Lauren C. Moye, FISM News
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The House voted to denounce socialism in a resolution that splintered the Democrat party as it passed with a bipartisan majority, 328-86.
Congress members passed House Concurrent Resolution 9 — subtitled “Denouncing the horrors of socialism — on Thursday with overwhelming support. All Republicans approved the resolution along with the support of 109 Democrats, 86 representatives voted against the bill, and 14 marked “present” but declined to formally cast a vote either way.
“I am delighted, I am honored that I am the one who introduced this resolution denouncing the horrors of socialism and 328 members of Congress voted with us. It is the first time in this congress that half of the Democrats vote with Republicans to denounce the horrors of socialism,” Rep. Maria Salazar (R-Fla.), one of the resolution’s sponsors, said in a video statement celebrating the victory.
My statement on the historic passage of #HConRes9 condemning the horrors of socialism.
America 🇺🇸 will remain a FREE country. RT if you agree. Video here 👇🏼 pic.twitter.com/HraEyH1Kvy
— Rep. María Elvira Salazar (@RepMariaSalazar) February 2, 2023
The three-page resolution details these horrors, which includes the historical precedent of socialism collapsing into Communism or dictatorships and the mass deaths caused by starvation or wars. The adopted draft specifies “the killing of over 100,000,000 people worldwide” through famine and mass murders under the leadership of individuals like Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Hugo Chavez, and Fidel Castro.
These atrocities were further broken down across six paragraphs by six events that resulted in catastrophic loss of life, like the Terror-Famine of Ukraine — also known as Holodomor — in 1932 and 1933, which killed over 3.5 million Ukrainians. Another example listed is the Cambodian socialist experiment which “led to the killing fields in which over a million people were gruesomely murdered.”
“100 Democrats just refused to denounce socialism. That’s scary—and it explains a lot about why Congress has been spending so much these last four years,” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) stated.
100 Democrats just refused to denounce socialism.
That’s scary—and it explains a lot about why Congress has been spending so much these last four years. pic.twitter.com/LmlspApDFM
— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) February 2, 2023
DEMOCRATS CLAIM SOCIAL PROGRAMS UNDER ATTACK
Some Democrats denounced the resolution as dangerous to Medicare and Social Security.
Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) denied the focus was on denouncing “murderous communist ideologues” but was instead focused on attacking social safety nets already existing in the U.S.
“This resolution is about conflating some of our most cherished social safety net programs with so-called ‘socialism,’ Takano said on the floor. “With this resolution, Republicans demonize Social Security, on which more than 46 million retirees rely today.”
Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) also claimed the resolution was a preemptive strike on these programs as Republicans have pushed for spending cuts before another agreeing to raise the debt ceiling.
“The other night in the Rules Committee, they showed their cards. Republicans refused an amendment to declare that Social Security and Medicare is not socialism,” Pocan said.
McCarthy has previously said that Medicare and Social Security are not on his list of programs he wants to negotiate immediate cuts on.
Salazar further illustrated the danger of socialism when presenting the resolution on the House floor yesterday.
“Socialists are in the business of power, and it only takes one generation to believe their false promises and lose our freedom. It is a lie that socialism will solve your problems,” Salazar said.
Co-sponsor House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) agreed.
“The natural progression of socialist and communist policies is to a totalitarian state that deprives its citizens of basic freedoms and human rights. The American people know this — they’ve seen the horrors of communism and the tens of millions killed by regimes in China, the Soviet Union, North Korea, and elsewhere,” Scalise stated.