North Cook News

U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) voted “no” on a resolution denouncing socialism.

Schakowsky is noted for her socialist background and has written for socialist political publications.

“Schakowsky has had close ties to the Chicago Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and its predecessors since the 1970s. In early 1983 she wrote an article for the DSA publication Chicago Socialist. In 1986, DSA News twice identified her as a member of DSA,” Discover the Networks wrote of the congresswoman.

Rep. Jan Schakowsky | Facebook/ Jan Schakowsky

The resolution “Denouncing the horrors of socialism” passed the U.S. House in a 328-86-14 vote. All Republicans and 109 Democrats voted for the resolution. Schakowsky, along with Illinois Democrats Chuy Garcia, Danny Davis, Delia Ramirez, and Robin Kelly, was part of the minority of 86 Democrats who voted against the resolution. A further 14 Democrats voted “present.” Illinois Democrat Sean Casten declined to vote. “While many on today’s left are socialists, some by name and many more in practice, they are much more than that,” Mark Glennon wrote in Wirepoints of the contingent. “On top of socialism, they commonly oppose free speech, support racial discrimination as “equity” and reject, for their political opponents, due process and equal treatment under law. They often don’t hide an intention to establish one-party rule by trying to brand, if not outlaw, their opposition as insurrectionists and racists.”

The resolution recalls worldwide atrocities including the famines and wars that have resulted in untold millions of deaths in the name of socialism. “Socialist ideology necessitates a concentration of power that has time and time again collapsed into Communist regimes, totalitarian rule, and brutal dictatorships,” the resolution reads. The resolution also name-drops regimes including the leadership of “Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, Fidel Castro, Pol Pot, Kim Jong Il, Kim Jong Un, Daniel Ortega, Hugo Chavez, and Nicola´s Maduro.” “Whereas the United States of America was founded on the belief in the sanctity of the individual, to which the collectivistic system of socialism in all of its forms is fundamentally and necessarily opposed,” the resolution further reads.

U.S. Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.) sponsored the resolution. She grew up among Cuban exiles in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood and her district includes “the heart of the Latin America exile community.” “The district I represent is one that knows the failures of socialism all too well,” Salazar said in a statement. "My constituents understand firsthand the consequences socialist ideology brought to our continent: misery, oppression, and exile. I am proud to introduce a resolution that makes it clear… socialism fails wherever it has been tried, and we don’t want it here.”