WASHINGTON – The US House of Representatives held one strongly bipartisan Vote Thursday condemning socialism and former socialist leaders, though Democrats chastised most Republicans for spending time on a “political stunt” and refusing to allow debate on an amendment that would have made clear that Social Security and Medicare are not socialist programs.
Maryland Democratic Representative Steny Hoyer said he regretted “the failure to consider a resolution today that would reflect the overwhelming consensus in this House — that capitalism, not socialism, has proven to be the very best economic system.” “.
“Such a decision would have brought us together. It would give confidence to our fellow citizens that we are united in our support of our democratic capitalist system,” Hoyer added. “However, the resolution before us today does not do that. Instead, it is an intellectually bankrupt screed of political demagogy.”
the resolution by Florida Republican Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, approved on a 328-86 voting with 14 voting members present, states that “socialist ideology requires a concentration of power that has repeatedly collapsed into communist regimes, totalitarian rule and brutal dictatorships”.
“Congress condemns socialism in all its forms and opposes the implementation of socialist policies in the United States of America,” it said
The resolution cites Cambodia, China, Cuba, North Korea and the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics as examples of socialist governments, although they could more accurately be defined as communist.
It also lists several dictators including Fidel Castro, Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Kim Jong Un and Mao Zedong.
The resolution does not list Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, who headed the National Socialist German Workers’ Party, nor the millions of Jews and others murdered during the Holocaust and World War II.
Current Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russian invasion of Ukraine are also not cited as examples of the dangers of socialism or dictatorship.
health insurance, social security
Republican Rep. Patrick McHenry dismissed Democrat criticism of the resolution during the ground debate, saying, “There’s nothing in this resolution about entitlement programs or the ban on social services or anything like that.”
Republicans’ plans to cut federal spending in their upcoming budget vote have prompted questions from Democrats about whether the GOP plans to make changes to Medicare and Social Security that run largely on autopilot outside of the annual appropriation process.
“It outlines the pain and hardship experienced by millions of people around the world who suffered under a socialist regime,” McHenry said, adding that the resolution was “not just a message or a waste of time.”
“It speaks to people who know all too well the atrocities of socialism, and it gives a voice to their pain,” he said.
But McHenry later said during the plenary debate that the resolution didn’t go through his committee or the markup process because it was so early in the session.
“What I would have preferred in this resolution would be a full defense of capitalism and the juxtaposition between this optimistic sense of freedom that emerges from our property rights, our rights to speak, our individual rights in this country that has deeply bound us to our sense of economic freedom — and the juxtaposition of that with the misery of socialism,” he said.
McHenry also noted that Putin was not included in the resolution because “he does not currently identify as a socialist.”
The Washington Post reported last year that Putin in 2016 said: “I liked and still like communist and socialist ideas” and “claimed to have kept his old party card”.
Wisconsin Democratic Rep. Mark Pocan argued the resolution was “little about intelligent discourse and all that needs to be done to lay the foundations for Social Security and Medicare cuts.”
“I’ve owned a small business for 35 years, which gives me far more experience as a capitalist than the vast majority of members across the aisle,” Pocan said. “So as a capitalist, let me tell you, this resolution is just ridiculous.”