Watch: Rep. Wild Urges Congress to Address the Rise of Islamophobia Worldwide
Statement
Today, Representative Susan Wild (PA-07) voted to pass H.R. 5665, the Combating International Islamophobia Act introduced by Reps. Ilhan Omar (MN-05) and Jan Schakowsky (IL-09). During a House Foreign Affairs Committee markup late last week, Wild spoke in strong support of the legislation, which will require the State Department to create a Special Envoy for monitoring and combating Islamophobia and include state-sponsored Islamophobic violence and impunity in the Department's annual human rights report.
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Rep. Wild's remarks at the House Foreign Affairs Committee Markup as delivered:
I rise in support of H.R. 5665, the Combating International Islamophobia Act.
This legislation is founded on a simple notion: attacks on people based on their faith have no place in our society--or any society.
As the Representative from Pennsylvania's Greater Lehigh Valley, it is my honor to count a large and vibrant Muslim-American community in my district--with constituents of extraordinarily diverse origins, ranging from India to Yemen.
They are dear friends, neighbors, and proud fellow citizens, and we been there for one another: Uniting in shared grief as hate crimes continued to rise against both Muslim and Jewish-Americans. I have heard the fear of far too many of these constituents that their elderly relatives, their young children, or their spouse might be assaulted or worse--simply because of how they look and the faith they practice.
In this dangerous climate of increasingly emboldened xenophobia--not just here in our country but around the world as well--it is vital that we establish an Office to Monitor and Combat Islamophobia in the State Department to send a clear message: The persecution of Muslims--whether in China or anywhere else in the world--must end.
I urge my colleagues to pass this bill by a resounding margin. Here, in this Congress--which has recently seen a shameful display of bigotry targeting our colleague on this Committee--let us affirm that hatred and prejudice are antithetical to this body and to our nation.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back.
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