IL Rep Lone No Vote Against Rebuking King For Supremacist Remark

CHICAGO, IL — Democratic Representative Bobby Rush is the only lawmaker to oppose a U.S. House resolution condemning Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, for making racist remarks, saying the measure did not go far enough. The South Side lawmaker is pushing for full censure instead.

The resolution passed 416—1. King also voted for the measure that rejected white nationalism and white supremacy, although it quoted his words.

Rush told CNN that the resolution “wasn’t worth the paper it was written on."

“Anything short of censure is shallow,” the longtime Congressman said in a statement. “We need to be clear to the American people that we use condemnation to express our disapproval of those not in the House. We use censure for those in the House, Steve King is a sitting member.”

Rush instead proposed his own resolution to censure King, listing more than a dozen incidents where King made racist comments over the years. Censure is a formal reprimand in the House. Only 23 members have been censured in its history.

King came under fire earlier this month for comments he made during an interview in The New York Times that questioned, among other things, when the terms “white nationalist” and “white supremacist” became offensive.

The House voted Tuesday to approve a resolution sponsored by Democratic Representative James Clyburn of South Carolina that “rejects White nationalism and White supremacy as hateful expressions of intolerance that are contradictory to the values that define the people of the United States.”

King also has been stripped of his seats on the Judiciary and Agriculture committees.

Photo via U.S. Rep. Bobby L. Rush.