Georgia Republicans oppose measure condemning Atlanta spa shootings

May 20, 2021 at 3:00 p.m. | Updated May 19, 2021 at 8:30 p.m.

by Tia Mitchell / The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (TNS)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution photo by Alyssa Pointer via AP - Flowers, candles and signs are displayed at a makeshift memorial outside of the Gold Spa following a shooting in Atlanta this week. While the U.S. has seen mass killings in recent years where police said gunmen had racist or misogynist motivations, advocates and scholars say the shootings this week at three Atlanta-area massage parlors targeted a group of people marginalized in more ways than one, in a crime that stitches together stigmas about race, gender, migrant work and sex work.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution photo by Alyssa Pointer via AP - Flowers, candles and signs are displayed at a makeshift memorial outside of the Gold Spa following a shooting in Atlanta this week. While the U.S. has seen mass killings in recent years where police said gunmen had racist or misogynist motivations, advocates and scholars say the shootings this week at three Atlanta-area massage parlors targeted a group of people marginalized in more ways than one, in a crime that stitches together stigmas about race, gender, migrant work and sex work.

WASHINGTON -- All eight Republicans who represent Georgia in the U.S. House voted against a resolution condemning the Atlanta spa shootings.

The 244-180 vote included every House Democrat plus several dozen Republicans. The resolution's text includes the names and biographical details about the eight victims of the March 16 attack plus language "reaffirming the House of Representatives' commitment to combating hate, bigotry and violence against the Asian American and Pacific Islander community."

Five of Georgia's six House Democrats voted in favor of the measure; U.S. Rep. David Scott was not present for the vote.

None of the Georgia Republicans could be immediately reached for comment.

U.S. Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux hosted a delegation of lawmakers 12 days after shootings, and they visited each of the three Asian spas that were targeted. Bourdeaux, a Democrat from Suwanee, said the resolution would send a message to the loved ones of the eight victims, including six women of Asian descent.

"It is a step in the right direction, but only a step," she said. "America is and has always been a nation of immigrants, a fact that deserves to be celebrated."

The vote on the resolution comes a day after the House passed anti-hate crimes legislation, which is now ready to be signed into law by President Joe Biden. The COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act gained momentum after the spa shootings.

Six of the eight Georgia Republicans in the House voted against the hate crimes measure.

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How Georgia's Congress members voted on House Resolution 275, condemning the Atlanta spa shootings:

Voting yes: U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Albany; U.S. Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux, D-Suwanee; U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Lithonia; U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Marietta; and U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, D-Atlanta.

Voting no: U.S. Rep. Rick Allen, R-Evans; U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Pooler; U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Athens; U.S. Rep. Drew Ferguson, R-West Point; U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Rome; U.S. Rep. Jody Hice, R-Greensboro; U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Cassville; and U.S. Rep. Austin Scott, R-Tifton.

Did not vote: U.S. Rep. David Scott, D-Atlanta.

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