CD (Portland) — US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar on Sunday contended that some of her Republican Party critics—led by US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy—are trying to oust her from the US House Foreign Affairs Committee because she is a Muslim refugee from Somalia.

“Let me ask you, Congresswoman Omar, about what Republicans are saying about you, that there is a pattern of antisemitic and other controversial statements that make you unfit to sit on, in your case, the House Foreign Affairs Committee,” CNN’s Dana Bash asked on the show “State of the Union.”

Omar, who represents a district in the state of Minnesota, first addressed a pair of February 2019 tweets in which she tied US politicians’ support for Israel to money from lobbyists. “It’s all about the Benjamins baby,” she said at the time, using slang for US$100 bills. Asked who she thought was paying US politicians to be pro-Israel, Omar replied, “AIPAC!”–referring to the lobby group American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

The congresswoman said Sunday: “Yeah, I might have used words at the time that I didn’t understand were trafficking in anti-semitism. When that was brought to my attention, I apologized. I owned up to it. That’s the kind of person that I am. And I continue to work with my colleagues and my community to fight against anti-semitism.”

After countering some other criticisms from the Republican Party, Omar argued that the campaign to remove her from the panel “is politically motivated. And, in some cases, it’s motivated by the fact that many of these members don’t believe a Muslim, a refugee, an African, should even be in Congress, let alone have the opportunity to serve on the Foreign Affairs Committee.”

Bash observed that “it sounds like you’re accusing Kevin McCarthy of racism,” to which Omar responded: “I mean, I’m not making any accusations. I’m just laying out the facts.”

Omar pointed out when then-US President Donald Trump went to Minnesota in October 2019 and criticized the state for welcoming “large numbers” of refugees from Somalia.

She also highlighted Islamophobic remarks from Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene and Colorado Representative Lauren Boebert. Omar charged: “These people are okay with Islamophobia. They’re okay with trafficking in their own ways in antisemitism. They are NOT okay with having a Muslim have a voice on that committee.”

Omar appeared on CNN alongside two of her Democratic Party colleagues, Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell, both of California, whom Speaker McCarthy has barred from the House intelligence panel. Because that is a select committee, the speaker has authority to unilaterally block the pair from being on it. However, kicking Omar off the House Foreign Affairs Committee would require a vote by the full chamber.

Republicans only narrowly control the House, and McCarthy ultimately may not have the votes to oust Omar. A handful of Republican representatives have publicly said that they oppose the attempt to remove Omar from the committee.

Omar was also appointed to the Committee on Education and Labor. She said in a statement last week that “as a child survivor of war living in a refugee camp, I would never have imagined that I would one day have the opportunity to serve on these important committees.”

“Our democracy and our governing bodies rest on a healthy and vibrant debate,” she stressed. “Our strength lies not in our perfection, but in the diversity of our voices and our openness to a civil discourse.”

“Whatever our disagreements may be as members of Congress, policy differences alone have not and must not be cause for eliminating someone from serving on a committee,” she added. “I am grateful for the confidence my constituents and my caucus have shown in me to lead this work, and I look forward to continuing to work for a more just and peaceful world.”

Originally published at Common Dreams. Republished by cc by-sa 3.0. Edits for style and content.

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