The new House of Representatives demonstrated two things this week: what it means to be an American with American values, and how that distinguishes Democrats from Republicans.
One issue was a House resolution introduced by Rep. Maria Salazar, a Florida Republican. It was pretty straightforward — it denounced the “horrors of socialism.”
It simply stated that "socialist ideology necessitates a concentration of power that has time and time again collapsed into Communist regimes, totalitarian rule, and brutal dictatorships.”
It also included a long list of the horrors that socialism has created in the world, including famines in the Soviet Union, Ukraine, China and North Korea, as well as violence in Cambodia and hyper-inflation in Venezuela.
The sparks flew during a House Rules Committee hearing on the matter. When Rep. Chip Roy, a Texas Republican and member of the conservative Freedom Caucus, said that words are important in an age when members of Congress openly refer to themselves as Democratic Socialists.
“We can talk about these terms as if they don’t matter but they do — they do matter,” he said. “They’re at the core of who they are.”
Roy then quoted committee ranking member Maxine Waters, D-Calif,. when she told the CEO of Shell Oil “and guess what this liberal will be all about? This liberal will be all about socializing — would be about basically taking over the government and the government running all of your companies.”
Roy turned to Waters and said, “Simple question: Do you stand by that statement?”
She never really answered it other than to say that the resolution itself was “basically a non-issue.”
When pressed, she objected that “I’m not a socialist, I’m a capitalist.”
Tuesday’s hearing can be viewed here, and Waters’ 2008 threat to take over oil companies can be heard here.
The resolution passed Thursday, with every Republican approving it. However, 86 Democrats voted against it, and another 14 voted “present.”
In another incident, Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Florida Republican and, like Roy, a Freedom Caucus member, introduced an amendment at a House Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday.
Like Salazar’s resolution, his proposal was pretty simple and straightforward, and served to define who we are as Americans. He asked that they open their committee hearings with the Pledge of Allegiance.
“On the august Judiciary Committee we are charged with vindicating the constitutional rights of our fellow Americans. And our Pledge of Allegiance is a national symbol of pride and unity, and it was a great honor to be able to invite one of my constituents this morning to offer the Pledge of Allegiance,” he said.
“And so my amendment gives the committee the opportunity to begin each of its meetings with the Pledge of Allegiance. It gives the members the ability to invite inspirational constituents to share and to lead in the Pledge of Allegiance. I offered this amendment to the Judiciary Rules two years ago and it was defeated, and I’m very optimistic it will have a different outcome today.”
Ranking member Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., objected, saying it would be redundant.
“As members know, we pledge allegiance every day on the floor, and I don’t know why we should pledge allegiance twice in the same day,” he responded. “To show how patriotic we are?”
When another member noted that Nadler typically skips the morning pledge recitations, he shot back that he had participated "dozens of times.” Dozens! And he’s been in Congress 30 years, so he may even do it a few times more.
Other objections centered on the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot, when another committee member suggested barring anyone who "supported an insurrection against the United States in any way" from leading the pledge.
Committee members debated a full hour on this amendment. It takes about 15 seconds to respectfully recite the Pledge of Allegiance. They could have recited it 240 times in the time they bickered about it.
After all that it was approved.
On Thursday committee member Rep. Ben Cline, R-Va., appeared on Newsmax TV’s “National Report” and called it all a “show” by Democrats, adding that they "showed their true colors by objecting to it.”
And although Tuesday’s resolution was largely symbolic, it was near and dear to Salazar. She was raised in the Little Havana neighborhood of Miami as the daughter of Cuban exiles.
"I think it's the best resolution that has ever been presented before the United States Congress” she told Business Insider Wednesday. “Our youth are being penetrated by this ideology through media and academia.”
Anti-socialism is an American value. The Pledge of Allegiance is our promise and determination to remain true to our American values.
Democrats should be embarrassed and ashamed by their performance this week. The fact that they’re not says everything we need to know about them.
Michael Dorstewitz is a retired lawyer and has been a frequent contributor to Newsmax. He is also a former U.S. Merchant Marine officer and an enthusiastic Second Amendment supporter. Read Michael Dorstewitz's Reports — More Here.
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