Hageman Statement on Tabling Resolution to Censure Rep. Tlaib
Washington, DC – Today, Rep. Harriet Hageman issued the following statement on the motion to table a resolution censuring Rep. Rashida Tlaib.
“As abhorrent and antisemitic as Rep. Tlaib’s comments were, she has a right to make them. I don’t agree with her on much of anything – and certainly not on anything this censure was addressing, but the First Amendment would not be necessary if it existed only to protect agreeable speech.
“I am a First Amendment absolutist. I read the words “Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech…” and I take them to heart. The answer to despicable speech is more and better reasoned speech, not the suppression of anyone’s voice. At this moment in time it is critically important that we expose the beliefs of people like Rep. Tlaib. Stopping her from speaking does not change hearts and minds, it only drives those insidious ideas underground where they are more difficult to battle against.
“This censure was poorly written. It included a misquote of Rep. Tlaib’s comments and referred to her as inciting an “insurrection” on October 18th. I am very concerned that by including this language, we would actually be giving our opponents the weapons with which to continue to attack President Trump and the January 6th defendants. In short, the despicable display that happened in the Cannon House Office Building on October 18th wasn’t an insurrection, but by claiming that it was, the resolution to censure Rep. Tlaib would have created serious consequences on other fronts and implied that what happened on January 6th was also an insurrection. I was not alone in this conclusion, as 22 other Republicans, including conservatives such as Chip Roy and Thomas Massie, concurred.
“I serve on the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government where we have uncovered clear evidence of our federal government censoring and taking action against American citizens in response to lawfully held beliefs. Censuring Rep. Tlaib, or any other member with whom I disagree, would be equal to the tyrants infringing upon Constitutionally protected rights within our own federal agencies. Disagreeable speech is not the same as unlawful speech.”