California Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters denied being a socialist Tuesday when Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, confronted her about past statements she had made threatening to nationalize the oil industry.
The exchange happened Tuesday during a House Rules Committee meeting to discuss H. Con. Res. 9, a resolution introduced by Rep. Maria Salazar, R-Fla., that would formally denounce “the horrors of socialism.” Waters spoke at the committee hearing.
Salazar represents part of Miami, where many Cuban refugees have fled seeking safe haven in the United States from the communist regime in Cuba. Her resolution calls out socialist ideology for being responsible for totalitarian rule, brutal dictatorships, famine, mass murder, and various crimes against humanity. If Congress passes the concurrent resolution, it would be a formal statement by the House of Representatives and the Senate opposing socialism.
“We can go around and around in circles about trying to talk about and defining socialism, but at its core I was intrigued by an op-ed that I saw not too long ago by a Democrat from Cuba commenting on one of our colleagues, an avowed socialist, and essentially pointing out the extent to which democratic socialism is a lot like the system my family fled except its proponents promised to be nicer when seizing your business. That’s the truth,” Roy said in support of the resolution. “We can talk about these terms as if they don’t matter, but they do. They do matter. They’re actually at the core of who we are.”
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Rep.-elect Maxine Waters, D-Calif., calls out as she votes in the House Chamber during the third day of elections for speaker of the House at the U.S. Capitol Building on Jan. 5, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Turning to Waters, who characterized the resolution as a waste of the committee’s time, Roy asked if she would stand by a statement she made in 2008 where she appeared to express support for “socializing” oil companies.
“I’ve got one question for the ranking member. Ranking member Waters, in a 2008 hearing you said quote, ‘and guess what, this liberal will be all about? This liberal will be all about socializing – would be about basically taking over the government and the government running all of your companies’ end quote,” Roy said. “Simple question: Do you stand by that statement?”
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Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, walks to a vote on Capitol Hill, Jan. 25, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
The quote he referenced was from a 2008 hearing in which oil executives testified to Congress to address rising gas prices. In a back-and-forth with former Shell Oil President John Hofmeister, Waters demanded “guarantees” on how oil companies would reduce the cost of gasoline if Congress permitted them to drill more oil. When Hofmeister said oil prices would continue to rise if the industry was prohibited from finding new reserves, Waters said she would support “the government running all of your companies.”
In answer to Roy, Waters said the threat of socialism in America is a “non-issue.”
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Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., speaks during a hearing before the House Committee on Rules Jan. 31, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
“You claim that socialism has engulfed this country, that it keeps creeping, that it’s gonna take over private businesses, etc., etc., that is not happening,” Waters said.
Pressed by Roy to denounce her previous comments, Waters said, “I’m not a socialist, I’m a capitalist and I commit to you that I am here to save Social Security, to save Medicare, to save seniors and veterans and for some of you who have adopted certain kind of ways that you support what you now claim is socialism, I’m here to say to you, come on.”
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Roy read from Waters’ 2008 remarks one more time and asked her if she now disagreed with her own words.
“I am not a socialist,” Waters insisted.
