Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (CA) this week prevented the House from publicly reciting the names of the 13 United States service members who were killed in Afghanistan, House GOP members said.
Republican Rep. Brian Mast (FL) told the Floridan news outlet that Pelosi ignored the GOP members’ request to recite the names, instead she “just shut the House down.”
“We gaveled in, had our prayer, said America’s Pledge of Allegiance, had some silence with pretty much all GOP veterans, then asked to be heard in order to read the names and discuss the Afghanistan legislation,” Mast said to the Floridian. “They would not acknowledge us, and just shut the House down.”
Republican Congress Carlos A. Gimenez (FL) tweeted a rhetorical question about whether Pelosi is trying “to cover up” the Afghan debacle by preventing the names from being read publicly on the House floor.
“How badly do Pelosi and the Democrats want to hide this Afghanistan disaster?” Gimenez said. “They just stopped Members of Congress from reading the names of the military service members who sacrificed their lives for us in Afghanistan. Don’t you think our military deserves better?”
How badly do Nancy Pelosi and the House Democrats want to cover up this Afghanistan debacle?
They just blocked Members of Congress from reading the names of the service members who sacrificed their lives in Afghanistan last week.
Don’t you think our military deserves better?
— Rep. Carlos A. Gimenez (@RepCarlos) August 31, 2021
Republican Congressman Greg Steube (FL) criticized Pelosi’s choices of ignoring the GOP members’ requests by saying the incident was an example of “how far our country has fallen.”
“House Dems just refused to recognize the veterans who are on the House Floor to read the names of our fallen heroes in Afghanistan. That is how far our country has fallen,” Steube said.
House Democrats just refused to recognize Republican veterans on the House Floor to read the names of our fallen service members in Afghanistan.
That’s how far our nation has fallen.
— Congressman Greg Steube (@RepGregSteube) August 31, 2021
The denied GOP request comes as almost 40 Republicans have urged for president Biden to resign from office for stranding Americans and leaving behind military gear in Afghanistan.
When Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (CA) attempted a House vote to “force” Biden to recover the gear and the American citizens, Democrats prevented the vote. “Democrats just stopped a vote to force a plan from President Biden to evacuate Americans home and to account for the equipment left behind,” McCarthy said via Twitter. “Republicans will not stop until all Americans are home safely.”
But that did not stop Republican House Oversight Committee Ranking Member James Comer (KY) from asking for a briefing about the deadly evacuation from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction.
“Committee GOP members invited the Special Inspector to brief Congress today, and I like his willingness to come forward to testify in the coming weeks,” Comer said in a press comment:
Between the disastrous withdrawal, the Biden White House choosing to leave American citizens and the likelihood of our military equipment now being in the hands of the Taliban’s hands, and the killings of 13 U.S. servicemen, the Afghanistan is a terrible heart wrenching one.
Author: Blake Ambrose
