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Edited by: TJVNews.com
The Republican-led House voted after raucous debate Thursday to oust Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar from the chamber’s Foreign Affairs Committee, citing her anti-Israel comments, in a dramatic response after Democrats last session booted far-right GOP lawmakers over incendiary remarks, the AP reported.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was able to solidify Republican support against the controversial house representative in the new Congress although some GOP lawmakers had expressed reservations. The AP reported that the removal of lawmakers from House committees was essentially unprecedented until the Democratic ousters two years ago of hard-right Republican Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Paul Gosar of Arizona.
Today, some people will do something to Ilhan Omar’s committee assignment.
— Claudia Tenney (@claudiatenney) February 2, 2023
The 218-211 vote, along party lines, came after a heated, voices-raised debate in which Democrats accused the GOP of targeting Omar based on her race. Omar defended herself on the House floor, asking if anyone was surprised she was being targeted, “because when you push power, power pushes back.” Democratic colleagues hugged and embraced her during the vote.
“My voice will get louder and stronger, and my leadership will be celebrated around the world,” Omar said in a closing speech, the AP reported.
Republicans focused on six statements Omar has made that “under the totality of the circumstances, disqualify her from serving on the Committee of Foreign Affairs,” said Rep. Michael Guest of Mississippi, the incoming chairman of the House Ethics Committee.
“All members, both Republicans and Democrats alike who seek to serve on Foreign Affairs, should be held to the highest standard of conduct due to the international sensitivity and national security concerns under the jurisdiction of this committee,” Guest said, the AP reported.
The resolution proposed by Rep. Max Miller, R-Ohio, a former official in the Trump administration, tdeclared, “Omar’s comments have brought dishonor to the House of Representatives.”
The AP also reported that Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York said Omar has at times “made mistakes” and used antisemitic tropes that were condemned by House Democrats four years ago. But that’s not what Thursday’s vote was about, he said.
“It’s not about accountability, it’s about political revenge,” Jeffries said.
“I am Muslim, I am an immigrant, and interestingly, from Africa,” Omar said, Fox News reported. “Is anyone surprised that I am being targeted? Is anyone surprised that I am somehow deemed unworthy to speak about American foreign policy, or that they see me as a powerful voice that needs to be silenced?”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, went one step further, the AP reported, saying that the GOP’s action was one of the “disgusting legacies after 9/11,” a reference to he Sept. 11, 2001, attack — “the targeting and racism against Muslim-Americans throughout the United States of America. And this is an extension of that legacy.”
The Republican Jewish Coalition released the following statement from National Chairman Senator Norm Coleman and CEO Matt Brooks:
For years, Democratic leadership has failed to hold Rep. Ilhan Omar accountable for her vile, hateful, and dangerous anti-Israel and antisemitic rhetoric.
Today, Republicans, under Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s leadership, kept their promise to remove Rep. Omar from the prestigious and crucially important House Foreign Affairs Committee.
RJC has long advocated for Rep. Omar’s removal from this critical committee.
RJC thanks Rep. Max Miller for introducing the resolution, and House Republicans for their principled votes to pass it. We are gratified that Rep. Omar will no longer be in a privileged position to influence legislation regarding US policy toward Israel and the Middle East.
