House vote condemning Trump's tweets

Republican senators Collins, Romney call the remarks 'shameful' and 'racist'

The US House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a resolution condemning US President Donald Trump's "racist" comments in which he told four minority congresswomen "to go back" and fix the "crime infested places" they "originally came from".

The resolution said the House "strongly condemns President Donald Trump's racist comments that have legitimized and increased fear and hatred of new Americans and people of color".

The nonbinding resolution was approved by a vote of 240-187 in the Democrat-controlled chamber. The measure referred to the Republican president's comments as "racist" twice but did not call him prejudiced.

Four Republican representatives - Susan Brooks of Indiana, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Will Hurd of Texas and Fred Upton of Michigan - along with independent Justin Amash of Michigan joined Democrats in voting for the resolution.

The proceedings were dramatically delayed on Tuesday afternoon after Republicans said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's opening remarks about Trump's comments violated House decorum rules, which call for lawmakers to avoid impugning the motives of their colleagues or the president.

"There's no excuse for any response to those words but a swift and strong, unified condemnation," Pelosi had said. "Every single member of this institution, Democratic and Republican, should join us in condemning the president's racist tweets."

Representative Doug Collins of Georgia formally objected to the remarks.

After a two-hour lull, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer ruled that the speaker had violated the decorum rules. But an effort by Republicans to have her words stricken from the record failed along party lines.

Many Democrats wanted a stronger resolution of censure.

Immediately after the House vote a Democratic congressman, Al Green of Texas, filed articles of impeachment against Trump.

Dozens of other Democratic members of the House have reportedly called for an impeachment inquiry to be opened against the president but Pelosi has said she does not favor such a move at the moment.

Meanwhile, high-profile members of the GOP were slow to openly criticize the president's remarks. Some, such as senators Susan Collins of Maine and Mitt Romney of Utah, along with former senator Jeff Flake and Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker said the comments were "shameful" and "racist".

Others defended Trump. House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy of California answered "no" when asked if the president's remarks were racist. He added that he would tell members to oppose the resolution.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky also defended Trump, saying, "The president is not a racist."

Trump urged Republicans to vote against the resolution on Tuesday, branding it a "Democrat con game".

In a closed-door meeting of House Democrats on Tuesday, Pelosi called the congresswomen "our sisters".

"The fact is, as offended as we are - and we are offended by what he said about our sisters - he says that about people every day, and they feel as hurt as we do about somebody in our family having this offense against them," Pelosi said.

Reuters contributed to this story.

belindarobinson@chinadailyusa.com

(China Daily 07/18/2019 page12)