Censuring Representative Jamaal Bowman.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, this is a profoundly stupid resolution. Under Republican control, this Chamber has become a place where trivial issues get debated passionately and important ones not at all. Republicans have focused more on censuring people in this Congress than passing bills that help people we represent or improving this country in any way. What a waste of time and money. They have turned this place into a joke.

They came into the majority talking a big game, but have delivered nothing, not a single, damn thing. They talk about passing this and passing that. All their hyperpartisan bills are going nowhere.

What we are now doing is distracting from the fact that the Republican agenda has been a total and complete failure, the least productive Congress in history, the most rules failed in a single year. They dragged America to the brink of default twice, almost shut down the government, wasted weeks fighting about who should be Speaker, and hitting each other in the hallways.

We should be talking about important issues in this Chamber, Mr. Speaker. We should be addressing healthcare costs, helping Americans build economic security, competing with our adversaries abroad, and investing in our people at home.

We just had a shooting in Las Vegas. We should be talking about preventing gun violence in this country, and you have us here talking about how someone tried to go out the wrong door of the Cannon House Office Building.

Honestly, what the hell is wrong with you?

Congressman Bowman apologized. I want to read his statement so we can be clear about what we are talking about here today. ``Today, as I was rushing to make a vote, I came to a door that is usually open for votes but today would not open. I am embarrassed to admit that I activated the fire alarm, mistakenly thinking it would open the door. I regret this and sincerely apologize for any confusion this caused.''

He messed up. Like many of us do every day, he was rushing to get to votes. Guess what? No one was hurt. No one's life was put in danger. Votes went on like nothing happened. Anyone who works here knows that a fire alarm going off across the street wouldn't impact votes here in the Capitol.

I find it terribly ironic that we are talking about censuring Mr. Bowman, yet we never censured any of our colleagues who tried to overturn the election on January 6 or who failed to respond to a subpoena or who put our national security in danger by storming the SCIF with their phones.

In fact, to the contrary, Mike Johnson, the new Speaker of the House, held a press conference yesterday about the January 6 video footage. Something he said stuck with me:

We have to blur some of the people's faces who participated

in the events of that day because we don't want them to be

retaliated against and charged by the DOJ.

Just to be clear, Republicans want to protect the insurrectionists, shield them from accountability, the people who beat officers, kicked in doors, smashed windows, desecrated this building, and tried to take down our democracy. Not our doors; America's doors, America's officers, America's windows. This is America's building that Trump's mob defiled.

Speaker Johnson wants to protect the mob but has us here debating this absurd censure. What a pathetic exercise in retaliation and revenge. What a petty thing it is to bring this garbage to the floor. Sadly, it is just a typical week for this disgraceful Republican majority.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Massachusetts (Ms. Clark), the Democratic whip.

Mr. Speaker, I will say it again, this resolution is profoundly stupid.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Bowman).

Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentleman from New York.

Mr. Speaker, the gentlewoman talks about following the Constitution. Really? Coming from that side, it is laughable to hear that. There was silence about the crimes of Donald Trump; silence about what happened here on January 6. Silence.

Do you want to talk about opening a door?

The people who stormed this place broke down doors trying to kill people. Silence. I don't want to hear any lectures about upholding the Constitution. There is nothing but silence about the crimes of those who attacked this Capitol on January 6.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. Stevens).

Mr. Speaker, let me just respond to the gentleman by saying if this isn't political or partisan, I don't know what the hell is. This is a pathetic display that we are seeing here on the House floor today.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Aguilar), the chairman of the Democratic Caucus.

Mr. Speaker, let me just say to my Republican colleagues: Are you listening to yourselves talk?

We are in the House Chamber. Heads of state address this body. We have debates about war and peace, and you are talking about a fire alarm? I mean, give me a break.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Ocasio-Cortez).

Mr. Speaker, it is really rich to get a lecture from someone about civility who stood on this House floor and screamed and interrupted the President of the United States during his state of the Union, or somebody who continues to circle the wagons and cheer on the insurrectionists who attacked this Capitol violently on January 6.

I was the last person off the House floor on that day, and I saw what happened. Then for people to come down here and defend those actions, it is pathetic and disgusting.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. Tlaib).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Jeffries), the Democratic leader.

Mr. Speaker, oh, my goodness, I had trouble following the gentlewoman. I mean, was crime up or down in the last administration? The one thing I can say with certainty is that crime was way up in the White House in the last administration without a doubt.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Frost).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Washington State (Ms. Jayapal).

Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentlewoman from Washington.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Minnesota (Ms. Omar).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Massachusetts (Ms. Pressley).

Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentlewoman from Massachusetts.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Missouri (Ms. Bush).

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to close.

I apologize to the American people. I apologize that Republicans are wasting

their hard-earned taxpayer money with yet another stupid and meaningless censure resolution instead of doing anything that will help the American people.

Jamaal Bowman is a good man, a decent man, a kind man. He was rushing to exit a House Office Building so he could go vote, and he activated a fire alarm in the process of trying to open a door.

Did he destroy government property? No.

Did he obstruct an official proceeding? No.

Did he wield a deadly weapon? No.

Did he assault or injure anyone? No.

However, did he apologize and take responsibility for his actions? Yes, he did.

That is more than we can say for January 6, when this building was desecrated by an angry mob sent by Trump to overturn an election. Republican Members of this body still act like nothing happened. How disgusting. How offensive it is to the men and women who protect us that my friends on the other side of the aisle continue to act like nothing happened that day.

At the end of the day, this has nothing to do with Congressman Bowman, and my friends know that. It is about deflecting from how unhinged this majority is. They had to expel one of their own Members last week, for God's sake. They had the first Speaker in history to be ousted. They have nothing of any consequence to show for an entire year in the majority. Nothing. They have done nothing. They have wasted time on stupid measures like this. Nothing.

This whole exercise is just nuts. For Republicans, it is all about appeasing their orange overlord in Mar-a-Lago who can do no wrong.

They don't care about governing. They aren't fit to govern. They aren't concerned about the serious and complex issues facing this country, the world, or the people we represent. For them, being in power is all about retaliation and revenge, and the destruction of their perceived enemies. It is time for the Republican Party to grow up.

Mr. Speaker, I don't want to waste another second on this meaningless resolution. This is pathetic. The Republicans have turned this Chamber into a place where trivial issues get debated passionately and important ones not at all.

My friends have done nothing--not a damn thing--for the people that they say they represent. How can anybody on the other side of the aisle go home with a straight face and say that they are representing their constituents? They have produced nothing for them. They have turned this place into a joke.

It is sad that we are here today. Again, I will end as I began, by apologizing to the American people.

Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``no'' vote on this pathetic, stupid resolution, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to a question of the privileges of the house and offer the resolution that was previously noticed.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

On September 30, as the House of Representatives met to consider legislation to avoid a government shutdown, Representative Jamaal Bowman of New York knowingly pulled a fire alarm to cause chaos and stop the House from doing its business. This is a felony, plain and simple. It is not difficult to understand.

Capitol Police were forced to waste resources investigating rather than doing their job to keep the Capitol safe. USCP determined Bowman broke the law, and he was indicted by the Attorney General of the District of Columbia. Realizing no number of excuses could get him out of this, Mr. Bowman pled guilty.

As a former principal of the Cornerstone Academy for Social Action in New York City, Mr. Bowman should know the consequences of pulling a fire alarm to cause panic. In New York schools, the policy is clear. When a student commits a crime on campus, police are called, and that student is either suspended or expelled.

One would think Representative Bowman would be able to hold himself to the same standards as he held his students to. I don't think that is a lot to ask.

The Republican majority held our own former Member accountable after the House Ethics Committee found he engaged in criminal behavior. It would be hypocritical for the House Democrats to not join us in holding one of their own Members accountable who actually pled guilty to breaking the law.

I do not submit this resolution lightly, Mr. Speaker. Article I, Section 5 of our Constitution gives the House the solemn responsibility to discipline Members for disorderly behavior. As conviction demonstrates, Representative Bowman sought to cause panic to delay official proceedings of this House.

I urge my fellow Members to vote ``yes'' on my resolution and to hold our colleagues accountable when they break the law.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

To use that logic, then all those people should have just said ``sorry,'' and we would move on, right?

No, we don't do that.

Let me tell you, I take a little bit of offense to ``What the hell is wrong with you?'' I will tell you, there is nothing wrong with me. I took an oath to defend the Constitution, and that is exactly what I am going to do. I am not going to apologize for it. I am going to hold the Constitution. It is very simple. We really shouldn't even have this debate. If you break the law and you follow due process, there are consequences to your actions, even if you say ``sorry.''

We can try all of the diversion tactics that we would like. It doesn't change the fact that someone broke the law and that someone should be held accountable. It is disappointing, Mr. Speaker, that their own party can't hold them accountable, that they have such hypocrisy.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to my friend from New York (Ms. Malliotakis).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Burlison).

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, although your district may appreciate all of those accomplishments, are we supposed to just forget about the crime that you committed?

Perhaps, in education, maybe we should have studied a little harder. If you commit a crime, there is a penalty to that crime. You don't get to say: I committed a crime, but I did all these good things. All these good things erase this crime over here. It doesn't work that way.

Again, I will say that it is not profoundly stupid to hold up the Constitution. The left may believe holding up the rights of the Constitution is profoundly stupid. I don't believe we do. I will again say that this hearing and this censure is not profoundly stupid. It is actually a hearing of where we followed the law.

Mr. Speaker, the other fact that I may want to correct--I will correct the truth with maybe the other half of the truth--is ``immediately'' means right away. So when you say, ``I immediately'' took action, ``I immediately''--well, the incident occurred on September 30. October 26 was when you pled guilty. I think that is a little bit longer than immediately. Again, maybe math wasn't my best subject either.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Alford).

Mr. Speaker, may I inquire how much time is remaining on each side.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Lawler).

Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentleman from New York.

Mr. Speaker, I agree. I wish we didn't have to be here. We should, as most sports teams do, clean up our own locker room. That would be the best-case scenario, as we actually did with a member of our Conference. We cleaned up our own locker room. It would be nice if the other side would clean up theirs.

So, I agree with you, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez. I loved your ``My Cousin Vinny'' analogy. That was funny, but this isn't a funny thing. It was good, but this isn't funny.

You committed a crime to try to disrupt a proceeding. This is serious. I think it is a little more serious than jaywalking when you try to disrupt the business of the House.

Again, I wish we weren't here because I wish you all would clean up your own locker room so we could really get on to the people's business. We can do both.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from Georgia (Ms. Greene).

Mr. Speaker, I would just remind you that we talk about baseless claims. If I am not mistaken, Capitol Police did an investigation, referred it to the District of Columbia that did an investigation, and Representative Bowman pled guilty to a crime. I don't think that is baseless. In fact, I think that is basis for crime and that is basis for this censure. Because baseless means you have no cause, Mr. Speaker, and I think the mere fact that Mr. Bowman pled guilty isn't baseless. It is basis for a crime.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, therein lies the problem. I am one of the so-called MAGA Republicans which, again, I don't apologize for.

Under MAGA Republican leadership, I might remind everybody, crime was down--or excuse me, crime was up--crime was down under the last administration. Clearly, crime was down. The economy was up.

All of these problems that we are dealing with in this Congress today, Mr. Speaker, have been created by the Biden administration and created by my friends on the left. That is the truth. Those are the facts.

Under the MAGA Republicans, how many wars were we fighting overseas? Zero. What was the crime rate? Down. Again, we have some serious problems since the Democrats, this administration, took office, and therein lies the problem.

You want to talk about law and order. You want to talk about Cagney & Lacey and Ace Ventura, that is cute. That is cute.

Mr. Speaker, you want to talk about a disgrace to this body? Doing investigative work and actually following due process, that is what we are supposed to do. That is what I thought we did.

I will not apologize for following law and order, but under the Democrats' law and order, you shouldn't go through any investigation. You should just on a whim do some impeachment. That is what the other side of the aisle does.

We clean up our locker room, but when you commit a crime, it is unfortunate that we have to bring this to the table. As much as they want to compare us and call us names, they can continue to do that, but the facts speak for themselves. We waited until an investigation was completed before we brought this censure resolution. We

didn't do it on a whim. That is law and order. If that is Cagney & Lacey, following due process, perhaps, Mr. Speaker, my friends on the other side of the aisle could use a little investigative reporting and some detective work themselves.

Mr. Speaker, may I inquire how much time is remaining.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time for closing.

Mr. Speaker, we need to be accountable to this body.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, in case my colleagues on the other side of the aisle need clarification, I want to make it clear, the American people know that they are not better off than they were 4 years ago, and they know it is Democrats in this Congress and the White House that have put them in this anguish as we see today, just to clear things up.

All we have heard from congressional Democrats is excuse after excuse for Representative Bowman's criminal behavior. I daresay, Mr. Speaker, that if a Republican did what Mr. Bowman did, that every single Member on the Democratic side would be down here calling for censure, if not expulsion.

Mr. Bowman himself, despite pleading guilty, said it was an accident. How? Someone looks at a sign that says ``Fire'' and thinks, hmm, I wonder what this will do?

Mr. Chairman, I urge everyone to vote ``yes,'' and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to this fake, fraudulent, and fictitious censure resolution.

The proceedings here on the floor of the House of Representatives have been

a complete and total embarrassment. Extreme MAGA Republicans have stooped to a new low, and that is very difficult based on the events that have taken place under this Republican majority throughout this year.

Jamaal Bowman has taken public responsibility for the fire alarm incident. He has apologized, explained the circumstances under which it occurred. He has been held publicly accountable by the D.C. Superior Court, paid a $1,000 fine, and the Ethics Committee, under a Republican chair, on a bipartisan basis here in this Congress made clear that no further action was required.

It begs the question: Why is the author of this resolution and the extreme MAGA Republicans on the floor of the House wasting time and taxpayer resources trying to undermine the credibility of Jamaal Bowman?

He is someone who is doing his best to serve his constituents, including in some of the poorest sections of the Bronx, and extreme MAGA Republicans have us on the floor with this sad and silly charade.

Now, the extreme MAGA Republicans have said, including the author of this resolution, that this is about law and order. Give us a break. All you have done is demonstrate throughout the years, including on January 6 and thereafter, that you are not the party of law and order. Extreme MAGA Republicans are the party of lawlessness and disorder.

As a matter of fact, the author of this resolution has endorsed Donald Trump, with multiple indictments. Someone who undertook a crime wave over and over and over again, proudly smirking now that she stands behind Donald Trump, and then wants to communicate to us that this is about law and order when you are the party of lawlessness and disorder.

In fact, the author of this resolution voted to overturn the will of the American people on January 6, and then came back, like the majority of her extreme MAGA Republican colleagues after the violent insurrection, after the Capitol was overrun by a violent mob, after more than 100 Capitol Police officers were seriously injured, and then voted still, not for law and order, not for accountability, and not for the Constitution. You voted with the insurrectionists.

Give us a break, lecturing us about the Constitution and law and order. Your own record suggests that is a phony argument. Nobody is buying it.

The American people aren't buying it. We will make sure the people of Michigan won't buy it.

It has been very interesting watching extreme MAGA Republicans in this debate acting like detectives on the House floor. Extreme MAGA Republicans pretending to be Perry Mason. Extreme MAGA Republicans pretending to be Matlock. Extreme MAGA Republicans pretending to be Cagney & Lacey, not even worthy of being held to the standard of Inspector Gadget and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. That is how embarrassing your display on the House floor has been.

This is a serious matter. Your behavior on the House floor is a serious matter, and I have the floor. I have the floor.

The behavior of the extreme MAGA Republicans censuring Member after Member after Member has brought disgrace to the institution, to the House of Representatives.

This behavior has brought disgrace; not the underlying censure. There has been accountability in the ways that we have all described. The effort to weaponize the censure--what happened, Mr. Speaker, to civility? What happened to trying to foster an environment where we can solve problems on behalf of the American people?

We don't take these arguments of civility seriously because the overwhelming majority of the extreme MAGA Republican Conference supports the violent insurrectionists and supports the insurrectionist- in-chief, twice impeached, under Federal indictment repeatedly for breaking the law and violating the Constitution.

Here we are on the House floor because extreme MAGA Republicans have no plan. Extreme MAGA Republicans have no policies. Extreme MAGA Republicans have made no progress for hardworking American taxpayers on any issue, and so you are here to try to distract.

We are not going to let it happen. We are not going to let extreme MAGA Republicans distract the people of Michigan, distract the people of New York, distract the people of America. We are on the House floor wasting time talking about fire alarms--not the economy, not inflation, not affordable housing, not lowering costs, not the gun violence epidemic that continues to claim the lives of our young people all across America. Extreme MAGA Republicans have us on the House floor talking about fire alarms. How silly is that under these circumstances?

Social Security is under assault. Medicare is under assault. Reproductive freedom is under assault. The Affordable Care Act is under assault. Democracy itself is under assault, and extreme MAGA Republicans are wasting time on the House floor talking about fire alarms under these circumstances.

They are embarrassing themselves. It is petty, it is pathetic, and it is petulant.

Now, House Democrats have said from the very beginning of this Congress that we will find bipartisan common ground with our Republican colleagues on any issue whenever and wherever necessary in order to make life better for the American people on any issue, but we will push back against Republican extremism whenever necessary, and you have crossed a line once again.

We will call out MAGA extremism in the loudest, strongest, most direct way possible. This extreme MAGA Republicans' do-nothing Republican Congress has done nothing to improve the lives of the American people all over the land. This do-nothing Republican Congress has failed to solve a single problem on behalf of hardworking American taxpayers. This do-nothing Republican Congress has failed to do a single thing to improve the quality of life of the American people.

If extreme MAGA Republicans are going to continue to try to weaponize the censure as is being done on this floor right now, going after Democrats repeatedly week after week after week because you have nothing better to do, then I volunteer. Censure me next. That is how worthless your censure effort is. It has no credibility, no integrity, and no legitimacy.

Republicans should censure me next. I will take that censure and I will wear it next week, next month, next year like a badge of honor. I will go home, sleep well, and say to myself, today was a good day.

Mr. Speaker, on Saturday, September 30, 2023, the House of Representatives was considering a continuing resolution to avoid a government shutdown. Minutes after the Democratic whip made a motion to adjourn, Jamaal Bowman decided to pull a fire alarm. He pulled that fire alarm intentionally and willfully, and he knew exactly what he was doing.

This happened in the Cannon House Office Building, where my office is located. I happened to have been in my office when he pulled the fire alarm. This caused the Cannon House Office Building to be evacuated, and my staff and I could not return to our office for several hours.

Once the fire alarm was pulled, the elevators shut down. It made it very difficult for everyone to leave the building, especially if they were handicapped. People had to go down the stairs in order to exit as the fire alarm was blaring. Not only that, all the staff had to leave. They were not allowed to reenter for a very long time.

Capitol Police were scrambling, trying to figure out what had happened, if there was a fire, and if there was a threat to our safety and security. They had to go into an investigation immediately in order to understand why the fire alarm was going.

Jamaal Bowman did not tell the Capitol Police that he pulled the fire alarm even though he admitted himself that, when he makes a mistake, he would tell his own students: If you have made a mistake, own up to it and take accountability.

Jamaal Bowman had plenty of opportunity to admit his mistake and take accountability for his own actions. He should have told Capitol Police immediately that he made a mistake, as he claimed.

It wasn't a mistake, Mr. Speaker. It was on purpose. It was intentional. It was all in part to play the games and the shenanigans that the Democrats were pulling that day as they were trying to block the continuing resolution that was being considered on the House floor.

Remember, Mr. Speaker, the fire alarm was pulled minutes after the Democratic whip made a motion to adjourn.

More importantly, he was intentionally playing his part to obstruct an official proceeding.

By the way, this is the same thing that has been used against January 6 defendants and is still being used to this day. They are being locked up, held in pretrial detention, and being prosecuted by the Department of Justice nearly 3 years later for obstructing an official proceeding, which is exactly what Jamaal Bowman, a Member of Congress, did on September 30.

We have a two-tiered justice system in Washington, D.C. Regular people walked into the Capitol. By the way, many nonviolent offenders walked in open doors. Some of them who also were standing out on the lawn and never entered the Capitol are being charged for obstructing an official proceeding.

Yet, Jamaal Bowman says that it was a mistake and that he should get a pass. His colleagues make excuses for him and call us unserious.

Do you know what is unserious, Mr. Speaker? Having a justice system that doesn't hold everyone accountable and doesn't treat people the same way.

This is an outrage, and this is a disgrace to this institution and this body.

For someone who is a former principal and who punished his own students for intentionally pulling fire alarms to make up petty excuses and think that his own constituents and the American people will buy his lie is a slap in the face to his voters, the people whom he represents, this entire country, and every single one of us who serves in this body.

I would also add that if anyone is going to be charged and forced to remain in jail, forced to be serving prison time for obstructing an official proceeding, then Jamaal Bowman should face the exact same fate of every single January 6 defendant.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to vote for this censure resolution, and I thank Representative McClain for introducing it.

Mr. Speaker, last week, I joined my colleague, Anthony D'Esposito, in introducing a resolution to expel disgraced former Congressman George Santos. It was warranted. It was warranted because he defrauded the voters and defrauded donors, and he is facing a 23- count indictment.

He did not belong in Congress. I was willing to take on a member of my own party and reduce our majority by one because he was unfit to serve.

Now, as a Congressman from the 17th District of New York, I share Westchester County with Mr. Bowman. I have gotten to know Mr. Bowman throughout the course of my tenure here in Congress. We have even flown home together to Westchester County Airport.

What happened on September 30 was wrong. I am sure he is embarrassed. He should be. As a former middle school principal, he understands the difference between a locked door and a fire alarm. To suggest that somehow he was confused is laughable.

As the video evidence shows, he did push the door, and being locked, it didn't open. Nonetheless, he then took down the signs. He threw one on the ground, carried one, walked over to the fire alarm on the wall, and pulled the fire alarm. It didn't say: Pull to exit. It didn't say: In case of a locked door, pull the fire alarm and the door will open.

No. It said: In case of emergency, pull fire alarm.

He then proceeded to throw the other sign on the ground, and he ran past seven--one, two, three, four, five, six, seven--Capitol Police officers and did not utter one word about accidently and embarrassingly pulling a fire alarm.

In fact, when the BOLO went out and the Capitol Police came to question him about it, he lawyered up. He then went and met with Leader Jeffries.

That is not taking accountability right away. That is not taking responsibility. In fact, a few days after it happened, he called me directly to ask me: Please don't get on a censure or an expulsion resolution.

I said to him: I will not do anything until I hear from the Capitol Police as to what happened.

He told me: Oh, I won't be charged. They are dismissing it. I didn't do anything.

They ended up referring it to prosecutors. He was charged, and he pled guilty.

I don't think he should be expelled. I think what he did was wrong. I don't think it was an accident. It was absolutely done to disrupt a proceeding as the Democrats were pulling all sorts of stunts that day, including walking single file in to vote by paper even though they all had their electronic voting cards. Hakeem Jeffries was doing his magic minute. We all know what it was.

Let's be honest. Let's take accountability here.

If you are taking accountability, then you should actually tell your colleagues: Do you know what? I did wrong. I accept the censure.

Instead, you are sitting there smirking and laughing. I don't think your constituents think it is funny. In fact, I know they don't think it is funny because of the number of times I get calls from your constituents.

The number of times I get calls from your constituents and the amount of time my office gets inundated with requests from your constituents, like when you shut your office down for 2 weeks in August--all the offices shut down. Do you know how many cases we had to take on? Calls came from Jewish constituents who don't feel that they can go to you for help.

They don't think it is funny. The people of Westchester County don't think it is funny.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage all of my colleagues to vote in favor of this censure.