House Democrats Embrace Socialism

House Democrats' Record on Socialism

Last year Rep. Maria Salazar’s (R-FL) House Concurrent Resolution 58 passed by a vote of 285-98.

That resolution formally denounced socialism, recognizing that it frequently devolved into totalitarianism throughout the 20^th century, resulted in tens of millions of deaths, and is at odds with the American belief in the primacy of the individual. At that time, 89 House Democrats––nearly half––voted for the Resolution with 98 voting against it.

But yesterday, an almost identical resolution saw only 4% of voting Democrats in favor.

Yesterday, in a party-line vote, the U.S. House passed House Resolution 1490, a resolution providing for the condemnation and denouncement of socialism in all its forms (including the Democratic Socialists of America) and related purposes, by a 220-192 tally (with 2 present).

This resolution, introduced by Rep. Jeff Crank (R-CO), explicitly condemns socialism in all its forms and names the Democratic Socialists of America as an organization the House opposes. It recommits the House to upholding the U.S. Constitution and demands the immediate enaction of the SAVE America Act.

Wisconsin’s eight-member House delegation also split cleanly along party lines. All six Republicans: Bryan Steil, Derrick Van Orden, Scott Fitzgerald, Glenn Grothman, Tom Tiffany, and Tony Wied voted Yea. Both Democrats, Mark Pocan and Gwen Moore, voted Nay.

The resolution’s core finding is that socialist ideology concentrates power and has repeatedly collapsed into communist regimes, totalitarian rule, and dictatorships. It attributes more than 100 million deaths worldwide to socialism through famine and mass murder. It names key figures responsible for these crimes: Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, Fidel Castro, Pol Pot, the Kims of North Korea, Daniel Ortega, Hugo Chávez, and Nicolás Maduro.

Specific historical indictments include:

• Tens of millions dead in the Bolshevik Revolution, at least 10 million sent to Soviet gulags, and millions starved in Ukraine’s Holodomor.
• 15–55 million deaths from famine under China’s Great Leap Forward.
• Over 1 million murdered in Cambodia’s Killing Fields.
• Up to 3.5 million starved in North Korea.
• Castro’s expropriation of Cuban farms and businesses, which exiled millions.
• Venezuela’s transformation from prosperity into a failed state with the world’s highest inflation under socialist policies.

Simply put, the resolution contrasts this record with America’s founding principles and asks House members to clearly state their positions on socialism in a recorded vote.

The record of these votes suggests either a dramatic slide toward outright socialism within the Democratic party, or a political tactic of embrace of the Democratic Socialists of America so as not to lose left-leaning voters to the DSA.

Whatever the case, House Democrats have signaled that they are not principally opposed to socialism’s existence in this country.