Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz
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2nd February 2023
Wasserman Schultz Condemns Socialist Dictators, Calls Out GOP For Authoritarian Tactics
Transcript:
I rise to condemn all socialist autocrats who put power and wealth over their own citizens.
Yet this resolution ignores some of their worst evils, then falls silent when American leaders mimic their cruel tactics.
For instance, Cubans and Venezuelans suffer from far worse than the inflation and expropriation this measure describes.
Dictators there destroy human rights, the rule of law, and jail, exile or kill their enemies.
Let’s condemn socialist abuses, yes, but leaders on this very floor seek to overturn democratic elections, confiscate long-held rights, and gut programs our families, veterans and service members need.
In my home state, an aspiring autocrat daily deploys the socialist tyrant’s playbook – he marginalizes minorities, demonizes the free press and criminalizes or bans speech, books, even history.
This measure nails one mark: failed despots can teach us to respect the rule of law and free elections and speech, and to spare citizens the grinding poverty tyrants wield as weapons.
Socialist dictators deserve our scorn, but glossing over their crimes and ignoring the leaders right here who mimic them – that fails those fighting for freedom everywhere.
