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Luján Joins as Cosponsor of Resolution to Censure Trump

WASHINGTON, DC] – Congressman Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) today joined other Members of the House as a signatory to a resolution formally censuring President Donald Trump for his January 11, 2018, remarks disparaging Haiti and a number of African nations. The remarks were made in the course of a bipartisan White House meeting to discuss immigration policy. The censure resolution condemns President Trump for his “hateful, discriminatory, and racist comments” and makes clear such ideals cannot and should not guide any American policy, including immigration policy. The measure also calls on President Trump to retract his remarks and apologize for any offense they have caused.

Censure is a formal statement of disapproval and public condemnation of an individual whose actions run counter to the organization’s acceptable standards for behavior. In the United States, governmental censure is undertaken when either House of Congress wishes to publicly reprimand the President of the United States, a fellow Member of Congress, a federal judge or a cabinet member. Only one U.S. President has been formally censured by Congress when the Senate censured President Andrew Jackson in 1834 for withholding documents relating to his actions defunding the Bank of the United States.

“I have been deeply concerned by the President’s racist suggestion that we turn away immigrants from Africa and Haiti,” said Luján. “Throughout our history, America has been enriched by once-impoverished immigrants who left their homeland to seek a better life here. Our country was built through the sweat and toil of immigrants who came from every corner of the globe. To now exclude those looking to share in the American Dream runs contrary to our nation’s core values.”

The motion to censure President Trump was introduced in the House of Representatives by Congressman Cedric Richmond (D-LA), who is the Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus and supported by Democratic members of the House Judiciary Committee. A censure does not remove an elected official from office, so they retain their title, stature, and Constitutional powers. There are also no legal consequences that come with a censure. Censure is simply a form of public reprimand in which the official must submit to the judgement of their peers.

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