Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylore Greene was one of the only two members who voted against a resolution passed by the House of Representatives mourning the loss of lives in the series of earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria this month.
The House resolution was approved by a bipartisan vote of 412-2, reported WPRI.
Representatives Thomas Massie from Kentucky and Ms Greene voted against the resolution. The reason behind their votes was not immediately known.
Representative Joe Wilson, who sponsored the resolution, called out Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, who has been accused of exploiting the disaster for political gains.
“American families’ prayers and sincere condolences go to the people of Türkiye and Syria. To the brutal Assad regime and its backers – war criminal Putin, the authoritarian ayatollah in Iran — there will be a message: your diversion of humanitarian aid during an earthquake is despicable,” Mr Wilson was quoted as saying.
“The US Congress stands united. We will never normalize with you. We will hold all those who attempt to normalize with you accountable, and we will not stop supporting the people of Syria to have a government they deserve based on democracy with rule of law, not authoritarians with rule of gun,” he added.
On 6 February two earthquakes struck Turkey and Syria, killing over 50,000 people.
According to Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management the affected regions have been hit by around 10,000 aftershocks.
The resolution also called for “increased oversight mechanism” that would be used to ensure that funds from the US are not diverted to benefit the Assad regime.
While Ms Greene voted against the resolution, she had earlier this month tweeted her support for those who were struck by the earthquakes.
“Praying for Turkey and other countries suffering through deadly earthquakes,” she tweeted on 6 February.
“Thousands feared dead.”
Monday’s resolution also mourned the loss of life and expressed “deep condolences” for the families of the victims.
It also applauded the humanitarian aid and rescue workers for their “heroic work” on the ground.
