GOP congressman declares amendment has 'nothing to do' with 'colored people' on the House floor

• GOP Rep. Eli Crane used racially-charged language during a floor debate on Thursday.
• He said an amendment he'd proposed to the annual defense bill had "nothing to do" with "colored people."

On Thursday evening, a freshman Republican member of Congress used the phrase "colored people" while debating the issue of race in the military with Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty of Ohio, a Black woman.

Rep. Eli Crane, a member of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus, had offered an amendment to the annual defense spending authorization bill that he said would prevent the consideration of "race, gender, religion, or political affiliations, or any other ideological concepts as the sole basis for recruitment, training education, promotion, or retention decisions."

It was one of a variety of Republican-proposed amendments to the defense bill that dealt with culture war issues. And towards the end of a spirited debate, the Arizona Republican argued that his amendment wasn't about race.

"My amendment has nothing to do with whether or not colored people, or Black people, or anybody can serve, okay?" said Crane. "It has nothing to do with the color of your skin, any of that stuff."

Crane's use of the phrase "colored people" — a term with negative historical connotations — immediately generated chatter from the other side of the chamber. And when he finished his remarks, Beatty spoke up and immediately called for Crane's remarks to be struck from the record.

"I'd like to be recognized to have the words 'colored people' struck from the record," said Beatty. "I find it offensive, and very inappropriate."

"I am asking for unanimous consent to take down the words of referring to me, or any of my colleagues, as 'colored people,'" Beatty added.

Crane then attempted to amend his remarks to "people of color," prompting Beatty to rebuke him.

"I asked unanimous consent, Mr. Speaker, to have the words stricken," she said. "I didn't ask to have the words amended."

In a statement to Insider later on Thursday, Crane said that he had misspoken.

"In a heated floor debate on my amendment that would prohibit discrimination on the color of one's skin in the Armed Forces, I misspoke," said Crane. "Every one of us is made in the image of God and created equal."