House Introduces Measure To Officially Sanction Rep. Maxine Waters, Request Her Resignation

A Republican Representative from Arizona, Andy Biggs, has introduced a measure in the House Tuesday that calls for an official censure against Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) for her comments encouraging discrimination and harassment against Trump administration officials and members of the GOP.

Biggs justified his measure, which also asks Waters to resign, by saying that he does not believe Waters’ behavior is becoming of a member of Congress, and that, after being repudiated even by members of her own party, it’s clear Waters should face disciplinary action.

“So we just introduced it, we have some cosponsors, but what she did was to basically incite people to come after and attack members of the president’s cabinet,” Biggs told The Hill. “And also spread that out to more people.”

Biggs added that, “Everybody agrees that it was just highly objectionable what she did.”

Tonight, I introduced a resolution to censure and condemn Maxine Waters for her recent comments, that encouraged actions that jeopardized the safety of government officials. Her rhetoric, as a Member of Congress, was unacceptable. STATEMENT: https://t.co/9GbZZyFk5p

— Rep Andy Biggs (@RepAndyBiggsAZ) June 26, 2018

Biggs’s official statement included a reference to last year’s baseball field shooting as an example of what could happen when rhetoric is taken too far.

“A little over a year ago, we witnessed a horrific shooting targeted at Congressional Republicans. That day, we promised that we would be better; that we would argue about ideas not people,” Biggs said in his official statement accompanying his bill.

“Unfortunately, we are returning to the vitriol of that day. Those determined to undermine the progress and agenda of President Donald Trump, have taken it upon themselves to demonize their opposition. As Members of Congress we have the responsibility to lead by example and this rhetoric is simply unacceptable,” he added.

The measure includes a provision that will allow Waters to avoid any major consequences if she fully apologizes for her statements, which Biggs notes could be interpreted as encouraging violence against her political opponents.

“If you see anybody from that cabinet in a restaurant, in department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd,” Waters said to an audience Sunday at a rally in California. “And you push back on them. Tell them they’re not welcome any more, anywhere!”

So far, only a handful of Representatives have signed on to Biggs’s bill, but more signatures are expected, the Hill reports.