House Passes Broad Anti-‘Hate’ Measure Amid Democratic Infighting
The House on Thursday passed a measure condemning bigotry of all kinds, part of Democrats’ response to comments from Representative Ilhan Omar that critics said were anti-Semitic.
The resolution, which originally condemned only anti-Semitism but was broadened to include “anti-Muslim discrimination and bigotry against minorities as hateful expressions of intolerance that are contrary to the values and aspirations of the United States,” passed overwhelmingly 407 to 23, with only Republicans voting against it.
The Republicans who voted no, including Louie Gohmert of Texas and Liz Cheney of Wyoming, said they did so because the language of the measure was changed so much as to divert attention from Omar’s comments.
Omar, who is Muslim, herself voted for the measure. The freshman Minnesota Democrat ignited infighting within her party when she made comments on Twitter promoting what critics panned as a flippant promotion of harmful stereotypes about Jews having divided loyalties and seeking monetary influence.
Omar also said last week at a Washington, D.C cafe that she wanted to address “the political influence in this country that says it is OK for people to push for allegiance to a foreign country,” referring to pro-Israel groups.
Her critics also noted a 2012 tweet in which Omar said Israel had “hypnotized the world.”
Omar apologized for some of the comments, and some of her colleagues, including New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, defended her.
Although the measure references the particular brand of bigotry Omar appeared to dabble in, it does not mention her by name and Democrats insisted the measure is not targeted at the congresswoman.
“It’s not about her,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday.
“Accusing Jews of being more loyal to Israel or to the Jewish community than to the United States constitutes anti-Semitism because it suggests that Jewish citizens cannot be patriotic Americans and trusted neighbors,” the resolution reads. “Accusations of dual loyalty generally have an insidious and pernicious history.”
The final draft of the measure also condemns the Japanese internment camps during World War II and the white supremacist violence in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017, and lists the LGBT community, African-Americans, Native Americans, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, immigrants, Latinos, Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders as “traditionally persecuted peoples.”
Republicans also griped that Pelosi continues to let Omar serve on the Foreign Affairs Committee after her remarks.
“If Pelosi is truly against the anti-Semitic comments that Omar continues to make, then she needs to remove her from the Foreign Affairs Committee,” House Minority Whip Steve Scalise said.
