[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 697 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 697

  Condemning and censuring Representative Maxine Waters of California.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 30, 2021

 Mr. Owens (for himself, Mr. Perry, Mr. Biggs, Ms. Foxx, Ms. Herrell, 
 Mr. Duncan, Mr. Good of Virginia, Mr. Hice of Georgia, Mrs. Cammack, 
 and Mr. Babin) submitted the following resolution; which was referred 
                       to the Committee on Ethics

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Condemning and censuring Representative Maxine Waters of California.

Whereas, on September 22, 2021, Representative Maxine Waters made demonstrably 
        false allegations, without evidence, that Border Patrol officials were 
        ``whipping'' Haitian individuals illegally crossing the Southern border 
        in Del Rio, Texas, based on a photograph that did not show any such 
        actions on the part of Border Patrol officials;
Whereas Representative Maxine Waters claimed, ``What we witnessed takes us back 
        hundreds of years. What we witnessed was worse than what we witnessed in 
        slavery: cowboys with their reins, again, whipping Black people, 
        Haitians, into the water, where they're scrambling and falling down, and 
        all they're trying to do is escape from violence in their country'';
Whereas Representative Maxine Waters further claimed, ``I'm unhappy, and I'm not 
        just unhappy with the cowboys who were running down Haitians and using 
        their reins to whip them. I'm [unhappy] with the Administration'';
Whereas Representative Maxine Waters' allegations were disproved by National 
        Border Patrol Council Vice President Art Del Cueto, as he explained, 
        ``They were not whipping anyone. They are not assigned whips. What they 
        do is a training technique that has been shown to them to make sure that 
        no one takes over their horse. It was to protect the horse, to protect 
        the rider and to protect the individual that was trying to cause chaos 
        and knock down that rider from that horse'';
Whereas Representative Maxine Waters' allegations were disproved by the AFP 
        photographer, Paul Ratje, who took the photo and later stated, ``I never 
        [saw] them whip anyone . . . [The official] was swinging [the reins] 
        that to some it can be misconstrued when you're looking at the 
        pictures'';
Whereas Representative Maxine Waters' claim that ``all [the Haitians are] trying 
        to do is escape from violence in their country'' was disproved by the 
        Daily Mail report that ``[t]he 15,000 Haitians who turned up in Del Rio 
        did not come from Haiti--they came from mostly Chile . . . the 
        wealthiest country in Latin America where [the Haitians] have been 
        living in modest comfort in Santiago and Sao Paulo for the past five or 
        six years'';
Whereas Representative Maxine Waters' allegations, as well as similar faux 
        outrage by other Members of the Democratic Party, further decreased 
        operational control of the border as it led to the Department of 
        Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announcing that Border 
        Patrol ``would no longer be using horses in Del Rio'', ending one of the 
        only effective methods available to Border Patrol officials to prevent 
        migrants from illegally entering the country over this rugged terrain;
Whereas Representative Maxine Waters' false allegations defamed the brave men 
        and women in the Border Patrol who work every day to secure our borders 
        and hindered their ability to prevent the flow of drugs, disease, and 
        potential terrorists into our Nation;
Whereas Representative Maxine Waters' false allegations that the actions of 
        Border Patrol officials were ``worse than what we witnessed in slavery'' 
        diminish and belittle the suffering and sacrifice of those who truly 
        endured the scourge of slavery, including slaves being whipped, beaten, 
        tortured, raped, and murdered; and
Whereas Representative Maxine Waters' false allegations were dangerous, failed 
        to reflect creditably on the House, and brought shame on the House of 
        Representatives: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That--
            (1) Representative Maxine Waters of California be censured;
            (2) Representative Maxine Waters of California forthwith 
        present herself in the well of the House of Representatives for 
        the pronouncement of censure;
            (3) Representative Maxine Waters of California be censured 
        with the public reading of this resolution by the Speaker; and
            (4) Representative Maxine Waters of California should 
        immediately apologize for these remarks and resign from office 
        to allow an individual more befitting of the respect of the 
        people of the United States to represent California's 43th 
        District.
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