IV 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 700 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding President 

Donald J. Trump’s remarks about Haiti, El Salvador, and African Nations. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 18, 2018 

Mr. RICHMOND (for himself, Mr. NADLER, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Ms. BASS, Ms. MOORE, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Mr. BROWN of Maryland, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Ms. NORTON, 

Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. RUSH, Mr. SCOTT

of Virginia, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. MEEKS, Ms. LEE, Mr. 

CLAY, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. CLEAVER, 

Mr. AL GREEN of Texas, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. 

FUDGE, Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. PAYNE, 

Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. JEFFRIES, Mr. VEASEY, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Ms. 

ADAMS, Ms. PLASKETT, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. EVANS, Ms. 

BLUNT ROCHESTER, Mrs. DEMINGS, Mr. LAWSON of Florida, Mr. 

MCEACHIN, Mr. DELANEY, Ms. LOFGREN, Ms. PELOSI, Mr. HOYER, Mr. 

COHEN, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. GUTIE ́RREZ, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. SWALWELL

of California, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Mr. RASKIN, Ms. JAYAPAL, 

Mr. SCHNEIDER, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. ENGEL, 

Mr. SERRANO, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, Ms. DELAURO, Ms. ESHOO, 

Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Ms. 

DEGETTE, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. 

SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Mr. LANGEVIN, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Mr. HIGGINS of New York, Ms. WASSERMAN

SCHULTZ, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. SIRES, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. PERLMUTTER, Mr. WELCH, Mr. YARMUTH, Mr. CONNOLLY, 

Mr. BEN RAY LUJA ́N of New Mexico, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. QUIGLEY, Ms. 

JUDY CHU of California, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. FOSTER, Mr. KEATING, 

Ms. BONAMICI, Ms. TITUS, Ms. HANABUSA, Mr. BERA, Ms. BROWNLEY

of California, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Ms. GABBARD, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Ms. MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM

of New Mexico, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, Ms. MENG, 

Mr. O’ROURKE, Mr. POCAN, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. VELA, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Mr. DESAULNIER, Mr. MOULTON, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Mr. 


lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS
2 

•HRES 700 IH 

CRIST, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. SOTO, Mr. GOMEZ, Ms. 

FRANKEL of Florida, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Ms. SHEA-PORTER, 

Mr. TONKO, Mr. DOGGETT, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. COOPER, Mr. BEYER, 

Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mrs. LOWEY, Mrs. DAVIS of 

California, Ms. ROSEN, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mrs. 

TORRES, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. AGUILAR, Mr. TAKANO, Ms. SA ́NCHEZ, Ms. 

SPEIER, Mr. SARBANES, Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. 

SCHIFF, Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. POLIS, Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, Mr. 

HECK, Ms. ESTY of Connecticut, Mr. NEAL, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, and Mr. KILMER) submitted the following resolution; which 

was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the 

Committee on Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding President Donald J. Trump’s remarks about Haiti, 

El Salvador, and African Nations. 

Whereas, on January 11, 2018, President Trump met with 

several Members of Congress in the White House to discuss a proposed bipartisan immigration compromise 

which would have, among other things, provided for permanent protection to immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador, and other countries that have recently lost Temporary Protected Status designation; 

Whereas according to first-hand participants and several people briefed on the meeting, when the issue of Temporary 

Protected Status came up, President Trump stated, 

‘‘Haitians, why do we need more Haitians? Take them 

out.’’; 

Whereas in a separate part of the discussion, referencing 

other components of the proposal, President Trump reVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:51 Jan 19, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR700.IH HR700

lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS
3 

•HRES 700 IH 

ferred to African nations as ‘‘shithole countries’’ or 

‘‘shithouse countries’’; 

Whereas President Trump suggested that the United States 

should instead allow immigration by more people from 

countries like Norway; 

Whereas after the President’s remarks were made public, the 

White House made no initial effort to deny their accuracy, White House staffers predicted that the President’s 

‘‘shithole’’ remark would ‘‘resonate with his base’’, and 

conservative radio host Erick Erickson tweeted that 

President ‘‘Trump himself was calling friends to brag 

about [using vulgar words such as ‘shithole’ or 

‘shithouse’] afterwards. I spoke to one of those friends. 

The President thought it would play well with the base.’’; 

Whereas the Daily Stormer, a notorious neo-Nazi website, 

welcomed President Trump’s comments as being ‘‘encouraging and refreshing, as it indicates Trump is more or 

less on the same page with us with regards to race and 

immigration.’’; 

Whereas President Trump’s remarks have been confirmed by 

numerous direct and indirect sources, including— 

(1) Senator Dick Durbin, a participant in the January 11 meeting at the White House, who stated that the 

President had made comments ‘‘which were hate-filled, 

vile, and racist’’, and that ‘‘you’ve seen the comments in 

the press. I’ve not read one of them that’s inaccurate. . .He said those hate-filled things, and he said 

them repeatedly’’ and confirmed that President Trump 

referred to African nations as ‘‘shitholes not just once, 

but repeatedly’’; 

(2) Senator Lindsay Graham, another participant in 

the January 11 meeting who admonished President 


lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS
4 

•HRES 700 IH 

Trump for his choice of words during the meeting, telling 

the President, ‘‘America is an idea, not a race’’; and informed Senator Tim Scott that the reported comments by 

the media are ‘‘basically accurate’’; and 

(3) Senator Jeff Flake, who said that he had heard 

about President Trump’s comments from participants in 

the meeting and stated ‘‘they said those words were used 

before those words went public’’; 

Whereas two other participants in the January 11 meeting, 

Senator Tom Cotton and David Perdue, issued a statement saying ‘‘we do not recall the President saying these 

comments specifically,’’ in subsequent media appearances 

they sought to deny that President Trump used the term 

‘‘shithole,’’ and a senior Republican source subsequently 

told CNN that ‘‘instead of hearing the President say 

‘shithole’, some Republicans heard Trump say 

‘shithouse’.’’; 

Whereas these statements by President Trump have been decried by many in the international community, including— 

(1) a United Nations human rights spokesman who 

said the only word to describe President Trump’s comment is ‘‘racist’’, and ‘‘you cannot dismiss entire countries and continents as ‘shitholes’, whose entire populations, who are not white, are therefore not welcome’’; 

(2) an African Union spokesperson, speaking for the 

organization that represents all 55 nations of the African 

continent, said ‘‘considering the historical reality of how 

many Africans arrived in the U.S. during the Atlantic 

slave trade, this flies in the face of all accepted behavior 

and practice’’; 


lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS
5 

•HRES 700 IH 

(3) the President of Haiti, when speaking at a ceremony commemorating the eighth anniversary of the devastating Haitian earthquake, who stated, ‘‘the Haitian 

government condemns in the strongest terms these abhorrent and obnoxious remarks’’; 

(4) El Salvador, which sent a formal letter of protest; 

(5) the President of Senegal, who stated, ‘‘I am 

shocked by President Trump’s words on Haiti and Africa. I reject them and condemn them vigorously’’; 

(6) the Botswana Government, which issued a statement describing the remarks as ‘‘highly irresponsible, 

reprehensible, and racist’’; and 

(7) the South African Government, which issued a 

diplomatic protest to the United States; and 

Whereas, as a result of these concerns, United States diplomats in Haiti and other countries have been called by 

their host countries to explain the President’s remarks: 

Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives does 

2 hereby— 

3 (1) publicly state our support and respect for 

4 Haiti, El Salvador, and African nations; 

5 (2) censure and condemn President Donald 

6 Trump for his statements at the January 11, 2018, 

7 White House meeting, which are hateful, discrimina8 tory, and racist, and cannot and should not be the 

9 basis of any American policy, including immigration 

10 policy; and 


lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS
6 

•HRES 700 IH 

1 (3) call on President Trump to retract and 

2 apologize for these hateful, discriminatory, and rac3 ist remarks and any offense they have caused. 

Æ 


lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS