Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) is currently pursuing a censure of a Democratic colleague due to their remarks. In an effort to address this matter, Greene presented a resolution on the House floor specifically targeting Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.). The intention behind this resolution, as stated by the congresswoman from Georgia, is to censure Ilhan Omar, referring to her as “Ilhan Omar of Somalia — I mean Minnesota.”
She then read the resolution out loud:
“Whereas elected members of Congress take an oath to bear true faith and allegiance to the United States without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion. Whereas Rep. Ilhan Omar took an oath of allegiance to the United States upon becoming a citizen… Whereas on Jan. 27, 2024, Rep. Omar gave remarks at an event in Minneapolis, in which she made treasonous statements. Whereas Rep. Omar said she has spoken to many Somalians who asked her to intercede for the Somali government by pressuring the United States Government into certain actions.”
.@RepMTG introduces resolution to censure Rep. @Ilhan Omar (D-MN). pic.twitter.com/hGdR2PQeYo
— CSPAN (@cspan) February 1, 2024
Greene noted that Omar told her supporters that the U.S. government will “only do what Somalians in the U.S. tell them to do. They will do what we want and nothing else. They must follow our orders.”
The focal point of the controversy revolves around a particular interpretation of a speech delivered by Omar. In one rendition, the Democratic congresswoman conveyed to the audience that they identify themselves primarily as Somalians and secondarily as Muslims. Republicans capitalized on this translation to argue that she was prioritizing Somalia’s interests over those of the United States.
She was also accused of saying, “The U.S. government will only do what Somalians in the U.S. tell them to do. They will do what we want and nothing else. They must follow our orders.”
According to the interpreter, Omar said, “Somalis are people who love each other. It’s possible that we might sometimes have disagreements but we are also people who can rely on each other. We are people who are siblings. We are people with courage. We are people who know that they are Somali and Muslim. We are people who support each other.”
Later, when talking about a deal made by Somaliland and Ethiopia Omar said, “When I heard that people who call themselves Somalis signed an agreement with Ethiopia, many people reached out to me and said I needed to talk to the U.S. government. They asked, ‘What would the U.S. government do?”
“My answer was that the U.S. government will do what we tell the U.S. government to do. That is the confidence we need to have as Somalis,” she added, according to the interpretation.