14th District party chairs offer criticism, support for Greene
♦ The Rome Republican was stripped of her congressional committee assignments in a house vote Thursday.
Republican and Democrat party chairs from the 14th Congressional District offered a predictably split opinion ahead of the Thursday’s house vote to strip Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Rome) of her congressional committee assignments.
In what would eventually be a 230-199
vote nearly along party lines, Democrats were joined by 11 Republican house members in passing the measure that came after
Democrats cited Greene’s spreading of conspiracy theories associated with QAnon.
A statement against Greene was released by 14th District Democratic Party Chair Tim Shiflett Thursday, and signed by all county chairs.
Full statement from 14th Congressional District Democrats:
“The words and behavior of the Representative of our Congressional district, both before and since she’s assumed office, do not correspond to what the good people of northwest Georgia believe, nor is it how we behave toward one another in our daily lives.
“We don’t promote sedition, we don’t condone the political terrorists and cop killers of Jan. 6, we do not mock the deaths of children gunned down in their schools, nor do we scoff at the suffering and horror of the families of those children who have had to sit across the table from an empty chair every day of their lives since.
“While the hateful conspiracy theories spouted by our representative may be standard fare in dark and extremist corners of the Internet, the people of the 14th Congressional District need their representative to assist them out here in the real world on the issues we each face every day, and we expect our representative to behave like a grown adult, not some spoiled child who constantly seeks attention and validation for her own ego.
“If Representative Greene cannot meet even bare minimum standards of human decency and respect and just do her job on behalf of the citizens of this district, she should step aside for someone, anyone, who will. It’s time, Representative Greene, to grow up or get out.”
District Republicans, in turn, offered their collective support for Greene, who was elected in November to replace a retiring Tom Graves (R-Ranger). The letter was directed to Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the current Republican house leader, and signed “The Republican Party Chairs and Members of the 14th District.”
Full statement from 14th Congressional District Republicans:
“Members of the 14th Republican Party district committee have joined in strong support of our U.S. Representative, Marjorie Greene. We are much more concerned with what U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and President Joe Biden are saying in Washington than what Congresswoman Greene may or may not have said on Facebook
many years ago.
“She has broken no laws and done nothing illegal. U.S. Representative Eric Swalwell can sleep with a Chinese spy without repercussions; Ilhan Omar can lie and marry her brother to circumvent our laws and not get in trouble; Members of Congress can consort with Louis Farrakhan and Congress can ignore it. The double standards are atrocious, and quite frankly, an embarrassment.
“Does Congress have a right to shut down Congresswoman Marjorie Greene because they don’t like what she says? Does Congress have the right to diminish and disenfranchise the voters of the 14th district of Georgia? It is the 14th district who gets to decide who represents them. We don’t like the fact that the establishment and mainstream media are trying to take that away and silence our voice in Congress. It sets an unsettling and dangerous precedent.
“We believe Marjorie Greene has been targeted because she is a conservative that represents conservatives like us and those across the district. We have received countless calls, texts, emails, and messages showing continued support for her. We are giving her a chance. We have a process to follow, and if we don’t like what she does or says as our representative, we take it to the voting booth next election.
“We ask you for your support for our choice in the 14th district of Georgia. Her committee assignments should not be withheld from her. We have elected her to represent us and we would ask for full representation. Thank you for your time and attention in this matter, and we look forward to your strong support on this matter.”
On Friday, Greene called those who voted to remove her from her committees “morons,” tweeting “I woke up early this morning literally laughing thinking about what a bunch of morons the Democrats (+11) are for giving some one like me free time.”
Greene had previously been assigned seats on on the Education and Labor Committee, as well as the Budget Committee.
Also offering a statement on Thursday’s proceedings was Greene’s closest geographic collogue in Congress, 11th District Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Cassville).
”While I disagree with many comments made by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, especially those she made before she was an elected member of Congress, this motion by Democrats for the House to remove her from her assigned committees is unprecedented, and sets a very dangerous precedent,” said Loudermilk as part of a Friday release.
Loudermilk ended his statement by saying “the Constitution applies equally to every American, and the ‘cancel culture,’ which seems to be rampant in our society, has no place in our institutions of government. I believe that I, Rep. Greene, and other elected officials may certainly be held to a higher standard, but we should not be held to a double standard.”