Providing for Consideration of H. Res. Censuring Representative Paul Gosar

Floor Speech

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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania for yielding me the time and for her distinguished service on the Rules Committee.

Madam Speaker, the standard we have set is simple. When a Member uses taxpayer money to produce a video encouraging violence against another Member, they should lose the privilege of serving on a committee. That is what serving on a congressional committee is. It is a privilege. It is not a right.

I don't know what Congressman Gosar has said in the privacy of Republican Conference meetings. I am not getting any invitations to those. Frankly, Madam Speaker, I don't really care because it is what he said publicly that counts, and publicly he has defended his actions.

Can we just be honest here, Madam Speaker? For once, can my colleagues on the other side stand up to their leadership and say in public what they know to be true?

After our colleague Gabby Giffords was shot, after the distinguished minority whip was shot, after what happened on January 6, after a record-breaking increase in threats against Members, will none of my colleagues on the other side admit that Congressman Gosar should be held accountable?

And for all the talk from those on the other side about this standard somehow being a slippery slope, let me remind them that it is their own colleagues who have suggested removing Republicans not for advocating violence, but for voting for the bipartisan infrastructure bill.

Is this the state of the Republican Party today? If you vote for a bipartisan bill, your own colleagues will call for retribution, but if you tweet a video depicting the murder of a colleague and depicting violence against the President of the United States, that is somehow okay? Come on.

His office produced this video, and Congressman Gosar defended it. We have people out there being influenced by garbage like this. We have Members being forced to pay for security. We have Members getting death threats. This is dangerous stuff that we are talking about here.

But last night in the Rules Committee we heard a lot of rationalization. We heard explanation. We heard whataboutism. Give me a break.

Madam Speaker, the dangerous standard, the real slippery slope would be for this Congress to do nothing here, to be satisfied with a stern, private phone call from the Republican leadership and no accountability.

We cannot allow the normalization of political violence in America. Something is very, very wrong with that. And something is very, very wrong with anyone who thought posting this video was okay.

Now, the minority leader had a ``stern, private call'' with Congressman Gosar. Guess what? That is not enough. There must be real consequences.

Censure and removing Congressman Gosar from his committee assignments is appropriate here. This isn't about partisanship or anyone's voting record. This is about accountability, and at some point, we need to come together to uphold the integrity and the decency of this institution.

To be honest, Madam Speaker, unfortunately, I am not hearing a hell of a lot of willingness from many on the other side to do that.

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