Commerce, Justice, Science; Energy and Water Development; and Interior

Floor Speech

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Mr. WARNER. Madam President, I come to the floor today to condemn the heartbreaking and anti-American rise in religious discrimination and hate-fueled extremism and to call particular attention to the ways this administration has fueled the flames of Islamophobia and anti-Arab hate that has hurt countless members of our Muslim American and Arab American communities.

Now, unfortunately, neither religious discrimination nor acts of hate-fueled violence are new or are uniquely American.

Last month, I joined Senator Schumer and all of my Democratic colleagues in speaking out against the horrible anti-Semitism targeting our Jewish communities and calling out disgusting vitriol from the likes of Nick Fuentes and his ilk, and I joined people of conscience everywhere in mourning and standing with the Jewish community in Australia after that monstrous attack took 15 lives during a Hanukkah celebration.

Now, in America, in years back, Dr. Martin Luther King warned us that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, and the same is true about religious intolerance, bigotry, and violence. Any prejudice or discrimination or violence rooted in how people believe, express, and experience their faith is a threat to all people of faith everywhere.

I rise today to specifically condemn the discrimination our Muslim and Arab American communities are facing because, unfortunately, this President and his administration have openly stoked and institutionalized Islamophobic discrimination.

We all recall, on November 26, we saw a horrific attack on two members of the West Virginia National Guard deployed here in our Nation's Capital. That type of violence has no place in a just society. But the Trump administration did not meet this attack with targeted, measured attempts to minimize violence or curb extremism. Instead, their actions and rhetoric stoked further divisions by using this awful attack as grounds to justify targeting Afghan-American communities in the United States.

After that attack, the Trump administration announced a halt to the processing of all immigration requests from Afghan nationals, coinciding with an announcement from the State Department that they would immediately be halting visa issuance for individuals traveling on Afghan passports. The President and his administration are taking the actions of a single person and distorting this horrific, isolated incident to justify suppression and cruelty against many more who have done nothing wrong, many who have risked their lives, families, and communities to support U.S. servicemembers during the long war in Afghanistan.

Another example: Look at the President's commentary related to members of the Somali community. During a Cabinet meeting last month, the President called the Somali community ``garbage,'' saying:

We don't want them in our country.

I have to tell you, I believe these comments are disgusting, they are dehumanizing, and they are un-American, and they should roundly and loudly be condemned by all public officials. The intolerance and ignorance that motivates these statements and these actions didn't just begin in the past few weeks or even with this administration.

I say to my colleagues: Ask any of your Muslim or Arab constituents when they got the so-called talk from their parents or heard the first attack on their faith or their culture.

This rot--this un-American activity--has been in this country a long, long time.

Just the other week, I was sitting with a group of Virginians who happened to be Muslim Americans. One of the individuals I have known a long time, has been a community member and well-known business guy, and happens to also be Muslim. This individual had been doing a lot of work all across Northern Virginia, working with local governments and others, trying to develop affordable housing projects.

He was working specifically with a county in outer Northern Virginia. He had been assured everything was set. He was going out to the meeting where it was going to be ``project approved.'' He got to, again, the county offices. And it was at a time during the day, as somebody who practices his faith, that he got out and prayed, as Muslims do on a regular basis during the day. And after doing that prayer privately next to his car, he then went into the county meeting. And, suddenly, everything that had been totally pro forma--someone had seen him praying, and he suddenly found out the contract wasn't going to be signed.

The fact is, this individual has got an extraordinary record of, as I said, producing affordable housing all across the region. But the fact that simply displaying his faith caused him to lose a piece of business that was there just for a pro forma approval ought to shock us all.

I think we all have to talk to our Muslim and Arab neighbors, our constituents. These kinds of stories are, unfortunately, not the exception. There are too many examples of fear or discrimination or being somehow made to feel, if you happen to be Arab American or Muslim American, that you are somehow a lesser American. And rather than being a leader who elevates our morality, who confronts these views, President Trump and his administration seem deliberately intent on preying on these kinds of fears and deepening divisions based on religion or immigration status.

Just last month, the administration announced it would stop adjudicating all immigration benefit requests for nationals of 19 countries. That means law-abiding residents who have lived in this country--many, for years--are seeing their naturalization interviews paused and their citizenship ceremonies canceled. Now, these decisions build on a travel ban that was put in place by the administration earlier in the year--or last year.

Let me be crystal clear. At least in my mind, these bans are not about your safety or mine. These bans are about limiting access to the American dream to a select few that the administration thinks look the right way or worship the right god.

But it is not just the President--not just President Trump. On the floor of this body, a Senator called Islam a ``poisonous religion'' that ``is fundamentally incompatible with our Western values.'' In recent weeks, a Member of the House posted on his official Twitter page:

How to Deal with Mainstream Muslims: I don't know how you make peace with those who seek your destruction, I think you destroy them first.

This is an official Twitter page of a Member of the House of Representatives.

All too often, this vitriol is met with silence--a dangerous, weaponized apathy that says Islamophobia is somehow acceptable at the highest levels of government. All of us, but especially those of us who serve in this body, in public office, have a duty to end that silence and loudly and resolutely condemn Islamophobia and anti-Arab hate.

And while others seek to divide and distort circumstances to advance their narratives, there are so many stories actually worth telling. So I want to take a moment to recognize and celebrate the contributions of Muslim Americans to Virginia's history. Muslim Virginians are integral to what makes our Commonwealth thrive. They are lawyers, doctors, educators, homemakers, and entrepreneurs. They are engineers designing infrastructure, researchers advancing technology, small-business owners fueling our local economies, and transportation workers getting folks to where they need to go. Muslim Virginians live out the democratic values that this country was built on. They are serving in elected office, shaping policy, and making this country a better place to live.

As a matter of fact, last November--just a few months ago--Virginia voters proudly made history by electing the first Muslim woman to statewide office in any State in our country. Ghazala Hashmi will be sworn in as Lieutenant Governor of Virginia this coming Saturday. She joins the growing number of Muslim Virginians that already serve across all three levels of Virginia government--in the State House, in our judiciary, and in so many levels of local government. And they represent their neighbors with dedication and integrity.

Muslim Virginians are also patriotic and want to keep this country safe, many of them bravely choosing to serve as police officers, intelligence officers, and servicemembers in our Armed Forces. One of those patriots was CPT Humayun Khan, who died in service to our country during Operation Iraqi Freedom. His efforts alone saved the lives of more than 100 soldiers, and I still remember his mother and father speaking at a political convention and holding up our American Constitution and talking about their son's sacrifice to keep America safe.

Contrary to the rhetoric of our President and his administration, our country is safer because of Muslim Americans like Captain Khan and the thousands of Muslim American police and Muslim American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, and guardians. I am grateful for their service every day.

The contributions of Muslims to Virginia should not just be measured by titles or economic impact; they are seen in generosity, compassion, and community. Islamic centers and mosques across the Commonwealth step up to serve their communities with food assistance, refugee resettlement, youth mentorship, and much more. They open their doors not only to worship but to serve as an example of compassion and mercy that is inseparable from their Muslim faith.

Muslim Virginians also add to the cultural richness of our Commonwealth through art, music, literature, and food. They bring languages and stories from across the world--from Sudan to Pakistan, Somalia to Afghanistan, Morocco to Palestine. They also bring the uniquely American experience of growing up, learning, working, and building a life in our Commonwealth of Virginia. Their story is Virginia's story--one of perseverance, community, success, and hope.

So when the President and his administration or my colleagues here or in the House use xenophobic, fearmongering tactics to attack and intimidate or diminish members of the Muslim or Arab American community, I want you to remember that they are individuals who are being wrongly misrepresented.

Next month marks the start of the holy season of Ramadan for our Muslim brothers and sisters. Particularly during this time of reflection and community but frankly throughout the whole year, it should be incumbent upon all of us to call out all forms of bigotry and discrimination against any religious community and to stand up for all of our communities against injustice.

I think all of us should once again commit to never stay silent in the face of religious intolerance against the Christian faith, against the Jewish faith, against the Muslim faith, or other great faiths of the world. Our job as representatives of the American people is to protect our communities and our people--all of our people. We abandon each other I think at our own peril and at our Nation's peril.

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