- CAIR thanks Senators Ben Cardin and Bernie Sanders for supporting legislation as original co-sponsors.
- TAKE ACTION: Urge your state’s Senators to advance the Islamophobia envoy bill.
(Washington, D.C., 12/14/21) – The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today applauded the U.S. House of Representatives 219-212 vote to approve Congresswomen Ilhan Omar and Jan Schakowsky’s Combating International Islamophobia Act (H.R. 5665).
The Combating International Islamophobia Act would establish a special envoy office at the U.S. State Department to monitor and combat international Islamophobia.
During the act’s floor debate the Biden-Harris Administration issued a statement of administration policy that “supports passage of H.R. 5665, the Combating International Islamophobia Act.”
SEE: House Approves Combating International Islamophobia Act
READ: Read CAIR’s Live Twitter Responses to the House’s Debate. Vote & Passage of #HR5665
WATCH: Rep. Ilhan Omar address the House floor debate of H.R. 5665
CAIR also welcomed Senator Cory Booker’s introduction of a U.S. Senate companion to the Combating International Islamophobia Act.
Senator Booker was joined by original co-sponsor Senators Ben Cardin and Bernie Sanders in introducing the act.
TAKE ACTION: Urge Your State’s U.S. Senators to Advance the Combating International Islamophobia Act
In a statement, CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said:
“CAIR and the American Muslim community applaud Congresswomen Ilhan Omar and Jan Schakowsky for introducing the Combating International Islamophobia Act, and the U.S. House of Representatives for passing it.
“We thank Senators Cory Booker, Ben Cardin and Bernie Sanders for introducing a U.S. Senate companion to the Combating International Islamophobia Act. We urge the Senate to move in passing this legislation and taking a stand against global Islamophobia.
“It is important to American Muslims, and Muslims around the world, that Congress supports the creation of a U.S. Special Envoy at the Department of State to Monitor and Combat Islamophobia.
In a statement, CAIR Government Affairs Department Director Robert S. McCaw said:
“Passing the Combating International Islamophobia Act into law will equip our nation with important tools to track and counter dangerous manifestations of anti-Muslim bigotry around the world.
“The House’s adoption of H.R. 5665 should not supersede American Muslim and Congressional calls on Democratic leadership to censure Rep. Lauren Boebert and her removal from House Committee assignments – following her repeated Islamophobic rhetorical attacks and falsehoods targeting Rep. Omar.”
Following the Senate introduction of the Combating International Islamophobia Act, Senator Cory Booker issued the following statement:
“We’ve witnessed in recent years an alarming rise in Islamophobia both in the United States and globally that has threatened the religious freedom, well-being, and lives of Muslims. Establishing a Special Envoy at the State Department is an important step that we should take to develop a comprehensive plan to reverse this trend and position the U.S. as a global leader in combating hate.”
Yesterday, CAIR joined 53 other national and international organizations in a letter to the U.S House of Representatives urging swift passage of the bill.
On Friday, CAIR welcomed the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Democratic Party line vote to approve H.R. 5665.
About the Combating International Islamophobia Act
Introduced on October 21, the act was co-sponsored by 56 Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives, including Congressman Gregory Meeks (D-NY), chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Reps. Karen Bass (D-CA), Joaquin Castro (D-TX) and Albio Sires (D-NJ), who are subcommittee chairs of the Foreign Relations Committee.
In January, the U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations sent a letter to the Biden Administration calling on the State Department to establish the special envoy position.
The act would compel the State Department to develop a more comprehensive approach to fighting the global increase of Islamophobia, increasing its capacity to monitor and confront state and non-state actors.
The two primary aims of the Combating International Islamophobia Act are:
- Establishing an Office to Monitor and Combat Islamophobia at the State Department headed by a Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Islamophobia.
- Amending the Foreign Assistance Act and International Religious Freedom Act to require annual reporting on Islamophobia in each foreign country and the steps taken by that country to combat it through educational programing and public awareness initiatives.
The United States currently monitors and combats religious persecution internationally. The Combating International Islamophobia Act would extend this mission to Islamophobia.
The act would also provide valuable information for understanding Islamophobia as a global phenomenon and give the U.S. a new tool to combat it.
While global Islamophobia, anti-Muslim state policies and hate incidents have increased, for the past two decades the American Muslim community has consistently called for the creation of a special envoy position to monitor and combat this rising tide of hate – the Combating International Islamophobia Act would make this special envoy position a reality.
Reasons to Support the Combating International Islamophobia Act:
In its 2021 annual report, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) identified three Countries of Particular Concern primarily for their treatment of Muslims.
Several additional countries listed by USCIRF were identified as having patterns of mistreatment and human rights violations against either their entire Muslim populations or particular sects of Muslims. This includes several Muslim-majority countries.
State acts of persecution and violence against Muslims can be found in India and Burma – in addition to China, which the United States recognized as committing a genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghur Muslims and other Turkic minority groups living the country’s Uyghur region.
Anti-Muslim rhetoric, bigotry and acts of violence also go together with the rise of political parties that outwardly attack the rights of Muslims, especially in France and other parts of Europe.
Transnational white supremacist and Islamophobic hate group networks have also inspired their followers to commit acts of anti-Muslim violence and terrorism, including but not limited to the tragic summer 2021 murder of a Muslim family in London, Ontario and the 2019 Christchurch, New Zealand Mosque shootings.
CAIR’s mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
La misión de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Coordinator Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com