The House of Representatives voted almost unanimously on a resolution meant to communicate disapproval over Congressman Steve King’s (R-Iowa) recent remarks on white supremacy. The resolution drafted by Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-South Carolina passed the House 424-1.
The only no vote was by Congressman Bobby Rush (D-Illinois), who introduced a resolution to censure King, thought the language was not strong enough.
“While I strongly condemn white supremacy and white nationalism, my position remains unchanged. Anything short of censure is shallow. Steve King has made a career of making racist statements. That is the only thing he is known for and this pattern of rabid racism must be confronted by the House of Representatives. This resolution just restates the obvious. It does not address Steve King’s violent, vitriolic, and rabid racism,” Rush said in a released statement. “This Democratic resolution is an insult to the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. as we recognize his birthday. We must proceed with a vote to censure him with the same zeal that the House used when censuring Charlie Rangel. Yesterday, the notice I provided of my privileged resolution to formally censure the Member from Iowa, started the clock for a floor vote to punish him for his bigotry and racism. We need to be clear to the American people that we use condemnation to express our disapproval of those not in the House. We use censure for those in the House, Steve King is a sitting member.”
The resolution was primarily a rejection of white nationalism and white supremacy. King is only mentioned by what of the quote that appeared in The New York Times. “Whereas, on January 10, 2019, Representative Steve King was quoted as asking, ‘White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization—how did that language become offensive?’ the resolution began.
The resolution ended saying, “Resolved, That the House of Representatives once again rejects White nationalism and White supremacy as hateful expressions of intolerance that are contradictory to the values that define the people of the United States.”
“I want to ask my colleagues, on both sides of the aisle, let’s vote for this resolution. I’m putting up a YES on the board here because what you see here is right, and true, and just,” King said.
King’s floor statement also directly address the “13 words” that appeared in a recent New York Times article King says have been assigned a meaning that he clearly could not have intended. He said, “that ideology never shows up in my head, so I don’t know how it could possibly come out of my mouth.”
Watch his remarks:
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