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CENSURING REPRESENTATIVE PAUL GOSAR
Mr. DEUTCH. Madam Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 795, I call up the resolution (H. Res. 789) censuring Representative Paul Gosar, and ask for its immediate consideration.
The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. DeGette). Pursuant to House Resolution 795, the amendment printed in House Report 117-174 is adopted, and the resolution, as amended, is considered read.
The text of the resolution, as amended, is as follows:
H. Res. 789
Whereas, on November 7, 2021, Representative Paul Gosar posted a manipulated video on his social media accounts depicting himself killing Representative Alexandria Ocasio- Cortez and attacking President Joseph Biden;
Whereas the video was posted on Representative Gosar's official Instagram account and used the resources of the House of Representatives to further violence against elected officials;
Whereas Representative Gosar issued a statement on November 9, 2021, defending the video as a ``symbolic cartoon'' and spreading hateful and false rhetoric about immigrants;
Whereas the leadership of the Republican Party has failed to condemn Representative Gosar's threats of violence against the President of the United States and a fellow Member of Congress;
Whereas the Speaker of the House made clear that threats of violence against Members of Congress and the President of the United States should not be tolerated and called on the Committee on Ethics of the House and law enforcement to investigate the video;
Whereas depictions of violence can foment actual violence and jeopardize the safety of elected officials, as witnessed in this chamber on January 6, 2021;
Whereas violence against women in politics is a global phenomenon meant to silence women and discourage them from seeking positions of authority and participating in public life, with women of color disproportionately impacted;
Whereas a 2016 survey by the Inter-Parliamentary Union found that 82 percent of women parliamentarians have experienced psychological violence and 44 percent received threats of death, sexual violence, beatings, or abduction during their term; and
Whereas the participation of women in politics makes our government more representative and just: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That--
(1) Representative Paul Gosar of Arizona be censured;
(2) Representative Paul Gosar forthwith present himself in the well of the House of Representatives for the pronouncement of censure;
(3) Representative Paul Gosar be censured with the public reading of this resolution by the Speaker; and
(4) Representative Paul Gosar be, and is hereby, removed from the Committee on Natural Resources and the Committee on Oversight and Reform.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The resolution, as amended, shall be debatable for 1 hour, equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Ethics or their respective designees.
The gentleman from Florida (Mr. Deutch) and the gentlewoman from Indiana (Mrs. Walorski) each will control 30 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Florida.
General Leave
Mr. DEUTCH. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on H. Res. 789.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Florida?
There was no objection.
Mr. DEUTCH. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi).
Ms. PELOSI. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his recognition and for his distinguished service as the chair of the Ethics Committee. I call it by its official name having served there for 7 years myself.
Madam Speaker, I rise today as the Speaker of the House of Representatives, an institution that was designed by our Founders to be the people's House, a House constantly invigorated by its accountability to the people every year. It is a place where slavery was abolished; a place where we have taken our men and women into service to protect freedom and democracy throughout the world; and a place where Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and so many institutions meeting the needs of the American people were established. The list goes on and on about the distinguished nature of the House of Representatives.
Maybe 12- or 13,000 people have been elected to this body over time--
only a few hundred women--but all very distinguished, and great heroes of our country have served in this institution including President Abraham Lincoln. That was before the Chamber was the meeting ground. Statuary Hall is the place where his desk is memorialized to this day.
So, Madam Speaker, when we come to this great institution, we understand that there are 435 Members of Congress, but only one from each district. Only one of us represents the thoughts, aspirations, dreams, fears, and hopes of our constituents.
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There is no bigger privilege for any one of us in the House, be it Speaker, whip, leader, any of the titles that our caucuses may bestow on us, that is as prestigious as saying that I speak for the people of my district, in my case, the district of San Francisco.
So when we come here, we have a responsibility to uphold a high standard of integrity, decency, and respect for this institution.
The Constitution charges us to be accountable to the people, and we must represent the United States House of Representatives in a spirit in which our constituents and all Americans should be very proud.
House rule XXIII provides for our Code of Official Conduct. This provision of our rules requires that we ``shall behave at all times in a manner that shall reflect creditably on the House.''
Sadly, extremely disturbing actions taken last week by a Member of Congress, threatening another Member, wildly violate this standard. These actions demand a response.
We cannot have Members joking about murdering each other or threatening the President of the United States. This is both an endangerment of our elected officials and an insult to the institution of the House of Representatives.
It is not just about us as Members of Congress. It is the danger that it represents to everyone in the country. If you are viewing this and thinking, well, when you run for Congress, you get threats and the rest. You don't expect to get them from your colleagues.
But, nonetheless, the example set in this House is one that is viewed across the country. Women across the country particularly feel vulnerable if insults of the nature that exist in this House are allowed to stand. I will speak about that in a moment.
Again, when a Member uses his or her national platform to encourage violence, tragically, people listen to those words and they may act upon them. Words spoken by elected officials weigh a ton. People hear them very differently.
As the resolution that the committee is putting forth states:
``Depictions of violence can foment actual violence and jeopardize the safety of elected officials, as witnessed in this Chamber on January 6, 2021.''
It is inconceivable that a member of our community here would wish to repeat the violence of that dark day, that deadly day.
As a woman Speaker of the House, I want to be clear. These threats specifically target a woman, a woman of color, which is part of, as the resolution states, a ``global phenomenon meant to silence women and discourage them from seeking positions of authority and participating in public life.''
Again, this is about workplace harassment and violence against women.
Yet, the Member has never apologized for his actions. ``It's a cartoon. Relax,'' he said.
Really? A cartoon? Relax?
And he wrote to supporters:
The hyperventilating and shrill accusations that this cartoon is dangerous are laughable or intentionally hyperbolic.
``I am entitled to speak to the people and to do so in a manner that is engaging,'' he said.
Really? Is it engaging to depict killing a colleague or anyone? It is not just about Members of Congress; anyone, threatening anyone.
Disguising death threats against a Member of Congress and the President of the United States in an animated video does not make those death threats any less real or less serious. And indeed, conveying them this way makes them potentially more dangerous by normalizing violence.
It isn't funny. And yes, you have a right to speak; and so do we have a right to react to what you are saying when you are threatening the lives of Members of Congress and the President of the United States.
It is sad that this entire House must take this step because of the refusal of the leadership of the other party. Indeed, it took 9 days before the minority leader publicly spoke out about this threat; and when he did, he merely said:
It was not the Member's intent to ever harm anyone.
Really?
And many other Members on the other side of the aisle have refused to strongly condemn these actions. One member of leadership said:
``Unfortunately, in this world we are in right now, we all get death threats, no matter what the issue is.
Death threats from our colleagues? Death threats from Members of Congress? We all get death threats?
So Members think it is okay to use their platforms to directly encourage more death threats against their own colleagues?
The resolution on the floor today is about accountability. It is about integrity in this House. And it will serve as a reminder to this Congress and to this country that the House is committed to upholding the highest standards of decorum in all that we do, as is said in rule XXIII, ``shall behave at all times in a manner that shall reflect creditably on the House.''
In our actions, we must be mindful of all who make up our congressional community, including not only Members, but also the committees, the committee staff, the institutional staff--and thank you for your service--the custodians of the Capitol, the Capitol Police, and others.
As we proceed to make progress for the people, let us be guided by our love of this institution, respect for this institution in which we serve and, again, an example that we wish to show to the world.
Again, a threat against anyone is wrong, whether you are a Member of Congress or not. So this is just about the example, again, that is total violation by the action of the Member.
Yes, indeed, Madam Speaker, it is a sad day for the House of Representatives, but a necessary day, so that we can, again, behave at all times in a manner that shall reflect creditably on the House.
Madam Speaker, I thank the distinguished chairman, again. I thank Congresswoman Jackie Speier for her leadership in bringing this legislation forward, this resolution forward.
Mrs. WALORSKI. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. McCarthy), the distinguished minority leader.
Mr. McCARTHY. Madam Speaker, it is an old definition of abuse of power: ``Rules for thee, but not for me.'' That is exactly what is happening here today.
House Democrats are preparing, once again, to break another precedent of the United States House of Representatives.
It is an open secret that the American people are facing substantial challenges today. Many of these challenges are Washington-inflicted, of one-party rule, caused by the Biden administration's incompetence and radicalism.
Absolute chaos on the southern border; out-of-control crime; record-
breaking gas prices and inflation; a broken supply chain; a historic labor shortage; a failing education system and, of course, the humiliating surrender in Afghanistan.
Will this Congress be remembered as the Congress that addressed those serious challenges? Not a chance?
Instead, I believe this Congress will go down in history as the broken Congress.
For nearly 4 years, as the House Republicans have been voicing the needs of millions of Americans, House Democrats have broken nearly every rule and standard in order to silence dissent and stack the deck for their radical, unpopular agenda.
They broke the motion to recommit, the first time in the history of Congress. They broke impeachment, not once, but twice. They broke in-
person voting and replaced it with proxy voting, for the first time in history. And they broke the minority's right to appoint members of its own choosing to committees.
The Speaker is burning down the House on her way out the door.
What's worse, we got to this point on the basis of a double standard. Democrats want to change the rules but refuse to apply them to their own caucus.
I listened to the Speaker talk about the highest standards.
Madam Speaker, when a Democratic chairwoman flew to Minneapolis and told an angry crowd during the trial to ``stay on the streets,'' ``get more active,'' ``get more confrontational.'' ``We've got to make sure they know we mean business.'' That high standard, the Democrats refused to take action.
The trial judge actually singled her out on her comments on an ongoing basis, which he said could become an issue on appeal.
But this wasn't the first time. No. This is three times.
At a rally in Los Angeles, that same chairwoman, she told a mob: ``If you see anyone from that Cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd. And you push back on them. And you tell them that they're not welcome anymore, anywhere.''
She later defended that comment in another speech in L.A., saying--
this same chairwoman, of the high standards--
I did not threaten Trump constituents and supporters. I do that all the time, but I didn't do it that time.
This side of the aisle didn't ask that chairwoman to lose her committee. We simply asked for an apology.
Meanwhile, with that high standard, Speaker Pelosi and Leader Hoyer defended her. When asked about her Minneapolis comment, Leader Hoyer described her as ``passionate--she believes in her issues.'' She believes she should get in your faces.
And Speaker Pelosi, oh, what did she do with that high standard? She compared her comments in Minneapolis to Dr. King's civil rights movement. You see, why would they do that? Rules for thee, but not for me.
Just this month, the dossier's principal source was arrested by Special Counsel Durham for lying to the FBI. Think about everything that dossier put this country through for 2 years, based on fabricated evidence. The infringements to due process; the spying on the Presidential campaign; and, of course, the $32 million spent by hardworking taxpayers for a Mueller investigation.
And yet, the Democratic chairman says, ``I don't regret it.'' Why? Rules for thee, but not for me.
When the Speaker of the House, on this very floor, engaged in personalities, the floor shut down for 3 hours because no one wanted to take it to the top. Her entire caucus that believed in the higher standard voted to keep her words in the Record rather than strike them down. Why?
Rules for thee, but not for me.
The Speaker said: ``I stand by my statement. I'm proud of the attention that's being called to it.''
Never happened before in the history of this body. Why? Because it is a broken Congress that believes in rules for thee, but not for me.
This is part of a larger pattern. When a Congressman on the Intelligence Committee was targeted by a suspected Chinese Communist Party agent for years, the Democrats kept him on the committee. Why? Rules for thee, but not for me.
When a Democrat Congresswoman said: ``Israel has hypnotized the world,'' supporting Israel is ``all about the Benjamins,'' and that 9/
11 was ``some people did something,'' Democrats actually defended her. Why? Rules for thee, but not for me.
And when a Member of the Democratic leadership tweeted a week ago,
``Lock up Kyle Rittenhouse and throw away the key,'' in an attempt to sway an ongoing trial, the Democrats said nothing. Why? Rules for thee, but not for me.
Let me be clear: I do not condone violence, and Representative Gosar has echoed that sentiment. The video was deleted. Democrats won't listen because they will do anything to distract from the failures of one-party rule in 1 year destroying a Nation.
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For Democrats, this vote isn't about a video; it is about control. That is the one and only thing Democrats are interested in--not condemning violence, not protecting the institution, not decorum or decency, just control.
The Democrats want control, and they don't care about the consequences. They are destroying this institution, silencing the minority, and, therefore, silencing millions of Americans.
When I talked to Democrat leadership when they told me what they wanted to do, I asked a simple question: Have you seen the video? No, haven't seen it. But they knew exactly what they wanted to do. It is interesting. Without even watching, they decide the punishment. Why? No need. Rules for thee but not for me.
What they have started cannot be easily undone. Their actions today and in the past have forever changed the way the House operates. It means that the minority rights that have served this body so well are a thing of the past. Furthermore, it means that, under the Pelosi precedent, all the Members that I mentioned earlier will need the approval of a majority to keep those positions in the future.
What was interesting is, it is not just the Speaker who is making those decisions. When the chairwoman incited those ideas three times, everyone in the Democratic Party had the ability to vote what they thought. Because of those high standards, they all voted to table. They all voted to table, not to remove this chairwoman from committees or ask for an apology. Why? Because you all believe in rules for thee but not for me.
That legacy is a real culmination of Speaker Pelosi's career. Make no mistake, the House is weaker, more partisan, more self-focused today than when Speaker Pelosi became Speaker less than 4 years ago. Future Congresses will suffer for it. More importantly, the American people have needlessly suffered because of it. They won't soon forget it.
It is about control. It is not about a standard that everybody lives by. It is a standard you enforce on one but not upon yourself. You encouraged your own side to engage further when you all took a vote to table.
It would be interesting to see, if your leadership hasn't watched the video, how many of you who vote today have watched it.
When it was requested, I contacted the Member. He took the video down. He put out a statement that he does not believe in violence to anyone.
But, you see, when others on the other side of the aisle incite violence, it is okay because it is rules for thee but not for me.
Unfortunately, this body has suffered greatly, and a new standard will continue to be applied in the future.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to address their remarks to the Chair.
Mr. DEUTCH. Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Ocasio-Cortez).
Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ. Madam Speaker, I have been serving in this body just under 3 years. In that 3 years, an enormous amount has happened.
In response to the Republican leader's remarks, when he says that this action is unprecedented, what I believe is unprecedented is for a Member of House leadership, of either party, to be unable to condemn incitement of violence against a Member of this body.
It is a sad day when a Member who leads a political party in the United States of America cannot bring himself to say that issuing a depiction of murdering a Member of Congress is wrong and instead decides to venture off into a tangent about gas prices and inflation.
What is so hard? What is so hard about saying that this is wrong?
This is not about me. This is not about Representative Gosar. But this is about what we are willing to accept.
Not just the Republican leader, but I have seen other Members of this party advance the argument, including Representative Gosar himself, the illusion that this was just a joke, that what we say and what we do does not matter so long as we claim a lack of meaning.
This nihilism runs deep, and it conveys and betrays a certain contempt for the meaning and importance of our work here; that what we do, so long as we claim that it is a joke, doesn't matter; that what we say here doesn't matter; that our actions, every day, as elected leaders in the United States of America don't matter; that this Chamber and what happens in it doesn't matter.
I am here to rise to say that it does. Our work here matters. Our example matters.
There is meaning in our service. As leaders in this country, when we incite violence with depictions against our colleagues, that trickles down into violence in this country.
That is where we must draw the line, independent of party identity or belief. It is about a core recognition of human dignity and value and worth.
When we talk about, as mentioned in the resolution, that these depictions are part of a larger trend of misogyny and racist misogyny, this has results in dampening the participation.
This vote is not as complex as, perhaps, the Republican leader would like to make folks believe. It is pretty cut and dry: Does anyone in this Chamber find this behavior acceptable? Would you allow depictions of violence against women, against colleagues, in your home? Do you think this should happen on a school board, in a city council, in a church? If it is not acceptable there, why should it be accepted here?
Lastly, when the Republican leader rose to talk about how there are all of these double standards and lists a litany of all of these different things, not once did he list an example of a Member of Congress threatening the life of another.
This is not about a double standard. What is unprecedented and what is tragic is the descent of transgression in this body.
I grew up as a little girl with awe about our Nation's Capitol, the reverence and the importance and the gravity of our work here.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.
Mr. DEUTCH. Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentlewoman from New York.
Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ. So, Madam Speaker, the question I pose to this body in response is: Will we live up to the promises we make our children, that this is a place where we will defend one another, regardless of belief, that our core human dignity matters?
If you believe that this behavior is acceptable, go ahead, vote
``no.'' But if you believe that this behavior should not be accepted, then vote ``yes.'' It is really that simple.
Mrs. WALORSKI. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
First, let me say I am not here to defend any comments or actions made by Representative Gosar or his staff. Let me be clear. I condemn all acts of violence.
In fact, I am a recent victim of violence. Just a few months ago, a political activist attempted to run me over with his car. When this happened, I immediately contacted law enforcement.
If a Member of Congress, anywhere, anytime, feels threatened, they should contact the police.
Unfortunately, this posted video is not the first video or statement by a Member of Congress inciting or depicting violence. Members on both sides of the aisle have made choices that I surely wouldn't have made.
But as the ranking member of the House Ethics Committee, I find myself on the floor now for the second time this year to address an issue that has been referred to the Ethics Committee but which has seen no committee process before coming to the floor for a vote.
Yesterday afternoon, the majority party drafted this resolution and scheduled this debate and floor vote today. The House Ethics Committee has had no time to consider this matter through the Ethics Committee process.
And there is a process. The nonpartisan staff should have had the time to research and gather information, and the committee members should have conversations before making a decision on whether and how to move forward with any further investigation.
The chairman claims to have reached out to schedule an emergency committee meeting last night, but the reality is that he did so at a time when we had just been notified to appear on this resolution in front of the Rules Committee last night.
Just for the record, the majority controls when this resolution was introduced, when the Rules Committee was scheduled, when the Ethics Committee meets, and when the resolution comes to the floor for a vote. If there is a scheduling conflict or an excuse as to why we are standing here today rushing this to the floor, it is a conflict that was totally intended by the majority.
So, here we are today, voting to remove a Representative from his committee and censure him on the House floor.
Traditionally, Members are placed on committees by their own party, and they are removed from committees by their own party. Yet, this majority has broken precedent again and is removing a second Republican Member during this Congress from their committees.
Let me just say again: Members on both sides of the aisle have made choices that many of us would not have made.
By rushing this vote to the floor today and ignoring the institutional process, the majority is setting a precedent again that may not serve this institution well in the future.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. DEUTCH. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, this resolution, which was referred to the Committee on Ethics, seeks to censure Representative Gosar and remove him from his positions on committees.
We are acting on this resolution today because Representative Gosar recently used House resources to disseminate and celebrate a video that depicts the murder of a fellow colleague.
I did see the video. I am sorry that the distinguished leader of the Republican side apparently chose not to or viewed it and deemed it something less than what it is, which is the horrific depiction of the murder of a fellow colleague and threats to the President of the United States.
We are acting on this resolution because Republican leadership has not taken responsibility for members of its own Conference.
When a fellow Member of Congress has been threatened with violence, the House cannot wait indefinitely for Republican leadership to find its collective conscience and condemn the threat. When our colleague has been victimized, as women of color so often are, the House cannot ignore that threat.
The full House must roundly reject Representative Gosar's conduct and prevent the normalization of violent imagery and rhetoric directed against Members of Congress.
Just 10 months ago, this very Chamber was attacked in an act of brutal, bloody savagery. All of us experienced it firsthand. Some of us were trapped in the upper gallery while an angry mob, wielding weapons, tried to beat down the Chamber doors to disrupt certification of President Biden's electoral college victory.
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Since January 6, death threats against Members of Congress have multiplied, and several individuals have been arrested. The threat of actual violence against Members is real, and it is growing.
So this resolution is vital to protecting our Members' safety, but it is also vital to stemming the pernicious wave of political violence rising across this country, which is why Representative Gosar's video and his subsequent failure to publicly apologize or take full responsibility must be swiftly condemned.
Any Member who uses his public platform to depict physical violence against another Member and the President reflects extreme discredit on this body. Such conduct violates the most basic standards of collegiality, civil discourse, and public decency.
Clause 1 of our code of conduct requires Members to behave ``at all times in a manner that shall reflect creditably on the House.'' If that rule is to have any meaning whatsoever, and if we are to fulfill our responsibility to uphold the reputation of the House, Representative Gosar must face consequences for his conduct.
Our Republican colleagues make hollow appeals to process, claiming that this resolution wrongly bypasses the Ethics Committee. But the ultimate power to censure a Member and remove that Member from a committee rests with this House.
The committee can recommend such a sanction to the full House, but nothing in our rules requires the House to wait, nor should the House wait in this instance. Not when there is a clear and present need to remove Representative Gosar from a committee on which Representative Ocasio-Cortez herself serves.
There are no unresolved questions of intent. It is clear from the video, and from Representative Gosar's public comments minimizing it, that censure is appropriate and his immediate removal from the Natural Resources and Oversight and Government Reform Committees is warranted.
That is why the House must take this action today and why I urge my colleagues to support the resolution. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mrs. WALORSKI. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Gosar).
Mr. GOSAR. Madam Speaker, I rise today to address and reject the mischaracterized accusations from many in this body that the cartoon from my office is dangerous or threatening. It was not, and I reject the false narrative categorically.
I do not espouse violence toward anyone. I never have. It was not my purpose to make anyone upset.
I voluntarily took the cartoon down not because it was itself a threat, but because some thought it was. Out of compassion for those who genuinely felt offense, I self-censored.
Last week, my staff posted a video depicting a policy battle regarding amnesty for tens of millions of illegal aliens. This was an anime that speaks to young voters who are too often overlooked.
Even Twitter, the left's mouthpiece, did not remove the cartoon, noting it was in the public's interest for it to remain. The cartoon directly contributes to the understanding and the discussion of the real-life battle resulting from this administration's open border policies.
This body is considering passage of Mr. Biden's reckless, socialist/
Marxist $4.9 trillion spending bill that provides $100 billion for amnesty to tens of millions of illegal aliens already in this country. This is what the left doesn't want the American people to know.
Our country is suffering from the plague of illegal immigration. I won't stop pointing this out.
Millions of illegal aliens, drugs, and human traffickers are being let in and moved around our country in the dead of night, all condoned by this administration.
For this cartoon, some in Congress suggest I should be punished. I have said decisively there is no threat in the cartoon other than the threat that immigration poses to our country, and no threat was intended by my staff or me.
The American people deserve to have their voices heard in Congress. No matter how much the left tries to quiet me, I will continue to speak out against amnesty for illegal aliens, defend the rule of law, and advance the America First agenda.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mrs. WALORSKI. Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman.
Mr. GOSAR. If I must join Alexander Hamilton, the first person attempted to be censured by this House, so be it. It is done.
Mr. DEUTCH. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Speier), the author of this resolution.
Ms. SPEIER. Madam Speaker, I take no pleasure in introducing this resolution. No one asked me to introduce it, no one tapped me on the shoulder.
I am a victim of violence. I know what it is like. I also was in the gallery clamoring for life when the shots rang out in the Speaker's lobby.
We are here today because a sitting Member thought it was okay to post a deranged, animated video of himself killing a fellow Member of this House and also attacking the President of the United States. That video has been seen by three million people. It was up for over 2 days before it was taken down.
Inciting violence begets violence. Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez has become the go-to subject of the radical right to stir up their base, as too often is the case for women of color. It is disgusting and profoundly unacceptable. Tragically, the minority leader has not condemned the video. For 8 days, he said nothing. Silence speaks volumes. Silence normalizes violence.
Violence against women in politics is a global phenomenon. A 2016 survey by the Inter-Parliamentary Union found that 82 percent of women parliamentarians have experienced psychological violence, and 44 percent have received threats of death, rape, beatings, or abduction.
The intent of these online threats against women is clear: Silence them, strip them of their power, and discourage them from running for office.
The Congressman defends his post, published with House resources and posted on his official Twitter and Instagram accounts. It didn't stop there. He sent an email to supporters that weekend stating that the
``faux outrage'' was ``infantile''--this is not faux outrage. This is not infantile--and the accusations are ``shrill'' and
``hyperventilating.''
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to glean that this is gendered, coded language. The Congressman shows no remorse. In fact, yesterday the Congressman said, ``I did not apologize.''
Twenty-three Members of the House in the history of this country have been censured for actions including insulting the Speaker or using unparliamentary language. Certainly, conduct by a Member depicting murdering another Member of the House deserves censure.
Let me be clear. If a Democrat did the same thing, I would introduce the same resolution.
Mrs. WALORSKI. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Baird).
Mr. BAIRD. Madam Speaker, today I rise because, in light of recent events, I no longer feel like I can stay silent.
The hypocrisy of this body considering the censuring and stripping of committee assignments of Representative Gosar is illustrative of the inability of this body to effectively legislate.
It demonstrates why many Americans have lost all confidence in our ability to be and provide effective leadership.
I have found Mr. Paul Gosar to be an honorable and effective legislator, and I have found him to care deeply for his colleagues and America.
Mr. DEUTCH. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Cicilline).
Mr. CICILLINE. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of this censure resolution.
I watched this video, and I was sickened when I saw Mr. Gosar depicting the killing of another Member of this body and brandishing swords at the President of the United States.
This kind of rhetoric is not just unfitting of a U.S. Representative, it is dangerous, and it can be deadly, as we saw on January 6 and in 2011 when an individual shot then-Congresswoman Gabby Giffords after Sarah Palin sent out a video with shooting targets on various congressional districts, including Gabby's.
This is not a joke. This is not about politics. It is about safety.
While healthy debate on the issues, on policy, is important, it is what keeps our democracy alive. This is not that. We cannot allow Members to encourage and incite violence, period.
Mr. Gosar, you are no Alexander Hamilton. You must be held accountable.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are again reminded to address their remarks to the Chair.
Mrs. WALORSKI. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Biggs).
Mr. BIGGS. Madam Speaker, let's take a look at what Democrats are ignoring so they can censure a conservative Republican because he posted a cartoon they found offensive and which he took down himself:
More than two million illegal aliens crossing our border this calendar year;
Attorney General Garland deploying Federal agents to spy on parents;
Inflation driving gas prices up;
Everybody's Thanksgiving dinner is going up;
A vax mandate that is clearly unconstitutional;
A bankruptcy-inducing, bureaucracy-bloating spending bill by Democrats;
Supply chain in shambles;
Democrats consistently ignoring calls to violence and anti-Semitic statements of their own;
Foreign policy embarrassments;
Americans languishing behind in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan;
China, Iran, North Korea on the move.
Yeah, we have been ignoring those things. But we are here today.
I lived in Japan for several years. I speak Japanese. I read and write Japanese. This is an anime. It is ``Shingeki no Kyojin'', highly popular, stylized, intended to demonstrate the alienation people feel, particularly young people in their cultures.
Now, does anime have violence? Yes. It is highly stylized violence. It is not meant to induce people to violence.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mrs. WALORSKI. Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman.
Mr. BIGGS. It was not Mr. Gosar's intention, I believe, and he has made that clear, to induce anyone to violence. Like he, I also condemn violence, but I would ask you to reconsider further usurping and taking control of this body for political purposes because that is what is happening here today.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are again reminded to address their remarks to the Chair.
Mr. DEUTCH. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), the House majority leader.
Mr. HOYER. Madam Speaker, I think all of us would wish that we were not here on a subject of this gravity, on a subject so present in our society at large: The exhortation to violence to accomplish one's objectives.
I have been sitting here since we started the debate, which was about 45 minutes ago. So many get up and say, ``I do not support violence,''
``I do not support this action,'' but I will do nothing about it.
Now, of course, they don't say the last sentence. They just don't do anything.
As I sat there as Mr. McCarthy was talking, I was thinking that he was getting up in my face and up in Nancy Pelosi's face. I think that is what he was doing. I expect that in vigorous debate.
They focused on a non-analogous action by a Member of this House, the chairman of the Financial Services Committee. Why did they do that? Because there is no analogous event to this one. In the 40-plus years that I have served here, there has never been a case like this. Never.
{time} 1500
This is not about control, as the majority leader would represent. It is about decency, democracy, and security, and the rule of law.
We have seen, Madam Speaker, over and over again in our politics that words matter, and actions matter even more. Vitriol, the glorification and promotion of violence, hate speech, and the failure to condemn all of these when they occur have created an atmosphere in our country, which sadly has now and too frequently been visited on this floor, that is not conducive to the exercise of free constitutional politics.
A former leader of my party Dick Gephardt said that democracy was a substitute for war, that we should settle our differences peacefully and nonviolently.
The speech that has been the subject of this resolution whittles away at the rule of law and the civility needed for constructive debate.
Indeed, violent words and images are too often a precursor to the practice of violence. We have seen that. We saw it on January 6 as the President of the United States incited and urged people to come to the Congress to stop democracy in its tracks.
And people wanted to hang the Vice President of the United States as a result of those words because he was not doing that because he thought it was not legal. He wanted to follow the law.
My friend Gabby Giffords and Senator Kelly know that all too well, that violent words and images are too often a precursor, as does Representative Speier who worked for the late Representative Leo Ryan and was herself badly injured in the shooting that took his life. My friend, the Republican whip, and his family know that words can encourage and result in violence. Last month, the family and constituents of Sir David Amess in the United Kingdom experienced the same pain.
All of us who were in this Capitol on January 6 and those who stood in defense of it know that pain.
The loved ones of Officers Sicknick, Liebengood, Smith, DeFreytag, and Hashida carry that pain with them every day.
Officer Evans' family, as well, has been carrying that pain since April.
Madam Speaker, so do the families of elected officials, journalists, and civil society leaders who have been killed or maimed by political violence across the world incited by rhetoric that is rationalized as acceptable in the political environment. And then, oh, I don't support violence. I don't know how that happened. Yes, I said in front of the White House, ``Go down to the Capitol,'' and although it wasn't the exact words of ``be violent,'' it is what those who came down here expected the exhortation to be.
It would be naive, Madam Speaker, to suppose that we can eradicate the promotion of violence in wider society, either in our country or abroad.
Such evil has always existed, and the internet and social media make it easier to disseminate that malicious type of speech.
But constitutional parliamentarians worldwide have long understood that in order to maintain the level of civility required to carry out the business of legislating for the people, we must have rules of decorum and limits on speech that would cause civil debate to devolve into uncivil attacks and political violence.
That is why we have rules in this House to enforce decorum and ensure civility. That is why we have rules of conduct, which the chairman of the Ethics Committee read a little earlier. It should be and is undebatable that this conduct violated that rule.
Those rules apply not only to this floor but everywhere a sitting Member engages in work relating to his or her service as a Representative.
When those rules were written, they did not anticipate that a Member would threaten violence directly against another Member. Not because it has never happened. A Congressman from South Carolina nearly beat to death a Senator from Massachusetts, Senator Sumner, because he wanted to abolish slavery. That, of course, was a crime.
In some countries threatening public officials is a crime. They didn't have to spell that out explicitly because it has always been understood that such behavior is unacceptable in this institution and incompatible with our service.
Indeed, any kindergartner, frankly, Madam Speaker, will tell you that such behavior is wrong anywhere.
The actions of Representative Gosar this week and in weeks previously--much like the actions of Representative Greene earlier this year--would convey a dangerous lesson to our children and teenagers that the opposite is true, that threatening violence against those with whom one disagrees is acceptable. It is not. That bullying and encouraging one's followers to menace another person or another group is somehow compatible with citizenship in a democracy and indeed a civilized society. It is not.
The resolution before us today is necessary because we in this House who speak for the American people must reflect, as the Speaker said, the highest standards of American society.
I just came from the Speaker's office not too long ago. I don't know how many of you have been there, but over the door it says it is Robert H. Michel Rooms.
I had the opportunity to serve with Robert Michel. Robert Michel was a Republican, and he was from Peoria, Illinois. He was one of the finest, most decent men that I have known, not just serving in the Congress of the United States, but have known. He said this: ``Civility means being tough without being mean, being witty without being malicious, and . . . believing in the power of reason to influence public debate while still being aware of the power''--hear these last words--``being aware of the power of irrationality in public life.''
This resolution, Madam Speaker, is necessary because when Members of Congress and other elected officials speak and act, our constituents and followers give great weight to our words and actions.
It is a way for them to rationalize unacceptable behavior as was done on January 6. It is disgusting, Madam Speaker, whenever someone out in the world tweets a threat of violence or hateful content.
But when a Member of this House does so, no matter how you rationalize it, no matter how you try to put lipstick on that pig, it is a threat of violence.
What Representative Gosar did last week is not just worthy of censure, it demands it.
And for anyone who threatens to apply the same standard to Democrats in the future, as Ms. Speier said, I am with you. This is not about Republicans or Democrats; this is about decency. This is about security for our Members. This is about democracy, not violent overthrow or opposition.
I, for one, will join you in enforcing that standard on any Democrat who violates it. But I will tell you this, Madam Speaker, the analogies that the Republicans have been making limp badly.
I am certain my fellow Democrats will do the same. Because this is not about party, it is not about politics, it is not about partisanship. It is about decorum, civility, safety, and, yes, the rule of law that was trampled upon on January 6.
But this is not about January 6. This is about this incident of a Member using whatever medium you want to say on the public dime threatening and showing the killing of a Member of this House. Can't that appall you, even that act? Do you have no shame? Madam Speaker, those are the questions that I would ask.
No one--Democrat or Republican--ought to be allowed to engage in the promotion of violence against a fellow Member, or indeed, a fellow American. Because we know where the glorification and promotion of violence leads, and we have seen it. We have seen it this year and in previous years.
Piercing tweets become sharp knives.
Fiery words bring out deadly firearms.
And cartoon killing begets real life bloodshed.
This resolution specifically addresses Representative Gosar's actions, but it also reflects more generally, Madam Speaker, what I hope is a sentiment shared by Members from both parties that we have seen too much of violent speech in our politics and in this country, and it must end.
In February, when we considered a resolution relating to the violence-promoting and undecorous actions of Representative Greene, I recalled the famous words of Edmund Burke, who viewed service in his nation's Parliament as the highest calling.
He said the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men and women--he did not add that but would today, certainly--that good men and good women do nothing.
Once again, the Republican leadership in this House has chosen to do nothing. It is interesting because a far lesser offense resulted in the removal of a Republican by the Republicans from committee, Steve King of Iowa.
So, again, the House, in light of that void, must take action.
I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on both sides of the aisle to uphold a standard that should be critical to us all. Some modicum of respect for those who are political opponents, Madam Speaker, and some restraint is in the way we depict them and ourselves.
Vote ``yes'' on this resolution.
Mrs. WALORSKI. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Comer), the ranking member of the Oversight and Reform Committee.
Mr. COMER. Madam Speaker, during Democrat's leadership of the House, we have seen an unprecedented exercise of authority that only a Democrat could wield due to the authoritarian nature of the actions.
Democrat leadership has fined Republican Members for not masking, installed metal detectors, stripped another Republican of committee assignments, issued and sought to enforce sweeping subpoenas against the former President and his top advisers, and I am not just talking about subpoenas related to the events of January 6.
Democrats on the Oversight Committee are chilling, if not infringing, the First Amendment rights of advocacy groups, corporations, and individuals.
They have asked for communications between certain nonprofit organizations and certain Members' offices. These communications fall squarely within the right to petition and freely associate.
And today, we are debating a resolution to censure Dr. Gosar for something he posted to his Twitter account.
While Republicans certainly do not condone violence and extreme behavior, my question for this body is: When will we exact punishment in an equitable--that is one of the favorite words of my Democrat colleagues--equitable manner?
Madam Speaker, we have Democrat colleagues who routinely call for violence in the streets, make anti-Semitic comments on Twitter, launch obscenities at our elected officials, and engage in inappropriate relationships with Chinese operatives.
Yet, Madam Speaker, these Democrats maintain even their leadership positions on prestigious and sensitive committees like the Intelligence Committee.
The last time we took this extraordinary step to censure a member of this House it was Congressman Rangel, and that was after a thorough Ethics Committee investigation into tax evasion, improper use of official resources, and other improper benefits.
Instead of solving America's crises--drugs flowing across the southern border, rising gas prices and grocery prices, and this ongoing pandemic--we are here on the floor debating the censure of Dr. Gosar.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mrs. WALORSKI. Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman.
Mr. COMER. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote against this resolution.
Mr. DEUTCH. Madam Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Escobar), a member of the House Ethics Committee.
{time} 1515
Ms. ESCOBAR. Madam Speaker, like Representative Ocasio-Cortez, I, too, have served in this House for 3 years, and I have found the dignity and respect that we deserve and owe one another in this Chamber has been severely lacking.
While my Democratic colleagues and I continue to work on critical legislation that improves the lives of Americans, Mr. Gosar, a Member of the Republican Conference, has decided to focus on promoting xenophobia and fetishizing violence, fanning the flames of hate.
Words have power. My community knows that only too well. And the example we set as Members of Congress is followed by millions of Americans. Mr. Gosar's actions continue to lower the bar, obliterate standards for respect and civility, and make this workplace unsafe by targeting a colleague--a woman of color. I would like to note that women of color are frequent targets of hateful rhetoric and attacks like these.
In any other environment, someone like Mr. Gosar would have immediately faced termination, would have to live with the consequences of his dangerous actions and words, but not in the Republican Conference.
Mr. Gosar's video, which glorifies the gruesome killing of our colleague and a violent attack against our President should have sparked immediate condemnation and action by the minority leader and his entire conference. But instead, we are told to relax, and we are threatened, told that if we dare take action, we will face retaliation.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.
Mr. DEUTCH. Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 15 seconds to the gentlewoman.
Ms. ESCOBAR. Madam Speaker, I thank the chairman.
Madam Speaker, I say to my colleagues, when you give hate, racism, and violence cover, you give it life. With this vote, we are saying
``not on our watch.''
Madam Speaker, I invite my Republican colleagues to do what is right and support this resolution.
Mrs. WALORSKI. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Roy).
Mr. ROY. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.
Madam Speaker, my colleague just referenced the phrase ``any other environment'' that there would be some consequences. Well, this is not any other environment. This is the House of Representatives. We have constituents who elect us, send us to Washington to represent them, engage in debate, engage in often heated discussions with each other. This is not the same.
One of the fundamental problems we have as a Chamber right now is that it is being treated that way. It is being treated that way by the majority. Shutting down our ability to engage in actual debate; shutting down our ability to move about the Chamber wearing these masks; talking about right now with CMS and what is happening, as early as December 5, doctors in San Antonio, Texas, which I represent, being unable to perform their tasks as doctors, potentially resulting in loss of life and being able to carry out their livelihoods through vaccine mandates.
We have got untold harm occurring in South Texas with bodies in body trailers. We have got people dying. We have got actual consequences from these vaccine mandates causing people to lose their jobs, whether it is OSHA-related, private-sector jobs, military, defense, border patrol; all this happening as we head towards December 3 with a potential government shutdown. And this is what we are having an actual debate on the floor of the House for.
I have not seen this Chamber look like this since I have been in Congress where we are debating an issue and we have got 100 Members on the floor. We are down here usually giving speeches to an empty Chamber.
Now, look, let me be clear. I would not have posted that video. I would have told my staff I don't want to do that, if I knew what was in it, okay? But the video that was posted was an effort to make a point.
The SPEAKER PRO TEMPORE. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mrs. WALORSKI. Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman.
Mr. ROY. And we are now getting into the business of chilling debate and discussion about censuring our Members and going down the road of pulling each other off of committees. Where is this going to end? When Republicans are back in majority, where is that going to end?
When my colleague, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, in January called my former boss and my good friend, Ted Cruz, an attempted murderer, and I sent a letter to the leader saying, I am not asking for her to be stripped from committees but just to apologize, it was met with utter silence.
I called then and I call now for us to drop that down and actually engage in debate on the issues that matter, actually engage in debate on what is occurring right now in America where people are getting harmed with vaccine mandates, tyranny, and open borders.
Mr. DEUTCH. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Garcia).
Ms. GARCIA of Texas. Madam Speaker, Representative Gosar's behavior is alarming, unacceptable, and should never, ever be tolerated.
The official communication accounts of a Member of the United States Congress should never in any way show or encourage violence against a colleague or threaten the President of the United States.
On January 6, we personally experienced the consequences of allowing this kind of viciousness and vulgarity. Put simply, violent images in our politics encourages violence against any of us. No one, especially women and women of color, should fear coming to do the work they were elected to do for the people.
We must encourage our women to lead, not silence them by tolerating threats like Congressman Gosar's. As Members of Congress, we must set an example for the entire country instead of encouraging violence against others. It is our moral imperative to be collegial to one another. It is our responsibility to hold ourselves accountable. And it is our obligation to protect the integrity and honor of the United States Congress.
Madam Speaker, children are watching. The world is watching. We must do better.
Mrs. WALORSKI. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from North Dakota (Mr. Armstrong).
Mr. ARMSTRONG. Madam Speaker, I was in Minneapolis the Saturday that speech was given, so to say that it wasn't analogous, I think, is fairly uncertain. The entire town was a tinderbox.
So as we continue to move through this, I would appreciate a little less of the self-righteous indignation. What is really damaging here and what is really unfortunate is that we have abandoned any recognition of institutional integrity, any pretense of fairness, any notion that something should be above partisanship.
Because I got news--and I believe this--I thought what was said in Minneapolis doesn't rise to incitement of violence. Jury tampering, possibly. Irresponsible, absolutely. The same thing goes for this post. It was dumb. It was silly. It was stupid. It was mean-spirited. But you know what it is not? It is not incitement of violence. And when we use hyperbole in those words, we cause ourselves problems, but there is no point and attempt with the majority at this point to follow through on any rules or procedures.
The U.S. House of Representatives looks significantly more like a junior high lunchroom than a legislative body. If you are in our clique, you are okay. If not, tough. If we like you, no fines. If we don't, we will take it out of your paycheck. A Member on your side calls for violence, motion to table; a Member on our side, stand in the well and answer for your sins. Rules matter, process matters, the institution matters.
Madam Speaker, this will be the fourth Member of the minority stripped of their committees by the majority this Congress. That has never happened before, but it is going to happen again.
And that is what I don't understand. I understand completely why the majority's leadership is willing to do anything to maintain control over the caucus until the next election. But in the process, you are all negatively and permanently changing the way this body functions--forever. You are weaponizing the gavel against minority Members. And if you think it stops at the next election, I have no doubt that the leadership in the majority has no intention of going back to being a rank-and-file Member in the minority, but the rest of you all will. And how do you think this ends? When the pendulum swings, and it will, we are all going to suffer the consequences.
The SPEAKER PRO TEMPORE. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mrs. WALORSKI. Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman.
Mr. ARMSTRONG. Madam Speaker, the institution is going to suffer for it, and it is already suffering for it.
Committee structures, scheduling hearings, witness lists, these are all purviews of the majority. But rules of conduct and decorum have to be applied equally to all Members or the institution continues to degrade.
Madam Speaker, the rules are not being applied equally. It is noticed by us. It is noticed by the American people. It is unfortunate, and it is sad.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are again reminded to address their remarks to the Chair.
Mr. DEUTCH. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Clyburn), the House majority whip.
Mr. CLYBURN. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me the time.
Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of this censure resolution. Today's action is necessary due to Representative Gosar's shocking depiction of a murder of a colleague and a violent attack against the President of the United States. This incendiary behavior cannot go unaddressed. The minority leader's failure to hold his conference Member accountable leaves us no choice but to proceed with this action.
I often refer to the Hall of this House as America's classroom. As Members of this august body, we should conduct ourselves in the way that we want our students to emulate. Mr. Gosar's behavior fails our students, fails our colleagues, and fails our Nation and ideals we espouse.
Madam Speaker, I urge a unanimous vote for this resolution.
Mrs. WALORSKI. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Good).
Mr. GOOD of Virginia. Madam Speaker, as my colleagues before me have said, this is not about Mr. Gosar. This is about hypocrisy from the majority and the double standard. Does anyone in this Chamber think we would be here today if the exact situation was reversed? Clearly, we would not be here today.
Madam Speaker, the American people don't care about what we are doing here today. When we get back to our districts next week, no one will ask us, Well, what about the cartoon video? What happened with that? The media cares--as we can see here today--my colleagues across the aisle care because they have an opportunity again here. But what our hardworking constituents care about is the disastrous policies enacted by this administration and the majority; the disastrous policies, none of which are working.
We cannot point to one thing in the country that is going well under these disastrous policies. The border invasion, the rising gas prices, the out-of-control inflation, the reckless spending of our children's future, the failure in Afghanistan, the failure of our standing around the world. There is not one issue--rising crime--nothing they can point to.
So instead, we point to a distraction here today to pretend that this matters to the American people. We have got this faux outrage, as others who have said, because the Rasmussen poll said just this week that on the generic ballot Republicans are up by 13 percent, but the tone-deaf majority is trying to ram through as much of their partisan agenda as they can.
But what they are going to find out is America spoke two weeks ago in the election, and there are many of their constituents, and now former Democrats who spoke two weeks ago as well, and they are saying, what in the world are we doing here on the House floor today? We are stalling before we try to pass a radical build back bankrupt Bernie and AOC's budget bill. And here we are today trying to punish a Member, another ounce of flesh, trying to silence Republican voices on committees.
Madam Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to vote against this sham bill and resolution.
Mr. DEUTCH. Madam Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz).
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
Madam Speaker, I rise to urge the censure and the removal from committees of Mr. Gosar for portraying the murder of a fellow colleague and promoting violence against immigrants. We know that promoting visions of violence and spreading false, hateful rhetoric foments actual violence. January 6 taught us that. And surely, we cannot use taxpayers' own money to promote violent images and conduct directed at other Members.
I still see bedside visions of my friend, Gabby Giffords, fighting for her life after being shot at a district event, her aide already dead. I shudder to recall our own colleague, Mr. Scalise, limping to this very Chamber on a cane because someone tried to assassinate him. Explosive residue still clings to a stairwell outside my district office where a pipe bomb, sent by a deranged Trump supporter and handled by my staff later, had to be safely detonated.
The history of violence aimed at women and people of color and those who defend them are among humankind's worst chapters.
Madam Speaker, it is ironic that Mr. Gosar compares himself to Alexander Hamilton and another Member condones the stylized violence portrayed by Mr. Gosar, because Hamilton was actually killed by accepted high-class violence in his day in a duel.
Madam Speaker, promoting and glorifying such conduct cannot be condoned or ignored by this body. Voting to censure Mr. Gosar today firmly denounces it unequivocally.
{time} 1530
Mrs. WALORSKI. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Higgins).
Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, America is being crushed under the oppressive weight of the Democrats' greed for lust and power. They want totalitarian control over every aspect of American life, and they are ruling the people's House as if they were royalty. America is dissolving under our feet, and Democrats are worried about cartoons.
In Afghanistan, Democrats led the betrayal of American honor and abandonment of American citizens, granting control of the Afghan theater to Taliban terrorists and arming those jihadist terrorists with billions of dollars worth of American weapons systems.
Our southern border control has disintegrated, American sovereignty lost, and control of our own border completely ceded to criminal cartels.
American parents are tracked like terrorists and persecuted by our own FBI because parents had the audacity to challenge government indoctrination of their children, assembling to redress their grievances at their own school boards in their own communities. American parents are treated like criminals.
Americans are dealing with unbelievable inflation. Families cannot afford groceries and fuel.
Millions of Americans are being commanded by Federal decree to choose between losing their job or kneeling to comply with an unconstitutional, mandated medical procedure.
And the oppressors intend to distract you with cartoons.
Over the Speaker's podium are forever etched the words ``In God We Trust.'' Scripture says: A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.
Madam Speaker, I stand today with my brother Paul Gosar because I stand against oppression and persecution.
Mr. DEUTCH. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Jones), an Ethics Committee member.
Mr. JONES. Madam Speaker, not since the Civil War has Congress operated under the constant threat of violence from some of its own Members, but here we are. That is the behavior that Mr. Gosar has encouraged.
Maybe I shouldn't be surprised, having watched so many of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle incite and then express support for the insurrectionists who nearly killed us in this Chamber on January 6.
We cannot let the Republican Party make Congress the only workplace in America where violence against your coworkers is not a crime but a credential.
If we don't hold people like Mr. Gosar accountable, we will only embolden the worst people in our politics to bring their fever dreams to life.
That is why, today, we are standing up for the safety of our colleagues, for the safety of Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez, and for the future of our democracy.
Mrs. WALORSKI. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gohmert).
Mr. GOHMERT. Madam Speaker, I looked at the video anime and was trying to figure it out. I couldn't see it. I am told if you stop it frame by frame, you can see what my Democrat friends are talking about. I couldn't see it. I tried to freeze-frame, and I saw what I was told was supposed to be our colleague, Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez. I was insulted for her. If that is supposed to be her, that is really unfair.
Madam Speaker, I didn't see the violence being talked about. We should not condone violence. The reason it is so hard to sit here and listen to the condemnation from the other side is because when there was violence against us, there was no condemnation.
My wife and I went to a speech at the White House, and I have yet to hear anybody condemn the attempted violence on us. We were chased for two blocks. Rand Paul was on TV when he was chased because he had cameras and Secret Service around him. We didn't have that.
If it weren't for a guy popping up and opening a locked door, we would have--I told Kathy: Look, I am afraid they are going to get here before this door is opened. You run on down to Pennsylvania Avenue. There are cops down there. They will be beating on me; you just get away.
Nobody has condemned all that violence that I have ever heard.
This is where we ought to be able to come together. Oh, and by the way, people who committed violence and did crimes in this building need to be punished. For many of them, the most serious crime was obstructing an official session of Congress.
I didn't know it was a crime in 2016, but most of the Democratic Party committed a felony right here in this Chamber by obstructing an official session of Congress, not 6 hours like January 6, but 26 hours.
Mr. DEUTCH. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee).
Ms. LEE of California. Madam Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Speier for her leadership as well as Chairman Deutch and the Speaker for bringing this with urgency.
Representative Gosar used taxpayer-funded resources to publicize a cartoon of him killing one of our House colleagues, Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez, and threatening to kill the President.
When Republicans don't condemn death threats against their colleagues and the President, it sends a message to the public that these threats are condoned. Their silence and misrepresentation in light of these threats speak volumes.
Now, it might be easy for Mr. Gosar to shrug this off as a joke, but it is not only Members of Congress but women and people of color throughout the country who deal daily with the threat of physical violence. This is no laughing matter.
As someone who for decades has had to live with death threats, this is a moment when we need to say enough is enough. Hate speech leads to hate violence. Death threats can lead to death. Threats to murder people can lead to criminal charges.
This is the minimum we need to do. It reinforces that this behavior will not be tolerated.
Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this resolution.
Mrs. WALORSKI. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Jordan), the ranking member on the Judiciary Committee.
Mr. JORDAN. Madam Speaker, as we speak, the FBI is treating parents as terrorists. The Department of Justice is getting ready to pay people
$450,000 who illegally entered our country. And Democrats in Congress later this week plan to spend $2 trillion more, which we all know will only exacerbate the already 30-year-high inflation.
What are they doing today? Censuring a Member for a cartoon. You have got to be kidding me. You have got to be kidding me.
What scares me most about all of this is the attack that we have seen on the First Amendment over the last year from the left, from the Democratic Party. They are attacking moms for standing up and speaking at a school board meeting. There are still places in this country where a full congregation cannot meet on a Sunday morning, stopping Americans from exercising their First Amendment freedom of religion rights.
The Speaker of the House stopped Americans from petitioning their Member of Congress to redress their grievances and wouldn't even let them in their own Capitol.
Now, here we go again, censuring speech. The most fundamental liberty we have is our right to speak, our right to talk, our right to communicate, and they are going after that today because they don't like freedom. You can see it. They don't like it.
This is wrong. We know it is wrong, what they are doing to our colleague, Mr. Gosar. I hope they will have second thoughts and that we will vote this down.
Mr. DEUTCH. Madam Speaker, I yield 1\1/4\ minutes to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Phillips), an Ethics Committee member.
Mr. PHILLIPS. Madam Speaker, I love freedom. I love George Washington. I keep this book on my desk, ``George Washington's Rules of Civility and Decent Behaviour.'' I encourage every colleague in this body--every one of us--to keep this on your desk and refer to it.
I have heard everything talked about today--inflation, Afghanistan, schools--except the issue we are here for: a censure of a Member of Congress who issued a despicable video showing the killing of a fellow Member of Congress.
Worst of all, most despicable of all, the object of the censure said it was to attract a new generation. Think about that: to attract a new generation of Americans.
We have to do better, my friends. Come on.
To my friend from Virginia who said, if Democrats had done this, what would we do? Rest assured, my friends, every one of you, we would do the same thing because I will never ever allow a fellow Member of Congress to threaten or distribute a video showing the killing of one of us, let alone another American.
Mrs. WALORSKI. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Colorado (Mrs. Boebert).
Mrs. BOEBERT. Madam Speaker, Democrat policies are so pathetic and have done so poorly that the left has nothing else to do but troll the internet, looking for ways to get offended, and then try to target Members and strip them of their committees. This is a dumb waste of the House's time. But since the Speaker has designated the floor to discuss Members' inappropriate actions, shall we?
The jihad squad member from Minnesota has paid her husband--and not her brother husband, the other one--over a million dollars in campaign funds. This Member is allowed on the Foreign Affairs Committee while praising terrorists.
A Democrat chairwoman incited further violence in the streets outside of a courthouse.
Then the cherry on top, my colleague and 3-month Presidential candidate from California, who is on the Intelligence Committee, slept with Fang Fang, a Chinese spy. Let me say that again. A Member of Congress who received classified briefings was sleeping with the enemy.
Mr. DEUTCH. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Wild), an Ethics Committee member.
Ms. WILD. Madam Speaker, as Maya Angelou said, ``When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.''
Despite Paul Gosar's history of dangerous rhetoric, and despite his conduct showing him to be a dangerous extremist, he is still here in Congress. Now he has depicted himself killing one of our colleagues and the President of the United States.
Never doubt that leaders' calls for violence can lead to actual violence. We have seen it throughout the world, and we have seen it right here on January 6.
Nor should the actions of his taxpayer-paid staff in creating and disseminating this vile video be ignored. They are grown adults, and they have cultivated a hostile work environment for the subject of this disgusting video and for her staff.
Paul Gosar has glorified violence against a duly elected official who came here to serve her district. She, nor any of us, sign up for this kind of abuse. Our families should not have to live with the fear that we will be the subject of violent attacks.
Paul Gosar has shown who he is. Believe him. Censure him.
Mrs. WALORSKI. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Rice).
Mr. RICE of South Carolina. Madam Speaker, with so many real problems facing Americans created by the Biden administration--open borders, soaring gas prices, sky-high grocery bills, and our embarrassment in Afghanistan--my friends across the aisle assemble us here today to debate a cartoon.
Political cartoons routinely depict violence. It is not new. Cartoons have depicted violence since there were cartoons.
If you don't believe me, google ``political cartoons 2021.'' You will see a depiction of Joe Biden killing a Republican with a steamroller and a Republican elephant trampling voters, among many others.
Now, I will ask all of you out there to watch the Gosar cartoon that is occupying the floor of the United States Congress for over an hour today. Is it inappropriate? Yes. Childish? Of course. Stupid? Without question. But is it a threat? Absolutely not.
Now, I know some Members may need to seek therapy because they saw this cartoon. But is it a threat? Absolutely not.
Mr. DEUTCH. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Massachusetts (Ms. Clark), the Assistant Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts. Madam Speaker, it started with a white supremacist online fringe movement, and it turned into a deadly January 6 insurrection.
Now I stand before you because a Member of this body has once again had her life threatened, but this time by a colleague who posted a video of killing her on his official account. Think about that.
It is no coincidence that the recipients of this violence are most often women and women of color because this violence is directly connected to sexism and racism.
We cannot and must not accept this behavior. Silence and excuses are condoning it. And the excuses we have heard today--this is okay because it is a highly stylized killing; it is a cartoon; it was some sort of youth outreach--are grotesque.
Enough is enough. Vote for this resolution. Vote for censure. Vote for decency.
Mrs. WALORSKI. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
{time} 1545
Mr. DEUTCH. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. Aguilar), who is the vice chair of the Democratic Caucus.
Mr. AGUILAR. Madam Speaker, when an armed mob stormed the Capitol earlier this year, they did so under the belief that political violence was an acceptable means to an end. As leaders and as Members of this body, every one of us has a responsibility to stand up and to make clear that way of thinking is unacceptable.
We have a responsibility here to work together to keep our colleagues, our staff, and all of the people who work in this building safe. That goal becomes more difficult when Members are making open threats of violence on social media.
It is not acceptable for a Member of Congress to insinuate that they want to violently kill another Member, and we need to directly respond to this threat.
Today, we have an opportunity to send a strong, unified, bipartisan message against this kind of conduct.
Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on the resolution to ensure accountability and recommit ourselves to the safety of every Member and future Member of this body.
Mrs. WALORSKI. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. DEUTCH. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Jeffries), who is the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus.
Mr. JEFFRIES. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of this censure resolution. Inciting violence is unacceptable. Threatening to kill a colleague, the President of the United States, or any American, is unacceptable.
I rise to make it clear that we have an opportunity today to choose decency over demonization, to choose civility over cynicism, and to choose the rule of law over recklessly violent behavior. That is why the House of Representatives is acting and acting decisively. We cannot normalize violence today, we cannot normalize violence tomorrow, and we cannot normalize violence at any point moving forward in our future. The House will hold Paul Gosar accountable for his violent and deplorable behavior whether the cover-up caucus likes it or not.
Madam Speaker, vote ``yes'' on this censure resolution.
Mrs. WALORSKI. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. DEUTCH. Madam Speaker, I yield 45 seconds to the gentlewoman from New Mexico (Ms. Leger Fernandez).
Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ. Madam Speaker, serving in public office is and should be a sacred responsibility, and that responsibility calls upon us to condemn hate when we see it. If we let hate fester and spread, then it will destroy us. That is why one in three women have been attacked violently in this country and around the world.
But instead of apologizing today, Republicans chose to vilify immigrants yet again which is an outrage when the victim is herself a Latina.
Madam Speaker, do you remember the gunman who traveled to El Paso to kill Mexicans after Republican politicians demonized them?
Scripture says: Love thy neighbor as thyself.
And we must also love this institution. It is the love for this institution and the love for our fellow Members which is calling upon us to pass this resolution.
Mrs. WALORSKI. Madam Speaker, I am prepared to close. I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. DEUTCH. Madam Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mrs. WALORSKI. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Madam Speaker, I absolutely reject violence and calls for violence against any Member of Congress or anyone else. But by rushing this vote to the floor today and ignoring the process, the majority is setting a precedent that I fear may not serve this institution well in the future.
The majority should withdraw this resolution, and, if it chooses, pursue this matter properly through law enforcement and/or the Ethics Committee.
If the resolution is not withdrawn, then I am going to vote ``no'' and hope at some point that the Ethics Committee will, once again, serve this body as it was intended.
Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to vote ``no,'' and I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. DEUTCH. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to close.
Madam Speaker, none of us wants to be here today revisiting the violent imagery and the vile, hateful content that Representative Gosar delighted in disseminating over his official social media accounts--
material defended over and over and over today by our colleagues.
Had Republican leadership acted as they should have to hold their own Members accountable when they breach the most basic standards of decorum and decency, we wouldn't be here. Yet, the House cannot ignore Representative Gosar's conduct as Republicans would have us do.
January 6 must serve as a reminder of just how important this action is that we are about to take. On January 6, violence stoked by hateful imagery and inflammatory rhetoric over social media found its way to the steps of the United States Capitol and the doors of this Chamber.
On that day, insurrectionists broke those windows right near where I stand. Capitol Police officers drew their weapons, and Members bravely blocked the entrance. Heroes valiantly repelled the attack on our democracy.
On this day, with our votes on this resolution, let us reject the notion that it is ever acceptable for a Member of Congress to threaten the safety of a fellow Member or depict the murder of a fellow Member. Let this resolution serve as an unwavering statement that never in this House should this type of horrific, violent imagery be deemed acceptable.
Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to smash the partisan lens through which they view this behavior and this debate. I ask all of my colleagues to support safety, civility, and decency by voting for H. Res. 789.
Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Madam Speaker, Representative Gosar is a member of this institution as am I, and as is Representative Ocasio-Cortez, and so are roughly fifty other women of color.
We all walk the same hallways and took the same oath of office. We are here to serve our districts and the American people. The graphic video that Rep. Gosar posted violates every sense of mutual respect that we should have for one another. Not only that, but it also dangerously promotes violence towards a sitting member of Congress who is a powerful Latina. It's exactly the type of misogynistic and racist recklessness that the previous President deployed, and social media companies eventually stripped him of his accounts.
Rep. Gosar needs to be held accountable for this and that's what we are doing today. We need to deliver a message that in the people's house, this dangerous behavior will not be tolerated.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 795, the previous question is ordered on the resolution and the preamble, as amended.
The question is on the resolution.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that the ayes appeared to have it.
Mrs. WALORSKI. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to section 3(s) of House Resolution 8, the yeas and nays are ordered.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 223, nays 207, answered ``present'' 1, not voting 3, as follows:
YEAS--223
Adams Aguilar Allred Auchincloss Axne Barragan Bass Beatty Bera Beyer Bishop (GA) Blumenauer Blunt Rochester Bonamici Bourdeaux Bowman Boyle, Brendan F. Brown (MD) Brown (OH) Brownley Bush Bustos Butterfield Carbajal Cardenas Carson Carter (LA) Cartwright Case Casten Castor (FL) Castro (TX) Cheney Chu Cicilline Clark (MA) Clarke (NY) Cleaver Clyburn Cohen Connolly Cooper Correa Costa Courtney Craig Crist Crow Cuellar Davids (KS) Davis, Danny K. Dean DeFazio DeGette DeLauro DelBene Delgado Demings DeSaulnier Deutch Dingell Doggett Doyle, Michael F. Escobar Eshoo Espaillat Evans Fletcher Foster Frankel, Lois Gallego Garamendi Garcia (IL) Garcia (TX) Golden Gomez Gonzalez, Vicente Gottheimer Green, Al (TX) Grijalva Harder (CA) Hayes Higgins (NY) Himes Horsford Houlahan Hoyer Huffman Jackson Lee Jacobs (CA) Jayapal Jeffries Johnson (GA) Johnson (TX) Jones Kahele Kaptur Keating Kelly (IL) Khanna Kildee Kilmer Kim (NJ) Kind Kinzinger Kirkpatrick Krishnamoorthi Kuster Lamb Langevin Larsen (WA) Larson (CT) Lawrence Lawson (FL) Lee (CA) Lee (NV) Leger Fernandez Levin (CA) Levin (MI) Lieu Lofgren Lowenthal Luria Lynch Malinowski Maloney, Carolyn B. Maloney, Sean Manning Matsui McBath McCollum McEachin McGovern McNerney Meeks Meng Mfume Moore (WI) Morelle Moulton Mrvan Murphy (FL) Nadler Napolitano Neal Neguse Newman Norcross O'Halleran Ocasio-Cortez Omar Pallone Panetta Pappas Pascrell Payne Pelosi Perlmutter Peters Phillips Pingree Pocan Porter Pressley Price (NC) Quigley Raskin Rice (NY) Ross Roybal-Allard Ruiz Ruppersberger Rush Ryan Sanchez Sarbanes Scanlon Schakowsky Schiff Schneider Schrader Schrier Scott (VA) Scott, David Sewell Sherman Sherrill Sires Slotkin Smith (WA) Soto Spanberger Speier Stansbury Stanton Stevens Strickland Suozzi Swalwell Takano Thompson (CA) Thompson (MS) Titus Tlaib Tonko Torres (CA) Torres (NY) Trahan Trone Underwood Vargas Veasey Vela Velazquez Wasserman Schultz Waters Watson Coleman Welch Wexton Wild Williams (GA) Wilson (FL) Yarmuth
NAYS--207
Aderholt Allen Amodei Armstrong Arrington Babin Bacon Baird Balderson Banks Barr Bentz Bergman Bice (OK) Biggs Bilirakis Bishop (NC) Boebert Bost Brady Brooks Buchanan Buck Bucshon Budd Burchett Burgess Calvert Cammack Carey Carl Carter (GA) Carter (TX) Cawthorn Chabot Cline Cloud Clyde Cole Comer Crawford Crenshaw Curtis Davidson Davis, Rodney DesJarlais Diaz-Balart Donalds Duncan Dunn Ellzey Emmer Estes Fallon Feenstra Ferguson Fischbach Fitzgerald Fitzpatrick Fleischmann Fortenberry Foxx Franklin, C. Scott Fulcher Gaetz Gallagher Garbarino Garcia (CA) Gibbs Gimenez Gohmert Gonzales, Tony Gonzalez (OH) Good (VA) Gooden (TX) Gosar Granger Graves (LA) Graves (MO) Green (TN) Greene (GA) Grothman Guest Guthrie Hagedorn Harris Harshbarger Hartzler Hern Herrell Herrera Beutler Hice (GA) Higgins (LA) Hill Hinson Hollingsworth Hudson Huizenga Issa Jackson Jacobs (NY) Johnson (LA) Johnson (OH) Johnson (SD) Jordan Joyce (PA) Katko Keller Kelly (MS) Kelly (PA) Kim (CA) Kustoff LaHood LaMalfa Lamborn Latta LaTurner Lesko Letlow Long Lucas Luetkemeyer Mace Malliotakis Mann Massie Mast McCarthy McCaul McClain McClintock McHenry McKinley Meijer Meuser Miller (IL) Miller (WV) Miller-Meeks Moolenaar Mooney Moore (AL) Moore (UT) Mullin Murphy (NC) Nehls Newhouse Norman Nunes Obernolte Owens Palazzo Palmer Pence Pfluger Posey Reed Reschenthaler Rice (SC) Rodgers (WA) Rogers (AL) Rogers (KY) Rose Rosendale Rouzer Roy Rutherford Salazar Scalise Schweikert Scott, Austin Sessions Simpson Smith (MO) Smith (NE) Smith (NJ) Smucker Spartz Stauber Steel Stefanik Steil Steube Stewart Taylor Tenney Thompson (PA) Tiffany Timmons Turner Upton Valadao Van Drew Van Duyne Wagner Walberg Walorski Waltz Weber (TX) Webster (FL) Wenstrup Westerman Williams (TX) Wilson (SC) Wittman Womack Young Zeldin
ANSWERED ``PRESENT''--1
Joyce (OH)
NOT VOTING--3
Griffith Loudermilk Perry
{time} 1627
So the resolution was agreed to.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
Members Recorded Pursuant to House Resolution 8, 117th Congress
Amodei (Balderson) Auchincloss (Clark (MA)) Banks (Walorski) Blumenauer (Beyer) Carter (LA) (Kahele) Cawthorn (Nehls) DeFazio (Brown (MD)) Dingell (Clark (MA)) Gonzalez (OH) (Armstrong) Kelly (IL) (Clarke (NY)) Khanna (Gomez) Kildee (Butterfield) Kirkpatrick (Stanton) Lawrence (Beatty) Lawson (FL) (Evans) Lesko (Joyce (PA)) Levin (MI) (Raskin) Lowenthal (Beyer) McEachin (Wexton) Nunes (Garcia (CA)) Porter (Wexton) Reed (Walorski) Rice (NY) (Murphy (FL)) Roybal-Allard (McCollum) Rush (Quigley) Stevens (Lee (NV)) Swalwell (Gomez) Tlaib (Bowman) Underwood (Casten) Waltz (Salazar) Wilson (FL) (Hayes)
The SPEAKER. Will the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Gosar) present himself in the well.
By its adoption of House Resolution 789, the House has resolved that Representative Paul Gosar of Arizona be censured; that Representative Paul Gosar forthwith present himself in the well of the House for the pronouncement of censure; that Representative Paul Gosar be censured with the public reading of this resolution by the Speaker; and that Representative Paul Gosar be, and is hereby, removed from the Committee on Natural Resources and the Committee on Oversight and Reform.
____________________
SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 167, No. 200
The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
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