Friday, October 2, 2009
The Orlando Sentinel

U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson sent an apology letter to the Anti-Defamation League, saying he was sorry if his use of the word holocaust in describing the needless deaths of the uninsured made light of the killings of millions of Jews in World War II, FOXNews.com reports.

The Orlando Democrat wrote: “In no way did I mean to minimize the Holocaust.”

Grayson wrote: “I regret the choice of words, and I will not repeat it.”

In a brief Orlando press conference today, Grayson, who is Jewish, said ‘I’ve lost relatives in the Holocaust.”

Ultimately, he added, “The words are not important, the lives are important.”

In response, Florida House Majority Leaders Adam Hasner, R-Boca Raton, said that Grayson is “doing the right thing” by recognizing that “he made a mistake.”

Hasner, who is also Jewish, had been one of the most vocal critics of Grayson’s use of that word.

Andy Sere, a spokesman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said Grayson’s apology is pretty hollow without handing a pink slip to a staffer who once called ADL a “crazy” and “racist” group.

In other comments at his press conference, Grayson also said that based on calls into his office since the comments, he’s received 4-1 favorable responses about his characterization of the GOP health care reform plan: “Don’t get sick…..and if you do get sick, die quickly.”

When asked if this was all a stunt to get attention: “That’s ridiculous. I’m fighting for people’s lives here.”

Grayson said that as further proof that Republicans have no serious health care plans to push, look at what they have worked on since he made his comments. “All they have done is attack me personally.”

Source: The Orlando Sentinel