U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, who represents the Texas Hill Country, was one of three U.S. House of Representatives members to vote against making lynching a hate crime and civil rights violation — something Congress has failed to do for more than a century.
Roy, however, was unapologetic in his decision to vote against the bill.
"Lynching is an unspeakably heinous crime," Roy said in a statement. "But This bill doesn't have anything to do with lynching, other than its name.
It does not make lynching a federal offense. In fact, it creates no new federal offenses. It simply raises the punishment for things that are already federal crimes, including those that are unrelated to lynching — such as gender identity — in an effort to advance a woke agenda under the guise of correcting racial injustice.
"Congress and the media should be honest with the American people about what bills do and don't do. As much as I favor harsher penalties for violent offenders, this is a matter for the states and I will not vote for legislative deception. I will also not support enhancing the power of a federal government that so often abuses it."
Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Illinois) said via Twitter he wasn't surprised by the three dissenters, drawing reference to Roy's pronouncement last year lynching was how Texas served justice.
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Twitter
See @RepBobbyRush's post on Twitter.
twitter.com/RepBobbyRush
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Roy voted yes for the previous version of the bill in February of 2020.
Dubbed the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Bill, the legislation must pass the Senate before making its way to President Biden. In 2020, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) was able to block the bill, but Paul said he would not stand in the way of the legislation this time.
Roy was joined by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky) and Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Georgia) in voting against the legislation. Roy said he will also skip the State of Union address President Biden is making Tuesday night.
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Twitter
See @chiproytx's post on Twitter.
twitter.com/chiproytx
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