Rebukes flow over Bruce remark

Alan Gathright and Chris Barge

Published April 22, 2008 at 11 p.m.

Text size  

• 2 Comments
• Email
• Print

Photo by Preston Gannaway / The Rocky

Rep. Douglas Bruce waves during a House session on Monday, after calling migrant workers "illiterate peasants."

Rep. Douglas Bruce's branding Mexican farm workers "illiterate peasants" has drawn international rebukes and calls from Colorado Hispanic leaders for his ouster.

Yet, House leaders don't plan further sanctions against Bruce, who made the controversial comments Monday while criticizing a fellow Republican's bill to expedite temporary visas for workers to combat a farm labor shortage.

"I don't think we need 5,000 more illiterate peasants in Colorado," said Bruce, drawing gasps from fellow lawmakers.

He was gaveled to silence by the floor chairwoman, Rep. Kathleen Curry, D-Gunnison, who barred him from speaking further on the bill.

"He received a pretty quick and fair censure right at the time," said House Majority Leader Alice Madden, D-Boulder. Madden added that she did not know what further action could be taken under House rules.

"I don't expect he'll change his behavior and frankly we know he likes the attention," Madden added. "At some point, you start rewarding bad behavior by giving him attention."

House Minority Leader Mike May, R-Parker, who called Bruce's penchant for provocative conduct a disastrous distraction for Republicans, agreed the incident was handled properly on the House floor.

"We can't go filing ethics investigations every time someone says something we don't like," May said.

Anyone with knowledge of a lawmaker's misconduct may file a complaint with leadership.

House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, Madden and May, will decide whether to take up any complaint or dismiss it.

If an ethics investigation were launched, the punishment could include suspension, censure or expulsion.

"I found them not only unfortunate but offensive," Eduardo Arnal, Mexico's Consul General in Denver, said. "I believe these types of comments do not contribute to the discussion on immigration between Mexico and the United States nor in the search for solutions."

Anti-Defamation League Regional Director Bruce DeBoskey said, "Bruce's comments reflect the bigotry and xenophobia that lay just below the surface of the debate on immigration in this country."

While the bill would "permit legal temporary agricultural workers in Colorado," DeBoskey said, "Bruce's rhetoric feeds the hateful, dehumanizing hysteria surrounding the presence of foreign workers in our country."

The House passed the guest- worker bill on a 46-18 vote. It now goes to the Senate.

gathrighta@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5486

• April 23, 2008

  8:05 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  nobodyman writes:

  Obviously illegal immigrants bring some problems with them. Enough said really. However, I see the problem much like terrorism: they use it to scare you/misdirect your attention/get you to fork over money/waste everyone's time. We all need a villain. And us spoiled Americans will jump on any bandwagon where we can blame someone who's different.

  All that aside, how many of you folks who hate Mexicans so much are living in ugly tract-mansions in Douglas or Adams Counties that were probably built by "Public Enemy Number One"? I went up to Daniels Park the other night. Took awhile to find with all the new developments in the area. What I first noticed was the huge houses a couple hundred yards away from an area that was almost deserted 10 years ago. I thought it ironic that Coloradans are entirely complicit in the destruction of their state when it involves excessive and ugly mansions or silver SUVs, but they are bothered by productive brown people. Interesting.

• April 23, 2008

  12:26 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  redwhiteandBLUE writes:

  Hmmm, yea, VERY interesting!

Featured

• Holiday movies

  

  Check out our movie page to read reviews and see your holiday options.

• Holiday Lights

  

  Is your house the jolliest on the block? Submit your holiday lights display.

• Mount Crushmore

  

  Which four Broncos greats should be immortalized on Mount Crushmore? Vote here.

• Broncos-Jets Action

  

  Visit our photo galleries for some hard-hitting action photos from Sunday's game.

• Bronco Dean's rant

  

  Listen to Bronco Dean's postgame rant on the Jets.

• Rocky Multimedia

  

  The news comes alive in our videos and slide shows. Catch up on what's happening today.

• Stein's View

  

  Editorial cartoons by Ed Stein

• Holiday Gift Guide

  

  Looking to get a jump-start on the holiday shopping season?

• The Rocky @ 150 Years

  

  Read the Rocky's coverage of Colorado's cannibal, Alfred Packer, in 1886.