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Removed from Foreign Affairs, Omar amplifies her voice [1]

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Date: 2023-06-06

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House Republicans removed Congress’ only African-born lawmaker from the Foreign Affairs Committee early this year, but the effort to punish Rep. Ilhan Omar appears to have instead made her an even more prominent voice on the issues she cares about.

Republicans said they removed Omar, D-Minn., for her years-old comments that referenced antisemitic tropes, taking away a platform she sometimes used to criticize U.S. foreign policy, particularly on human rights. But in the four months since her ouster, Omar has gained more clout with foreign embassies, visiting parliamentarians, the Biden administration and Democratic lawmakers than she had managed in four years on the committee.

“It’s been actually fascinating,” Omar said in an interview last week in her office. “Since I was removed from committee, I think I’ve had more visits from parliamentarians around the world and visits with ambassadors in the last three months than I would in a year or two while I was on the committee."

Omar stands out, even among Democratic progressives, for her willingness to call out human rights violations, whether committed by an adversary, an ally, a security partner or Washington itself. She is one of the few lawmakers raising the alarm about human rights violations and democratic backsliding in India under the Hindu nationalist government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

She sees the willingness by Washington to sweep human rights under the rug in favor of national security priorities as ultimately shortsighted and even self-defeating, saying it harms America’s credibility and makes it difficult to win human rights concessions and respect in other parts of the world.

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[1] Url: https://rollcall.com/2023/06/06/removed-from-foreign-affairs-omar-amplifies-her-voice/

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