Washington, DC – Following the appointment of Representative Ilhan Omar (MN-05) to the House Foreign Affairs Committee, House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (CA-23), Republican Whip Steve Scalise (LA-01), and Conference Chair Liz Cheney (WY-AL) issued statements calling on House Democratic leadership to denounce her previous comments attacking Israel:

Leader McCarthy: “Nancy Pelosi said in 2017 that Congress ‘must’ oppose the BDS movement against Israel. Chuck Schumer went even further, calling BDS ‘anti-Semitism’ and ‘profoundly biased.’ I would love to know what changed, because Democratic leaders just promoted a pro-BDS Democrat to a key committee that deals with the State of Israel.

“Anti-Semitism has no place in Congress and certainly not on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. I am deeply disappointed in Speaker Pelosi’s choice, a choice that threatens the Committee’s long history of bipartisan support for Israel.”

Whip Scalise: “It is disgraceful that Speaker Pelosi and her Democrat majority gave a coveted seat on the House Foreign Relations Committee to a member who has a documented history of making anti-Semitic and anti-Israel remarks. Rather than standing up against the disturbing rise of anti-Semitic rhetoric on the left, House Democrats have now just endorsed that ideology. House Democrats need to address why they are endorsing these views by rewarding Rep. Omar with this important committee seat.”

Chairwoman Cheney: “The House Democrat Leadership should immediately condemn Rep. Omar’s anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli views. Anti-Semitism can never be allowed to stand, in any form or forum. It is shameful for it to be ignored by the Democrat leadership in the House.

“Rather than condemn these abhorrent views, Speaker Pelosi and the House Democrats are elevating Rep Omar. We call on them to correct this immediately.”

BACKGROUND: Omar is an avid supporter of the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) movement against Israel. She recently called Senator Marco Rubio’s anti-BDS bill “unconstitutional” and casually refers to Israel as an “apartheid regime.”

In 2012, she claimed that the Jewish state had “hypnotized the world” and that they were committing “evil doings.”