By April Ryan
“I assume there is some effort to sanction me…I will accept whatever the punishment is” says Democratic Texas Congressman Al Green. He was escorted out of the well of the House last night after disrupting President Donald Trump’s speech. However, Green acknowledged he accepts the punishment saying, “ I respect them but, I would do it again” as it is “a matter of conscience.” According to social media reports, Washington State Republican Congressman Dan Newhouse is working on a resolution to censure Green. That resolution is reportedly supported by Republicans and could be voted on as early as today. It is expected to pass in the House. Republicans move to censure Al Green.
The typically soft-spoken Congressman Al Green told Black Press USA exclusively, “I don’t begrudge him [Speaker Mike Johnson] in any way for having me escorted off the floor.” Green also commented that the police officers who led him out of the room were “kind.” Last night Speaker Johnson asked Congressman Green to sit down while calling for decorum. Green did not comply with the demand as he stood directing his cane at President Trump and yelled, “You don’t have a mandate to cut Medicare and you need to raise the cap on social security. “ The longstanding Congressman spoke on the disruption at the speech while reflecting on being “incarcerated” with late civil rights icon John Lewis. The late Georgia Congressman John Lewis promoted peaceful agitation that is oftentimes uncomfortable. Green said of his protest last night, “If you get in the way, you break the rules, you have to be ready to suffer the consequences.”
If the resolution passes, Green would be the only congressperson to be censured for disruptions during a Presidential joint session speech in recent years. For history, during Biden’s speeches, there were disruptions. Colorado Congresswoman Lauren Beobart and Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Green shouted at then-President Biden while he was delivering his address. And, South Carolina Representative Joe Wilson loudly interrupted a 2009 Obama State of the Union address with the words “you lie.” Congressman Green was the only person escorted out of the presidential address to the joint session last night. He admitted he was “speaking out of order.”
Meanwhile, as this censure matter is working its way through the House, Congressman Al Green still plans to follow through on a promise to file articles of impeachment against President Trump. “This president is causing harm to society,” emphasized the federal lawmaker who filed articles of impeachment against Trump during his first term in office. “It is more important to stand alone than not stand at all,” according to the longstanding Black Texas congressman.
