Name: ‘We will not let you take our voice away from us’: N.Y. Rep. Grace Meng blasts GOP lawmaker for defending ‘China virus’ slur
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‘We will not let you take our voice away from us’: N.Y. Rep. Grace Meng blasts GOP lawmaker for defending ‘China virus’ slur

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AdvertisementBy New York Daily NewsMar 18, 2021 at 4:00 pmWASHINGTON — A Queens Democratic congresswoman ripped into her Texas Republican colleague Thursday for defending GOP descriptions of COVID as the “China virus,” and arguing that efforts to combat hate crimes might stifle free speech.The heated exchange happened at a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing on the surge of COVID-linked attacks against Asian Americans, where 21-year-old gunman Robert Long killed eight people, including six Asian women.AdvertisementRep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) took offense to a point from subcommittee Chairman Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) that it was “incumbent on all public officials ... to speak out against the irrational hatreds and prejudices.”Roy argued that he should be allowed to openly blame China for the virus — and bizarrely referred to Texas’ history of lynchings to show that he took the Georgia shooting seriously.Advertisement“We believe in justice, and there’s old sayings in Texas about, you know, find all the rope in Texas and get a taller tree,” Roy said. “My concern about this hearing is that it seems to want to venture into the policing of rhetoric.”Those comments did not sit well with Rep. Grace Meng (D-N.Y.) or other Asian American lawmakers on the panel.The Queens congresswoman opened her remarks by wondering sarcastically why Roy would stray from the topic of discrimination and violence against Asian Americans.Then she let him have it.“Your president, and your party and your colleagues can talk about issues with any other country that you want. But you don’t have to do it by putting a bull’s-eye on the back of Asian Americans across this country — on our grandparents, on our kids,” Meng said, her voice heavy with emotion.“This hearing was to address the hurt and pain of our community, trying to find solutions, and we will not let you take our voice away from us.”Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) was even more blunt.“You can say racist stupid stuff if you want, but I’m asking you to please stop using racist terms like kung flu, Wuhan virus or other ethnic identifiers,” Lieu said. “I am not a virus. And when you say things like that, it hurts the Asian American community.”AdvertisementMeng has introduced a bill called the “COVID–19 Hate Crimes Act” that would task a specific Department of Justice official with investigating all COVID-related hate crimes.According to a report , Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders reported nearly 3,800 cases of verbal abuse, assaults and other incidents of discrimination in the past year.The Thursday subcommittee hearing was replete with examples of anti-Asian attacks.Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) highlighted a string of attacks in New York, including a dad and his 10-year-old son assaulted in Queens, a woman burned in a Brooklyn chemical attack, an 89-year-old grandmother set on fire in Bensonhurst, and, just last last month, a man slashed with a box cutter and two elderly women punched in the face on the subway.“This surge did not spontaneously arise only out of fears regarding the coronavirus pandemic. Some of this blame lies squarely on political leaders who have demonized China,” said Nadler.“Words have power. What we say matters. How we treat each other matters,” the New York Democrat said.Advertisement Advertisement

AdvertisementBy New York Daily NewsMar 18, 2021 at 4:00 pmWASHINGTON — A Queens Democratic congresswoman ripped into her Texas Republican colleague Thursday for defending GOP descriptions of COVID as the “China virus,” and arguing that efforts to combat hate crimes might stifle free speech.The heated exchange happened at a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing on the surge of COVID-linked attacks against Asian Americans, where 21-year-old gunman Robert Long killed eight people, including six Asian women.AdvertisementRep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) took offense to a point from subcommittee Chairman...

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‘We will not let you take our voice away from us’: N.Y. Rep. Grace Meng blasts GOP lawmaker for defending ‘China virus’ slur

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