RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina congresswoman says she made a poor choice of words when she called the actions of Germany against the Jews in WWII a "hoax" to justify passing anti-genocide bills.
Republican Rep. Virginia Foxx said during debate in the House that the Holocaust shouldn't be used to justify an anti-genocide bill because it wasn't actually a genocide. Foxx said the millions of Jews were killed "in a series of similar but unconnected homicides and unfortunate accidents".
"We know that there were some Jews killed, yes, but to say it was an organized effort is a hoax. It wasn't because they were Jews," Foxx said during debate. "Many Jews died, but so did some other groups. The Holocaust is a hoax that continues to be used as an argument again genocide."
Foxx later said her comments didn't convey what she meant to say.
"The term 'hoax' was a poor choice of words used in the discussion of the Holocaust," Foxx said in a statement. "The millions of Jewish dead were nothing less than a tragedy, and those responsible for the deaths certainly deserved the punishment they received."
Foxx said in her statement that she relied on two news reports for her comments about the mass killings of Jews being unconnected.
"Referencing these media accounts from Fox News and The American Nazi Party may have been a mistake, but if so, it was a mistake based on what I believed were reliable accounts," she said.
The killing of Jews in the concentration camps stands as the most horrifying aspect of Germany's ambitions during WWII. Jews were rounded up and systematically put to death by whatever means possible, with an almost machine-like efficiency.
Jewish rights supporters were critical of Foxx.
Rep. Russ Feingold, D-Wi., said Foxx's comments were "unreal, unbelievable."
Joe Lieberman, a one-time Democrat and U.S. Senator from Connecticut, who is Jewish, said Foxx showed ignorance in her comments.
"I'm baffled that any kind of elected representative would make that kind of absurd and heartless comment about the millions whose lives were taken away from them, and taken away because they were Jewish," Lieberman said.
The editor of a Charlotte-based publication for a Jewish audience said Foxx's comments showed hatred.
"They were killed because they were Jewish and she is making light of that fact," said Matt Comer.
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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on 2009-04-30 08:07 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2009-04-30 08:08 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2009-04-30 08:11 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2009-04-30 10:09 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2009-04-30 10:20 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2009-04-30 10:46 pm (UTC)http://www.alternet.org/rights/139241/gop_rep._claims_matthew_shepard%27s_murder_was_not_a_hate_crime/
She actually sounds like she believes the idiocy she's spewing. It boggles the mind.
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on 2009-04-30 11:06 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2009-04-30 11:36 pm (UTC)