Pelosi Spokesman Statement on Republican Whip Scalise’s Association with White Supremacist Organization

December 30, 2014

Washington, D.C. – Drew Hammill, spokesman for Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, released the following statement on news reports that Republican Whip Steve Scalise spoke and was honored at a forum sponsored by the European-American Unity and Rights Organization, which was founded in 2000 by David Duke.

"Whip Scalise's involvement with a group classified by the Anti-Defamation League as anti-Semitic and the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group is deeply troubling for a top Republican leader in the House.

"However, actions speak louder than whatever Steve Scalise said to that group in 2002. Just this year, House Republicans have refused to restore the Voting Rights Act or pass comprehensive immigration reform, and leading Republican members are now actively supporting in the federal courts efforts by another known extremist group, the American Center for Law and Justice, which is seeking to overturn the President's immigration executive actions.

"Speaker Boehner's silence on this matter is yet another example of his consistent failure to stand up to the most extreme elements of his party."