 2021 
that Ukraine does not exist; that the Chinese Communist Party that 
threatens the 24 million people of Taiwan, they don't exist; and Iran 
chants in English, ``death to Israel, death to America.''
  It is sad to hear how the Iranian propaganda is being promoted by our 
media and colleges.
  As the grateful father of four sons who have served in Iraq, Egypt, 
and Afghanistan, I appreciate the Israeli and Ukrainian troops for 
their courage.
  Democracies will prevail by building peace through strength.
  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from 
Washington (Ms. Jayapal).
  Ms. JAYAPAL. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to this 
resolution.
  Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib is one of only two Muslim-American women 
elected to this body, and the only Palestinian-American in Congress. 
She has fought tirelessly and successfully to get clean drinking water 
for her constituents and to ensure that people have housing and 
environmental justice.
  If we truly want Congress to be a diverse body that represents the 
diversity of views across this country, then we have to be willing to 
stand up for those diverse views to be expressed. We don't have to 
agree with them, but we do have to protect the right to the freedom of 
speech which this body is absolutely required to do.

[[Page H5501]]

  Our country and our world are in crisis. People are suffering 
everywhere. Historic and present traumas for Jews, Muslims, Arabs, 
South Asians, Sikhs, and so many others are playing themselves out, and 
we as the elected Representatives of the people should be working 
together to protect the rights of every American to say what they 
believe and ensure that we preserve our democracy.
  Vote ``no'' on this terrible resolution.
  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. McCORMICK. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from 
New York (Mr. Lawler).
  Mr. LAWLER. Mr. Speaker, in 1893, Katharine Lee Bates wrote ``America 
the Beautiful.'' In it she wrote: ``God shed His grace on thee and 
crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea.''
  As the Bible says in Psalm 72:8: He shall have dominion from sea to 
sea and from the river unto the ends of the Earth.
  That is aspirational.
  Chanting ``from the river to the sea'' is not. Chanting ``from the 
river to the sea'' is calling for the eradication of Israel. I would 
hardly define that as aspirational.
  My colleague Representative Rashida Tlaib has parroted the talking 
points and the message of Hamas, a terrorist organization whose sworn 
mission is the destruction of Israel and the eradication of the Jewish 
people.
  Israel is our strongest ally in the Middle East, a beacon of hope, 
peace, and liberty in the region. It is the only multicultural, 
multiethnic, and multireligious democracy. It is not an apartheid 
state. The oppressor of the Palestinian people is Hamas and the 
Palestinian Authority.
  Mr. Speaker, if you want Palestinians to be free, then reject Hamas, 
reject the Palestinian Authority, and demand that Hamas surrender.
  Calling for a cease-fire that they won't abide to is outrageous. They 
need to immediately surrender and return the hostages to their 
families.
  My colleague repeated a vile and disgusting lie that Israel bombed a 
hospital knowing full well that was factually inaccurate and knowing 
full well that this administration, the Biden administration, advised 
her it was inaccurate, gave her a private briefing, and still she 
continued to repeat this vile and disgusting lie.
  Why?
  It was intended to undermine. It was intended to turn the world 
against Israel.
  Why?
  It is because when she chants ``from the river to the sea,'' she 
believes it. Mr. Speaker, she believes Israel should be eradicated 
because otherwise you would never, ever repeat that vile, vile 
statement.
  It is not a lie.
  That is why we are here. It is not a lie, and that is why we are 
here.
  Paul Kessler was killed for holding an Israeli flag in the United 
States of America. We are losing respect for the sanctity of life, the 
rule of law, and the important role of faith.
  We must combat anti-Semitism, and it starts with this censure.
  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from 
Missouri (Ms. Bush).
  Ms. BUSH. St. Louis and I rise today in opposition to this censure 
resolution and also in opposition to the reckless manner that people in 
this House speak when they don't realize or don't care that they put 
targets on the backs of actual people, most of whom are Black and 
Brown, because of a lack of care and the lack of understanding and a 
lack of seeing the humanity of folks who look like Rashida Tlaib.
  It is outrageous that my colleagues are blatantly, blatantly 
attempting to silence the only Palestinian-American Representative 
right here.
  It is outrageous, but it is not surprising. Let me tell you, Mr. 
Speaker, it is not surprising because this place is where 1,700 Members 
of Congress, this elected body, enslaved Black people. It is not 
surprising, because they thought it was right.
  It is not surprising because this is a place where Members continue 
to claim that the insurrection on the Capitol just appeared to look 
like a normal tourist visit.
  It is not surprising because this is the place where our Black and 
Brown staff members repeatedly speak of experiencing racism, sexism, 
Islamophobia, get pushed off of elevators, xenophobia and more right 
here in this workplace. This is the place.
  Let me say this: She mourns for the 1,400 Israelis who lost their 
lives.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman's time has expired.
  Ms. BUSH. She mourns for the 10,000, and she will not stop.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman's time has expired.
  Ms. BUSH. No more lies. Cease-fire now. She takes the death threats 
that you all send her, Mr. Speaker--The SPEAKER pro tempore. The 
gentlewoman from Missouri is no longer recognized.
  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. McCORMICK. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Fallon).
  Mr. FALLON. Mr. Speaker, I was sitting here not planning to speak at 
all, then I heard words from the other side of the aisle. They were 
flowery, they were eloquent, they had passion, they were articulate, 
they were powerful, and even moving probably to some.
  Nevertheless, were they true?
  I heard about protecting speech, the First Amendment, and our beloved 
Constitution.
  Who is not for protecting speech, our beloved Constitution, and the 
First Amendment?
  So does the gentleman from Maryland and our friends across the aisle 
really believe that?
  Then when I heard about slippery slope and setting a precedent, on 
February 4, 2021, Marjorie Taylor Greene was removed from her 
committees for things that she said before she was a Member of 
Congress.
  On November 17, 2021, Paul Gosar was censured for a cartoon that his 
staff posted. A tasteless cartoon though it be, it was speech.
  So we are protecting speech, are we?
  It is speech that we disagree with, calling the deliberate killing of 
innocent civilians resistance, claiming a bombing of a Gaza hospital 
was done by the Israelis that killed hundreds of people when we knew 
that was not true, and yet Ms. Tlaib doubled and tripled down on that. 
That was false, and that was a lie. And then repeating and celebrating 
a genocidal chant ``from the river to the sea.'' That is not a cartoon, 
and that is not saying some things, Mr. Speaker, that you said before 
you were a Member of Congress.
  Then we were accused of, oh, it is Islamophobic, or it was pointed 
out that she was a woman of color or she was the only Palestinian.
  What does any of that matter?
  This is about words and actions, and we hold everyone to the same 
standard. We are not trying to jail her. We are not trying to expel 
her. We are not levying a civil fine. We are not even talking about 
removing her from committees.
  We are simply firmly and formally disagreeing with her and chastising 
her for her words and her actions.
  What she did was not leadership. It was demagoguery of the worst 
kind, and it was beneath the dignity of this office, her office, and 
the alleged commitment to peace she claims.

                              {time}  1545

  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Bowman).
  Mr. BOWMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this resolution.
  First and foremost, can we please stop misrepresenting Representative 
Tlaib's words? She does not want to kill Jews. She is not in support of 
Hamas. She is speaking as someone who is the only Palestinian American 
in U.S. history to serve in this body.
  Without her voice, we would lack even more empathy for the people of 
Palestine. We would not have someone with direct personal experience 
speaking against the siege that is happening now in Gaza.
  This body needs empathy and compassion for all people, not just 
people who look like the majority of my colleagues on the other side of 
the aisle. Maybe because of your lack of diversity, you lack the 
cognitive and emotional ability to recognize diverse opinions when they 
speak truth to power. You absolutely need to open up your mind to other 
people and other experiences, especially when they are Muslim, when 
they are women, and when they are people of color.

[[Page H5502]]

  You had a Member of your party call my colleague a terrorist and 
didn't censure her, but we are having this conversation now about your 
interpretation of words.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to direct their remarks 
to the Chair.
  Mr. McCORMICK. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to the time remaining.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Georgia has 1\1/2\ 
minutes remaining. The gentleman from Maryland has 5 minutes remaining.
  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from 
Indiana (Mr. Carson).
  Mr. CARSON. Mr. Speaker, this censure measure is a sham.
  When someone who is an American, a Muslim, a woman, and a Palestinian 
dares to speak out for her people, she is told to be quiet. She is told 
to stop talking about Palestinian brothers and sisters in the same 
breath as Jewish brothers and sisters.
  My sister Rashida is a child of the Midwest, representing the best of 
Midwestern sensibilities. She also exemplifies a rich tradition of the 
Islamic faith in the Midwest. She is a bold leader. She is a fair 
leader. She is a compassionate leader. Most importantly, she is an 
American.
  Standing up for one oppressed people does not negate the oppression 
of another.
  We should be working together to end this terrible suffering, 
eliminate these sham censures, and get back to the work of the people. 
That is why they elected us.
  Mr. McCORMICK. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from 
Illinois (Mrs. Ramirez).
  Mrs. RAMIREZ. Mr. Speaker, words hold power. They are intentional 
representations of our values and our beliefs. Our democracy is at its 
strongest when we protect the right to dissent, to resist, and to speak 
truth to power.
  However, over the past few weeks, this body has wrongfully and 
dangerously conflated dissent with hate speech and has willfully 
characterized acts of resistance as acts of bigotry. Bigotry and 
hateful speech are real, tangible threats to our shared humanity and 
our multiracial democracy, and we must address them.
  As someone who has heard Members of this body who are not being 
brought up for censure casually use their platforms to carelessly 
promote violent, racist, anti-Semitic, Islamophobic, xenophobic, and 
anti-immigrant language and ideals, I am clear that this resolution is 
another ill-intentioned attempt to persecute dissenting voices who 
refuse to stay silent and whose perspective challenges this body and 
the dominant narrative.
  We must resist the urge to scapegoat and vilify those who disagree 
with us, and I unequivocally stand with my friend, Rashida Tlaib. I 
will be voting against the resolution, and I encourage my friends to do 
your job.
  Mr. McCORMICK. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the gentlewoman from 
Minnesota (Ms. Omar).
  Ms. OMAR. Mr. Speaker, it is glaring hypocrisy when you have 
Republicans on the other side of the aisle trying to create definitions 
and say Rashida wants to annihilate people when Max Miller himself went 
on TV and said we are turning Gaza into a parking lot and we want to 
annihilate Palestinians. Nobody condemned him on that side of the 
aisle.
  What is true here is that every single one of them has not 
acknowledged the fact that Palestinians are dying in the tens of 
thousands but will continue to say it is us who are not acknowledging 
humanity.
  Rashida will stand strong, and the Palestinian movement will continue 
for liberation until every single Palestinian has the right to live in 
liberty.
  Mr. McCORMICK. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished 
gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Buck).
  Mr. BUCK. Mr. Speaker, on October 7, Hamas terrorists paraglided into 
a music festival and began an unprovoked spree of violence. Babies were 
beheaded, young girls raped, hundreds kidnapped, and many murdered in 
vile ways.
  To compare a modern democracy with a repressive terrorist state is 
wrong, but it is also wrong for Congress to take this action at a time 
when we have serious issues that we face. To take an action and take 
down the words, to strike the words, to censure a fellow Member, no 
matter how incorrect we believe she may be, is wrong.
  We lower ourselves when we try to take action against someone else 
for their words. We all go back to our districts, and thank goodness 
social media hasn't caught every one of us with everything that we say 
back in our districts because we would all be standing here.

  This is a wrong time to do this. It is the wrong action to take. 
Let's pass a resolution condemning this kind of language, condemning 
anti-Semitism on college campuses and elsewhere, but it is absolutely 
wrong to vote for this motion.
  Mr. McCORMICK. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, first of all, I don't think that my 
colleagues have caught us in any kind of contradiction when they raised 
the case of Representative Gosar, who posted a video on social media 
depicting himself killing our colleague Representative Alexandria 
Ocasio-Cortez and also attacking President Biden. This was a true 
threat. These were fighting words. This is something that is totally 
within our First Amendment tradition.
  Mr. Speaker, we live in a time of terror and war, great polarization 
and trauma across the world. We must grapple the rule of law to our 
souls with hoops of steel at this moment. In a time of all kinds of 
storms all over the world, the rule of law, the Constitution, is our 
shore, and now is a moment to hug the shore.
  Let's defend the freedom of speech for today, for tomorrow, and going 
forward in the Congress of the United States.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. McCORMICK. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert this 
article from 11 Alive News, titled: ``Metro Atlanta woman killed in 
Jerusalem: reports,'' dated November 6, 2023.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Georgia?
  There was no objection.

                    [From 11alive.com, Nov. 6, 2023]

            Metro Atlanta Woman Killed in Jerusalem: Reports

                           (By 11Alive Staff)

       Jerusalem, Israel--A metro Atlanta woman was killed Monday 
     morning in a stabbing attack in Jerusalem, news outlets 
     reported.
       According to the Atlanta Jewish Times, Elisheva Rose Ida 
     Lubin, 20, grew up in Dunwoody. Gov. Brian Kemp commented on 
     the tragedy and shared the Atlanta Jewish Times' article on 
     social media.
       ``Marty, the girls, and I are heartbroken by the tragic 
     news of Rose Lubin's death,'' the governor said.
       Kemp said he would keep her family in his thoughts and 
     prayers during this difficult time.
       Lubin was a member of the Israel Border Police, the Wall 
     Street Journal shared in a live updates story about the 
     ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. She lived in Kibbutz Sa'ad in 
     southern Israel. The WSJ also mentioned that the area was one 
     of the places attacked on Oct. 7.
       It's been nearly a month since officials said Hamas 
     attacked Israel in an ``unprecedented'' move. Thousands of 
     lives have been lost.
  Mr. McCORMICK. Mr. Speaker, I know there is a lot of passion today. I 
heard a lot of screaming. I heard a lot of accusations, you could say, 
on both sides.
  I don't really care what race, religion, or gender orientation you 
are. Where I come from in the Marine Corps, we are all shades of green, 
and we all bleed red. That is the truth. I just care about the person 
who has my back.
  When I was student body president at Morehouse School of Medicine, I 
was elected by my peers--60 percent females, 80 percent Black, 95 
percent liberal. Why? I was elected because I love people. I love 
people of all sorts. This isn't about who you are. It is about what you 
represent, what this body represents. That is what this debate is 
about.
  If this is not worthy of censure, I don't know what it is. 
Representative Tlaib has stoked anti-Semitism in this Nation and 
undermined our national security.

[[Page H5503]]

  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to support this resolution to show 
the world, especially our adversaries, that the United States stands 
behind our allies and will not back down to terrorists.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. All time for debate has expired. Without 
objection, the previous question is ordered on the resolution.
  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on adoption of the 
resolution.
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the ayes appeared to have it.


 =========================== NOTE =========================== 

  
  On November 7, 2023, page H5503, in the first column, the 
following appeared: lies and will not back down to terrorists. Mr. 
Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the 
previous question on the resolution. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The 
question is on ordering the previous question. The question was 
taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that the ayes 
appeared to have it.
  
  The online version has been corrected to read: lies and will not 
back down to terrorists. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of 
my time. The SPEAKER pro tempore. All timefor debate has expired. 
Without objection, the previous question is ordered on the 
resolution. There was no objection. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The 
question is on adoption of the resolution. The question was taken; 
and the Speaker pro tempore announced that the ayes appeared to 
have it.


 ========================= END NOTE ========================= 


  Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further 
proceedings on this question are postponed.

                          ____________________