House Republicans are gearing up to test the Democrats‘ stance on socialism this week as two members plan to introduce legislation that would condemn socialism as going against the foundation of the United States.
Rep. Maria Salazar (R-FL) and Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) are introducing the resolution to put it on the record that Congress is against socialism. The resolution, which could hit the House floor as early as Wednesday, will state that socialism goes against the principles of the U.S. and that any move toward the theory “necessitates a concentration of power that has time and time again collapsed into Communist regimes, totalitarian rule, and brutal dictatorships,” per the resolution.
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Eyes will turn to members of the “Squad,” a term used to describe six progressive representatives — Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Cori Bush (D-MO), and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) — to see whether or not they will vote in favor of or against the measure.
Ocasio-Cortez and Tlaib are likely to vote against the measure, given their stance on democratic socialism in the past.
“It’s not about government takeover, it’s about how much do workers have a say in your business. Do you have workers on the board? Do workers enjoy a decent amount of the wealth that they are creating?” Ocasio-Cortez told MSNBC in 2020.
When she entered Congress in 2019, Ocasio-Cortez’s platform centered on single-payer healthcare, tuition-free public colleges and universities, and a living wage for workers, and that stance has not changed during her two terms in Congress.
Ocasio-Cortez told Insider that socialism is not akin to “Red Scare” communism, as it exists in countries and systems that have “proven to be successful in the modern world.”
However, Salazar said she has seen the “horrors and failures” of socialism.
“The district I represent is one that knows the failures of socialism all too well,” Salazar said in a press release. “My constituents understand firsthand the consequences socialist ideology brought to our continent: misery, oppression, and exile. I am proud to introduce a resolution that makes it clear … socialism fails wherever it has been tried, and we don’t want it here.”
Scalise said the dangers of socialism are proven by the thousands of Russians, Chinese, Cambodians, Koreans, Cubans, and Venezuelans who have “fled from murderous communist dictatorships and have legally resettled here in America.”
“They are a living testament to the barbarity of these socialist regimes and the promise of the American dream,” Scalise said.
Seventy-five members have signed on in support of the resolution. Missing from the list are Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Lauren Boebert (R-CO), the right-wing counterparts to Ocasio-Cortez and other members of the Squad.
Despite not being on the initial list, Greene and Boebert are likely to vote in favor of the resolution.
Greene released an ad in March 2022 stating that she was going to “blow away the Democrats’ socialist agenda” and then blew up a car with “socialism” on it with a 50-caliber rifle.
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In 2021, Boebert tweeted that “the fight for liberty and freedom never stops.”
“Together, we will deliver outstanding results for rural Colorado and stop socialism in its tracks,” Boebert said.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Ocasio-Cortez’s office for comment ahead of the resolution’s introduction.
