Iowa Watchdog

He said what? Top 5 quotes from Iowa Rep. Steve King

By Sheena Dooley | Iowa Watchdog

7/24/2013

Always the newsmaker, U.S. Rep. Steve King is at it again.

KING: Iowa U.S. Rep. Steve King continues to make headlines with statements.

King, a Republican who represents Iowa’s Fourth District, said last week during an interview with Newsmax, “For everyone who’s a valedictorian, there’s another 100 out there that weigh 130 pounds and they’ve got calves the size of cantaloupes because they’re hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert.”

The remarks are in relation to debate on immigration reform and the DREAM Act that pertains to illegal immigrants younger than 35, whose parents brought them into the country. They would ultimately be given a path to citizenship.

King’s office did not return requests seeking comment, but he has said in multiple statements this week he stands by his remark and is surprised that anyone would be dismayed by it.

Republican leaders, including Speaker of the House John Boehner and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, blasted King for his most recent round of explosive comments. Political pundits say the words could hurt the Republican party nationally, especially since they further illustrate the disconnect shown with voters during the 2012 election.

A leading voice on immigration for the GOP and native Puerto Rican Rep. Raul Labrador called King’s words irresponsible and reprehensible, saying they did not reflect a majority of House Republicans. Labrador, however, also criticized the media for blowing the comments out of proportion.

But it’s unlikely his off-the-wall remarks will have an effect in his home district in Northwest Iowa, given it’s solidly Republican.

In light of King’s most recent controversial remarks, Iowa Watchdog decided to take a look at some of our top five previous remarks from King.

“We could also electrify this wire (on the border) with the kind of current that would not kill somebody, but it would simply be a discouragement for them to be fooling around with it. We do that with livestock all the time.”
In addressing the famous Republican Rep. Todd Akin quote that the female body has the ability to prevent pregnancy in cases of incest or statutory rape, King told a reporter he’s never heard of a child getting pregnant from statutory rape or incest. “Well, I just haven’t heard of that being a circumstance that’s been brought to me in any personal way.”
“Harry Reid can defend those ghoulish and ghastly and gruesome practices that Planned Parenthood is advocating along with child prostitution and illegal immigration. He can play defense on that.”
King comparing immigration laws to picking a dog: “You put out a beacon like the Statue of Liberty and who comes here? The most vigorous from every country that has donated legal immigrants to America. The cream of the crop. We’ve always had bird dogs around our place. In our family there’s a black lab and white lab, a yellow lab, and my brother has a chocolate lab. Well, you go in and you look at a litter of pups, and you watch them. You watch how they play — they run around a little bit — and what do you want? You want a good bird dog, and you want one that’s gonna be aggressive? Pick the one that’s the friskiest, the one that’s in games the most — not the one that’s over there sleeping in the corner. You want a pet to sit on the couch, pick the one that’s sleeping in the corner. That’s — so, you get the pick of the litter, you got yourself a pretty good bird dog. We got the pick of every donor civilization on the planet because it’s hard to get here; you had to be inspired to come. We got the vigor from the planet to come to America. Whichever generation it was, and then we taught our children that same thing.”
And, finally, King on the United States’ official language, “One of the great things about America is we’ve been unified by a common language. That common language, of course, is English. Our language is getting subdivided by some forces of the federal government. It is time to speak with a common voice. The argument that diversity is our strength has really never been backed up by logic. It’s unity is where our strength is. Our Founding Fathers understood that. Modern-day multiculturalists are defying that.”