Why some Republicans voted against the anti-biogram resolution

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WASHINGTON – The House passed a resolution Thursday condemning anti-Semitism and other forms of fanaticism. The resolution, drafted by House Democrats, was initially an implicit response to widely reputed anti-Semitic comments by Minnesota Democrat Representative Ilhan Omar. However, when some Democrats opposed his appointment, the resolution was expanded to condemn other forms of hatred.

Earlier this year, House Republicans unanimously approved a resolution condemning white nationalism and white supremacy after Rep. Steve King, Iowa Republican, asked when the term "white supremacy" would have become controversial , ending years of unpunished stupid commentary.

This time, they were not as united and some Democrats asked why.

Here is their answer:

"The Republican Party was frustrated to see the amendment softened," California representative Kevin McCarthy said Friday at a news conference. (Mr. McCarthy voted in favor of the resolution, one of his principal lieutenants, the representative Liz Cheney, voted against it.)

"We are here today because a member of this body has issued a series of anti-Semitic statements," said Mr. Biggs in a speech on Thursday.

He spoke of the difference between righteousness and mercy, adding, "We now have a model and we begin to wonder how we extend mercy when justice demands an anti-Semite. This does not help that Democratic leaders have attempted to rationalize and protect this individual. "

In 2016, Mr. Biggs raised his eyebrows when he said that Jewish philanthropist George Soros was buying a local election as a county attorney.

Mr Brooks said that he had voted against the resolution because his "failure to specifically express his opposition to discrimination against Caucasians, Americans and Christians, while reflecting the priorities and values ​​of the democratic socialist is fatal to the bill ".

After Mr. Brooks said in 2016 that Muslims wanted to "kill all homosexuals in America," the chapter of the Council for American-Islamic Relations in Alabama asked for an apology.

In a statement after the vote, Mr Buck criticized the resolution for failing to "solve the problem of a problem that had to be faced".

"Antisemitism can not be compared to any other hate speech without marginalizing the history of Jewish oppression," he said. "I will not vote to ignore the anti-Semitism that has been concealed by Democratic leaders."

Mr. Budd, reacting on Twitter, said that he voted against the resolution because she did not name Ms. Omar or list her comments.

Burgess said in a statement that the legislation "does not adequately refute anti-Semitism in the US House of Representatives".

Perhaps the most striking vote is that of Ms. Cheney, Republican Number 3, because of her role as President of the House Republican Conference.

"Voting today's resolution was a mockery put forward by the Democrats to avoid condemning one of them and denouncing an infamous anti-Semitism," said Ms. Cheney in a statement after the vote.

The resolution of the Democrats left the party with internal questions as to where to draw the line of speech.

Collins was re-elected in November, even after being indicted for insider trading. He kept a low profile, but after his vote "no" he turned to Twitter.

"After reading the final resolution, I did not think that she was strong enough to support Israel, the only real democracy in the Middle East, and that's why I voted against," she said. said Collins.

Conaway said in a statement that Democrats in the House "must take fanaticism of all kinds seriously, not just the cases that fit their progressive liberal agenda."

"If the Democratic leaders wanted to specifically address anti-Semitism and if a member of their conference had made many anti-Semitic comments," Crawford said on Twitter, "this resolution has failed in every way possible. "

Mr Gohmert He discussed his own accusations of anti-Semitism last year after falsely accusing Soros of collaborating with the Nazis during the Second World War, a popular myth of the far right. "George Soros is supposed to be Jewish, but you would not know it because of the damage he did to Israel and the fact that he returned Jewish comrades and helped take over the property they owned. ", he said on Fox Business Network.

Patrick Gaspard, president of Soros' Open Society Foundations, wrote a letter to Mr Gohmert in December asking him to apologize for "the false disturbing antisemitic agitation".

Mr. Soros was a child from Nazi-occupied Hungary.

"Without naming the offender, punishment is an empty gesture," Gosar said on Twitter. "It's time for Democrats to take concrete action against these anti-Jewish statements."

In a statement to the New York Times, LaMalfa said the resolution – which he described as a "last-minute, politically motivated bubbler" – was an "abomination to the message that should be sent to Israeli rhetoric.

Mr. Massie is associated with his colleagues to criticize the scope of the measure and asked on Twitter: "Now that the resolution protects just about every group on the planet, can we add" the babies the day of their birth "as a protected class?"

A spokeswoman for Mr. Palazzo did not respond to a request for comment.

"House Democrats have had the opportunity to make a strong statement against this heinous fanaticism by condemning hate speech," Rogers said in a statement. "Instead, they yielded to their radical socialist base and took no meaningful action."

In a statement, Mr. Roy described the resolution as "a simulated coverage vote to avoid dealing with a rogue member."

In a statement, Mr. Steube stated that the resolution should have mentioned Ms. Omar by name and the context of her remarks.

In a statement, Walker said it was "a meaningless resolution" that "provided shelter for a politician spreading hatred and anti-Semitism."

"It was a very superficial vote," Yoho said during an interview Friday. "They did everything possible not to condemn the one who had been released. So, I think it was just a show vote. "

In a speech on Thursday, Zeldin asked why Omar was not named in the resolution and said she did not apologize for her most recent comments. (She apologized for any other remarks considered anti-Semitic.)

"Why would she be more encouraged to refuse excuses?", He asked in a speech. "I do not think she's naive. I believe that she knows exactly what she's doing. "

Sheryl Gay Stolberg contributed to the report.

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