Congressman Morgan McGarvey’s Statement on Voting Present on H.Res. 894
WASHINGTON, D.C. (December 05, 2023) – Congressman Morgan McGarvey (KY-03) released the following statement after voting present on Republican-led H.Res. 894:
“Today, for the first time in 11 years of serving in public office, I voted present on a bill. I voted present today not because I’m undecided on the question of antisemitism - I condemn antisemitism wholeheartedly and in all its forms - but because I could not in good conscience vote for a partisan resolution designed exclusively to score political points rather than address antisemitism. Just last week, I joined my colleagues in a nearly unanimous bipartisan vote affirming Israel’s right to exist and condemning antisemitic attacks on Israel; but with the rise of antisemitism across the country, we have to get this right, and I do not believe the resolution we voted on today was right. It did not receive the endorsement of the bipartisan Antisemitism Task Force, and it came to the floor without a single Democratic cosponsor. I agree wholeheartedly with what Representatives Jerry Nadler, Jamie Raskin, Dan Goldman said of this resolution: ‘The threat of antisemitism and the safety of Jewish lives is not a game. It is beneath the dignity of Congress and it is an affront to Jews everywhere to treat rising antisemitism as an opportunity to create partisan division with conceptual confusion’. I’m appalled that Republican leadership chose to play political games with such a serious issue. I will continue fighting for Congress to address antisemitism seriously.”
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