The resolution to censure Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) for her critical stance on the Israel-Hamas war predictably saw Congress members like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) — fellow member of “The Squad” — come to her defense.
Less predictable is the passionate defense of Tlaib’s right to speech issued on the floor by Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), a powerful House voice and Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability.
It is not lost on anyone how many offensive, violent, and racist things people regularly hear members of Congress say, yet virtually the only one that gets censured for her political speech also happens to be the only Palestinian American.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) November 8, 2023
It does not reflect well. At all. https://t.co/LzQUtg2WbU
“I rise here not in spite of the fact that I am a Jewish American who supports the Constitution and the Jewish Democratic State and hates all the antisemitic tyrants and terrorists of the world from Putin in Russia to Mohammed bin Salman in Saudi Arabia to Hezbollah and Hamas,” Raskin said.
“I am here,” Raskin said, “because of these things and everything I believe in and stand for. At this moment when democracy is under siege all over the world, America must stand tall for the Constitution of the United States and this resolution is about one thing and one thing only: the punishment of speech.”
Raskin portrayed blocking the Tlaib censure as a chance to show the world “what the American Constitution means.” Raskin is, notably, a lawyer.
But Raskin’s defense wasn’t enough to save Tlaib from censure. The House voted 234-188 to censure the Congresswoman. Tlaib claims her incendiary commentary is directed not at the Israeli people but at the country’s leadership and government.
Tlaib used the controversial, symbolically loaded term “from the river to the sea,” which for many signals a call for the annihilation of Israel. Nevertheless, she claims her criticism of Israel is not antisemitic, which Raskin seems to allow for.
“This resolution not only degrades our Constitution, but it cheapens the meaning of discipline in this body for people who actually commit wrongful actions like bribery, fraud, violent assault and so on,” Raskin also said. Tlaib is the 26th lawmaker in U.S. history to be censured by the House of Representatives.
Another censure this year came in June when Donald Trump antagonist Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) was censured, a punishment he has since tried to wear as a badge of honor.
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