SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) embraces Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) as they leave a news conference on Capitol Hill on November 30, 2021. (Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Bowman Urges Democratic Leaders to Remove Boebert From Committees Over 'Vile' Attacks on Omar
"I, for one, will work to root out Islamophobia and discrimination of any kind, and implore my colleagues to join me in saying enough is enough."
Dec 01, 2021
Rep. Jamaal Bowman late Tuesday urged the House Democratic leadership to remove GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert from her committee assignments and take "all other appropriate measures" in response to the Colorado Republican's latest bigoted attacks on Rep. Ilhan Omar.
"The cultural climate under Trump laid the foundation for and created a dangerous precedent that has emboldened members of the Trump Party to launch blatantly Islamophobic and xenophobic attacks on Congresswoman Omar and others simply because of who they pray to and what they look like," Bowman (D-N.Y.) said in a statement released days after Boebert called Omar a member of the "jihad squad" in a speech on the House floor.
"We cannot pretend this hate speech from leading politicians doesn't have real consequences."
Shortly following her floor remarks, Boebert suggested during a campaign event that Omar is a terrorist, telling a story about an encounter at the U.S. Capitol that Omar said never happened. Since footage of Boebert's remarks surfaced late last week, reporters have highlighted another video in which the Colorado Republican tells a different version of the Islamophobic story.
"Saying I am a suicide bomber is no laughing matter. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) need to take appropriate action," Omar tweeted last week. "Normalizing this bigotry not only endangers my life but the lives of all Muslims. Anti-Muslim bigotry has no place in Congress."
Bowman echoed that message in his statement Tuesday. "The fact is that Congresswoman Omar is a Black, immigrant, and visibly Muslim woman with power--and this is too much to handle for people who refuse to live in a society that celebrates diversity and abhors white supremacy," the New York Democrat said.
"The question that we as leaders are called to answer is whether we will tolerate this kind of vile behavior and learn from history in order to protect our future," Bowman added. "I, for one, will work to root out Islamophobia and discrimination of any kind, and implore my colleagues to join me in saying enough is enough."
"I'm urging House leadership to hold Lauren Boebert accountable," he continued, "by removing her from her committee assignments, advancing a resolution of condemnation, and taking all other appropriate measures to ensure our message that Islamophobia, anti-Blackness, and xenophobia will not stand is loud and clear."
Boebert currently sits on the House Committee on Natural Resources, the Subcommittee on Indigenous Peoples of the United States, the Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife, and the Committee on the Budget.
Bowman's statement came after Omar held a press conference during which she played a voicemail recording of a death threat her office received following the Minnesota Democrat's phone conversation with Boebert on Monday.
"When a sitting member of Congress calls a colleague a member of the 'jihad squad' and falsifies a story to suggest I will blow up the Capitol, it is not just an attack on me but on millions of American Muslims across the country," Omar said Tuesday. "We cannot pretend this hate speech from leading politicians doesn't have real consequences."
As Omar and her progressive colleagues continue to demand that Boebert be held accountable for her bigoted comments, the House Democratic leadership is reportedly discussing a resolution condemning Islamophobia. According to Axios, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) "hasn't taken more severe measures off the table."
Asked about a possible effort to censure Boebert, McCarthy--who has repeatedly shown a willingness to reward his members for grotesque behavior--said Tuesday that he would "vote against it."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Rep. Jamaal Bowman late Tuesday urged the House Democratic leadership to remove GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert from her committee assignments and take "all other appropriate measures" in response to the Colorado Republican's latest bigoted attacks on Rep. Ilhan Omar.
"The cultural climate under Trump laid the foundation for and created a dangerous precedent that has emboldened members of the Trump Party to launch blatantly Islamophobic and xenophobic attacks on Congresswoman Omar and others simply because of who they pray to and what they look like," Bowman (D-N.Y.) said in a statement released days after Boebert called Omar a member of the "jihad squad" in a speech on the House floor.
"We cannot pretend this hate speech from leading politicians doesn't have real consequences."
Shortly following her floor remarks, Boebert suggested during a campaign event that Omar is a terrorist, telling a story about an encounter at the U.S. Capitol that Omar said never happened. Since footage of Boebert's remarks surfaced late last week, reporters have highlighted another video in which the Colorado Republican tells a different version of the Islamophobic story.
"Saying I am a suicide bomber is no laughing matter. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) need to take appropriate action," Omar tweeted last week. "Normalizing this bigotry not only endangers my life but the lives of all Muslims. Anti-Muslim bigotry has no place in Congress."
Bowman echoed that message in his statement Tuesday. "The fact is that Congresswoman Omar is a Black, immigrant, and visibly Muslim woman with power--and this is too much to handle for people who refuse to live in a society that celebrates diversity and abhors white supremacy," the New York Democrat said.
"The question that we as leaders are called to answer is whether we will tolerate this kind of vile behavior and learn from history in order to protect our future," Bowman added. "I, for one, will work to root out Islamophobia and discrimination of any kind, and implore my colleagues to join me in saying enough is enough."
"I'm urging House leadership to hold Lauren Boebert accountable," he continued, "by removing her from her committee assignments, advancing a resolution of condemnation, and taking all other appropriate measures to ensure our message that Islamophobia, anti-Blackness, and xenophobia will not stand is loud and clear."
Boebert currently sits on the House Committee on Natural Resources, the Subcommittee on Indigenous Peoples of the United States, the Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife, and the Committee on the Budget.
Bowman's statement came after Omar held a press conference during which she played a voicemail recording of a death threat her office received following the Minnesota Democrat's phone conversation with Boebert on Monday.
"When a sitting member of Congress calls a colleague a member of the 'jihad squad' and falsifies a story to suggest I will blow up the Capitol, it is not just an attack on me but on millions of American Muslims across the country," Omar said Tuesday. "We cannot pretend this hate speech from leading politicians doesn't have real consequences."
As Omar and her progressive colleagues continue to demand that Boebert be held accountable for her bigoted comments, the House Democratic leadership is reportedly discussing a resolution condemning Islamophobia. According to Axios, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) "hasn't taken more severe measures off the table."
Asked about a possible effort to censure Boebert, McCarthy--who has repeatedly shown a willingness to reward his members for grotesque behavior--said Tuesday that he would "vote against it."
Rep. Jamaal Bowman late Tuesday urged the House Democratic leadership to remove GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert from her committee assignments and take "all other appropriate measures" in response to the Colorado Republican's latest bigoted attacks on Rep. Ilhan Omar.
"The cultural climate under Trump laid the foundation for and created a dangerous precedent that has emboldened members of the Trump Party to launch blatantly Islamophobic and xenophobic attacks on Congresswoman Omar and others simply because of who they pray to and what they look like," Bowman (D-N.Y.) said in a statement released days after Boebert called Omar a member of the "jihad squad" in a speech on the House floor.
"We cannot pretend this hate speech from leading politicians doesn't have real consequences."
Shortly following her floor remarks, Boebert suggested during a campaign event that Omar is a terrorist, telling a story about an encounter at the U.S. Capitol that Omar said never happened. Since footage of Boebert's remarks surfaced late last week, reporters have highlighted another video in which the Colorado Republican tells a different version of the Islamophobic story.
"Saying I am a suicide bomber is no laughing matter. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) need to take appropriate action," Omar tweeted last week. "Normalizing this bigotry not only endangers my life but the lives of all Muslims. Anti-Muslim bigotry has no place in Congress."
Bowman echoed that message in his statement Tuesday. "The fact is that Congresswoman Omar is a Black, immigrant, and visibly Muslim woman with power--and this is too much to handle for people who refuse to live in a society that celebrates diversity and abhors white supremacy," the New York Democrat said.
"The question that we as leaders are called to answer is whether we will tolerate this kind of vile behavior and learn from history in order to protect our future," Bowman added. "I, for one, will work to root out Islamophobia and discrimination of any kind, and implore my colleagues to join me in saying enough is enough."
"I'm urging House leadership to hold Lauren Boebert accountable," he continued, "by removing her from her committee assignments, advancing a resolution of condemnation, and taking all other appropriate measures to ensure our message that Islamophobia, anti-Blackness, and xenophobia will not stand is loud and clear."
Boebert currently sits on the House Committee on Natural Resources, the Subcommittee on Indigenous Peoples of the United States, the Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife, and the Committee on the Budget.
Bowman's statement came after Omar held a press conference during which she played a voicemail recording of a death threat her office received following the Minnesota Democrat's phone conversation with Boebert on Monday.
"When a sitting member of Congress calls a colleague a member of the 'jihad squad' and falsifies a story to suggest I will blow up the Capitol, it is not just an attack on me but on millions of American Muslims across the country," Omar said Tuesday. "We cannot pretend this hate speech from leading politicians doesn't have real consequences."
As Omar and her progressive colleagues continue to demand that Boebert be held accountable for her bigoted comments, the House Democratic leadership is reportedly discussing a resolution condemning Islamophobia. According to Axios, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) "hasn't taken more severe measures off the table."
Asked about a possible effort to censure Boebert, McCarthy--who has repeatedly shown a willingness to reward his members for grotesque behavior--said Tuesday that he would "vote against it."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.