Barbara Lee: “Last week, one of our colleagues from across the aisle made very ignorant comments and questioned Representative Judy…”

“Last week, one of our colleagues from across the aisle made very ignorant comments and questioned Representative Judy Chu's loyalty and service to this country. These claims were baseless, discriminatory, and flat-out wrong. As one of his own Republican colleagues said, these types of troubling comments are out of bounds and, yes, beyond the pale. Questioning Congresswoman Judy Chu's loyalty to the United States purely based on her Chinese heritage is not only racist and xenophobic, it is very dangerous, and it is not new. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was subject to baseless accusations of being a communist by J. Edgar Hoover. These same harmful bouts of hateful misinformation have been cast on myself, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, and other women of color in Congress. It is despicable. Madam Speaker, hate speech leads to hate violence. We must clearly and strongly denounce this kind of rhetoric, especially during a time when our AAPI community continues to be a target of hateful aggression against the country. Congresswoman Chu has been a steadfast warrior for constituents in her district, the AAPI community, and for all marginalized communities she has worked for across our country. She is a great patriot. To question her service and loyalty to the United States is shameful and unacceptable. ____________________”