Hoyer Dismayed By Effort to Form Caucus Based on ‘Anglo-Saxon’ Values

WASHINGTON – House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said Tuesday that he was both “very disturbed” and “very disappointed” to learn of an effort by “a pretty significant number” of Republicans in the chamber to form a new caucus based “on Anglo Saxon values or principles.”

The so-called America First Caucus has been circulating a seven-page policy platform in which it calls for a “common respect for uniquely Anglo-Saxon political traditions” and a return to architectural style that “befits the progeny of European architecture.”

Though no names are included in the handout, published reports have linked the prospective caucus to Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and Paul Gosar, R-Ariz.

Neither responded to a request for comment from The Well News.

Among other things the new caucus’s supporters expound on the idea that “America is a nation with a border, and a culture, strengthened by a common respect for uniquely Anglo-Saxon political traditions.” 

“History has shown that societal trust and political unity are threatened when foreign citizens are imported en-masse into a country, particularly without institutional support for assimilation and an expansive welfare state to bail them out should they fail to contribute positively to the country,” the platform says.

“While certain economic and financial interest groups benefit immensely from mass immigration, legal as well as illegal, and the aggregate output of the country increases, the reality of large segments of our society as well as the long-term existential future of America as a unique country with a unique culture and a unique identity being put at unnecessary risk is something our leaders can afford to ignore no longer.”

They go on to say “an important distinction between post-1965 immigrants and previous waves of settlers is that previous cohorts were more educated, earned higher wages, and did not have an expansive welfare state to fall back on when they could not make it in America and thus did not stay in the country at the expense of the native-born.”

The platform includes sections on election fraud, American sovereignty, big tech, trade, the environment and communist China.

In the election section, the promoters of the new caucus vow to “work towards an end to mail-in voting, implementation of national voter ID and substantive investigations into mass voter fraud perpetrated during the 2020 election.”

When it comes to education, the group claims “the increased consolidation of educational spending came with it the ability for powerful left-wing special interest groups to

redirect the focus away from preparing future generations of national talent to progessive

indoctrination and enrichment of an out-of-control elite oligarchy. 

“Even worse, our education has worked to actively undermine pride in America’s great history and is actively hostile to the civic and cultural assimilation necessary for a strong nation. The future of America’s position in the world depends on addressing the crisis in education, at both the primary and secondary level,” the platform says.

Hoyer said he agreed with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarty, “who indicated that such a group had no place in the Republican party.”

“Unfortunately, my belief is the Republican party is becoming more and more strident, more nativist, and more White supremacist in character, and we see that every day because of the fear that Republicans have in confronting this growing and very disturbing element in the base of their party,” Hoyer said.

He went on to say the American First Caucus and its philosophies “ought to be rejected out of hand by every Republican and, frankly, every American.”

“We are a country that values individuals based upon the content of their character and their performance in our country, not upon their particular ethnicity, race, religion or any other distinction unrelated to character,” Hoyer said.

The move to create the new caucus, he said, “is just another indication — and there have been many, including the January 6 demonstrations at the Capitol — of this nativist, White supremacist, and in many ways, facist type of ideology and behavior that needs to be rejected … to protect our democracy, our Constitution and our country.”