Congresswoman Corrine Brown in Jacksonville after Censure

By First Coast News Staff

JACKSONVILLE, FL -- Congresswoman Corrine Brown (D-Jacksonville)hosted a healthcare roundtable at the Mary Singleton Center this morning.

Representative Brown told First Coast News she still stands behind her comments that ignited a firestorm in Washington.

Members of the U.S. House of Representatives censured Brown after a shouting match on the House floor Thursday night.

The argument started during a debate over HR-4818. The bill would provide international monitoring of the November presidential election. Congress has been considering an outside monitor due to all the confusion over the last election, and the "hanging chads" in Florida.

Representative Brown said, "I come from Florida, where you and others participated in what I call the United States coup d'etat. We need to make sure that it doesn't happen again. Over and over again after the election when you stole the election, you came back here and said get over it. No we're not going to get over it and we want verification from the world."

Those comments drew an immediate objection from Republican members of the House. Leaders moved to strike her comments from the record. The House also censured Brown which kept her from talking on the House floor for the rest of the day.

Congresswoman Brown responded to the matter in a statement late Thursday night. Congresswoman Brown wrote, "Striking my words from the House floor is just one more example of the Republican Party's attempt to try and cover up what happened during the 2000 election."

Brown also wrote, "When the words of Corrine Brown are stricken from the floor, so is the voice of her 600,000 constituents in Florida's 3rd Congressional District."

©2009 First Coast News. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten, or redistributed.