Andy Biggs: “I thank the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Collins) for yielding me time, and I thank the gentleman from New York (Mr.…”

“I thank the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Collins) for yielding me time, and I thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Nadler) for his comments. We are here today because a Member of this body issued a series of anti-Semitic statements, and I couldn't help but think of what justice means and what mercy means. Well, we want to temper justice with mercy. So the first time we come to understand that maybe the depth of what was said was maybe accidental; the second time maybe less so; and certainly the third time, we now have a pattern. We begin to wonder how we extend mercy when justice cries out against one who is anti-Semitic. It doesn't help that the Democratic leaders have attempted to rationalize and protect this individual, whether it is appearing on the cover of a national magazine, whether it is saying: ``She did not understand the full weight of the words.'' One wonders what more needs to be done to try to eradicate anti-Semitism from this body. Some have said that to specifically condemn these statements and remove her from her committee assignment would stifle legitimate criticism of Israel. But the problem with that argument is this: The comments made were not directed at Israel, were not directed to policy, were not directed towards the American-Israel relationship.…”