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U.S. Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) issued a statement Friday calling for Van Jones, a member of President Barack Obama's Council on Environmental Quality, to resign from his position, and urged the President to suspend future appointments of “Czars" pending a Congressional review.

“Given recent revelations concerning the associations and statements of the president's green jobs czar, Van Jones should resign his position and if he is unwilling to do so, the president should demand his resignation. His extremist views and coarse rhetoric have no place in this Administration or the public debate," said Pence, who is the Chairman of the House Republican Conference.

Jones, who declared himself a "communist" at one point in the 1990's, apologized on Wednesday for signing a 2004 petition calling on former New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and others to launch an investigation into evidence that suggests Bush administration officials may have knowingly allowed the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks to happen.

In the apology, Jones said, "I do not agree with this statement and it certainly does not reflect my views now or ever."

Yesterday, Jones issued a second mea culpa, this time for disparaging remarks he made about the GOP prior to becoming a member of the Obama administration. Responding to a question following a lecture on energy he gave in Berkely, Calif. this past February, Jones called Republicans "assholes."

"In recent days some in the news media have reported on past statements I made before I joined the administration...If I have offended anyone with statements I made in the past, I apologize," stated Jones in his apology, adding that the remarks "do not reflect the views of this administration."

In his statement, Pence called for additional oversight for the appointment of Czars, whose positions do not require Senate confirmation.

“In the wake of these recent revelations, the president should suspend any further appointments of so-called 'czars' until Congress has an opportunity to examine the background and responsibilities of these individuals and to determine the constitutionality of such appointments, which have spanned multiple administrations," he said.