Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise to address a Resolution the House is considering that, and I quote, ``denounces the horrors of socialism.'' In reading the various ``Whereas'' clauses it's pretty clear that the authors have conflated ``socialism'' with ``totalitarianism.'' Further, they apparently believe that ``socialism,'' which they have not defined, is the political philosophy of notorious communist dictators. For example, Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Fidel Castro all described themselves as communists, not socialists. Why does this resolution ignore that? Why does it fail to condemn communism? It's obvious that the purpose of this vote is political in nature. For the duration of my career (in Congress and before that), I have been a proud member of the Democratic Party. Not the Socialist Party. Not the Communist Party. Not the Republican Party. Not affiliated with any dangerous group or conspiracy theory, including but not limited to white supremacists or Q-Anon. I oppose and I have, on many occasions, spoken out strongly when there are anti-democratic atrocities around the world. I oppose totalitarianism. Curiously, the resolution doesn't condemn fascism nor condemn Hitler. Yet by focusing solely on socialism and conflating socialism with communism and totalitarianism, H. Con. Res. 9 paints a distorted picture of the world. A rising tide of violent, anti-democratic forces, many from the far-right, also challenge us. Vladimir Putin (who is suspiciously not mentioned in H. Con. Res.…”