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AAI in the News

Leader of Arab American group calls for King censure

By Jane Norman
Des Moines Register
Posted on Wednesday March 12, 2008

Washington, D.C. – The president of the Arab American Institute said today he’s trying to find members of Congress who would mount a censure motion against Republican Rep. Steve King of Iowa, in connection with King’s comments that terrorists will be “dancing in the streets” if Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is elected.

James Zogby, president of the institute, said that calls for Republican leaders and Republican presidential candidate John McCain to repudiate King’s remarks are not enough. He said King, of Kiron, also should be subject to censure, a form of legislative discipline in the House.

“This is one too many times for this character,” said Zogby, citing other comments made by the conservative Republican that have sparked outrage among Democrats in the past. King called the treatment of Abu Ghraib prisoners “hazing” and praised the legacy of 1950s Communist-hunter Joseph McCarthy.

“If a member of parliament in a foreign country were to have made equally despicable and bigoted comments, we would be right to demand that action be taken against that individual,” Zogby said.

King has refused to apologize for his remarks, made Friday in an interview with a newspaper and radio station in his western Iowa district and now sparking debate around the world.

“I will tell you that if (Obama) is elected president, the radical Islamists, the al-Qaida and the radical Islamists and their supporters will be dancing in the streets in greater numbers than they did on September 11th. Because they will declare victory in this war on terror,” King said on Friday.

He said that “they’ll be dancing in the streets because of his middle name. They’ll be dancing in the streets because of who his father was and because of his posture that says, ‘Pull out of the Middle East. Pull out of this conflict.’ ”

Obama’s middle name is Hussein and his father was raised as a Muslim.

Obama is a Christian and attends a Christian church in Chicago. He brushed off King’s comments while campaigning in Monday in Mississippi.

“Mr. King and individuals like him, I think thrive on offensive or controversial statements as a way of getting their name in the papers, so I don’t take it too seriously,” said Obama.

Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., is the first and only Muslim member of Congress. However, an aide said that Ellison will not pursue a censure of King.

Ellison “feels as though this ignorance speaks louder than anything we can possibly say,” said Rick Jauert, communications director. “He responds with kindness.”

According to the Congressional Research Service, the House may generally discipline its members for violations of law, including crimes; for violations of internal congressional rules; or for any conduct which the House of Representatives finds has “reflected discredit upon the institution.”

Most often censure has occurred for financial misconduct. But House Members have been censured for insulting or other unparliamentary language on the floor, assaulting another member, supporting recognition of the Confederacy, the selling of military academy appointments, bribery, payroll fraud where inflated staff salaries were used to pay a member’s personal expenses, receipt of improper gifts and improper use of campaign funds, and sexual misconduct with House pages, according to the CRS.