Today, Representative John Curtis (R-UT), released the following statement ahead of the floor vote on H. Res. 72 – Removing a certain Member from certain standing committees:
“Rep. Greene’s past rhetoric and conduct are completely inappropriate and unbecoming of a Member of Congress. However, for all of modern history, each party has chosen its own committee membership, and therefore it is the responsibility of the Republican Caucus to hold her to a higher standard. Unfortunately, I only have a binary choice before me—to remove or not remove—instead of giving Republican leadership time to consider all appropriate options to punish her past conduct. In my view, her behavior deserves a referral to the Ethics Committee for a jury of her peers to analyze her conduct and decide appropriate consequences but instead, we are rushing to a vote.”
There is no clear standard for what qualifies a Member for a punishment as serious as removing them from their committees. Many members on both sides of the aisle have engaged in questionable and offensive behavior during their time in Congress. I agree that Rep. Greene should be punished for her actions, but if we are going to punish her by voting as a whole Congress, we must first have consistent standards applied for all members. Until those standards are adopted, I cannot support removing her, or any member, from their Committee seats.”
