[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 629 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 629
Acknowledging that in the aftermath of September 11, 2001, individuals
experienced hate and were targeted by the government on account of
their faith, race, national origin and immigration status, and
suggesting various forms of relief to support those affected.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 10, 2021
Ms. Jayapal (for herself, Ms. Omar, Ms. Tlaib, and Ms. Chu) submitted
the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce,
and Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be subsequently
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Acknowledging that in the aftermath of September 11, 2001, individuals
experienced hate and were targeted by the government on account of
their faith, race, national origin and immigration status, and
suggesting various forms of relief to support those affected.
Whereas, on September 11, 2001, our Nation experienced the deadliest attacks
ever perpetrated on American soil;
Whereas nearly 3,000 people perished in the September 11, 2001 attacks;
Whereas over 3,000 people have died from 9/11 related illnesses, and many still
suffer long-term, bodily trauma from inhaling toxic dust and rubble;
Whereas the United States experienced immeasurable fear, sorrow, outrage and
loss;
Whereas Balbir Singh Sodhi, a Sikh, was murdered in Mesa, Arizona, on September
15, 2001;
Whereas Waqar Hasan in Dallas, Texas, and Adel Karas in San Gabriel, California,
were killed on September 15, 2001;
Whereas in the first week after the attack, community organizations documented
645 incidents of bias and hate in the workplace, houses of worship,
schools, homes, and in public life against Americans perceived to be of
Middle Eastern or South Asian descent;
Whereas hundreds of police, fire fighters and first responders lost their lives
in the rescue effort, including members from the Arab, Muslim, Middle
Eastern, South Asian and Sikh communities;
Whereas Arab, Muslim, Middle Eastern, South Asian, and Sikh communities have
long experienced discrimination and violence in the United States, which
intensified after the attacks;
Whereas there was a climate of hate in which Arab, Muslim, Middle Eastern, South
Asian, and Sikh communities experienced bullying and violence in their
everyday lives and in their workplaces, businesses, community centers
and houses of worship;
Whereas the government targeted Arab, Muslim, Middle Eastern, South Asian and
Sikh communities with overreaching policing, surveillance, and
criminalization policies that resulted in wrongful interrogation,
coercion, detention, deportation, arrest, and incarceration;
Whereas core principles like due process, presumption of innocence, and evidence
of wrongdoing were replaced with mob mentality and guilt by association;
Whereas the fearmongering and hateful rhetoric witnessed in the aftermath of the
attacks remain commonplace today;
Whereas border officials and government authorities cast aside constitutional
rights and engaged in discriminatory searches and seizures of Arab,
Muslim, Middle Eastern, South Asian, and Sikh community members;
Whereas false narratives about Arabs, Islam and American Muslims abound, and are
encouraged and justified by a network of closely connected and well-
funded organizations and activists that seek to propagate misinformation
about these communities and provide support for policies that curtail
their rights;
Whereas the conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, as well as human
rights violations ranging from torture at Guantanamo Bay to
extrajudicial drone strikes, also contributed to this climate of hate
and the government targeting of these communities;
Whereas Arab, Muslim, Middle Eastern, South Asian, and Sikh communities have
experienced humiliation, stigma, deprivation of due process, and loss of
liberty because of government targeting, which reinforced the climate of
hate;
Whereas the climate of hate and government targeting impacted the ability of
these communities to exercise their constitutionally protected rights
including to organize, speak, travel, and worship freely;
Whereas the 2002 National Security Entry-Exit Registration System required men
and boys as young as 16 years of age with temporary visas from 25
predominantly Muslim countries to register at local immigration offices
for fingerprinting, photographs and invasive interviews;
Whereas by July 2003, the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System
slated 13,000 out of 83,000 registered men and boys for deportation,
decimating entire communities and resulting in zero terror-related
convictions;
Whereas the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Immigration and
Naturalization Service questioned thousands of Muslims who they believed
might have information about or connections to criminal activity based
on improper criteria such as officer hunch or an anonymous tip from
people wrongfully suspicious of their Muslim neighbors;
Whereas immediately after the September 11 attacks, the Federal Bureau of
Investigation and immigration authorities arrested and detained as many
as 1,200 Muslims, and none of these ``special interest'' detained people
were ultimately indicted for terrorist activity;
Whereas to this day, Joint Terrorism Task Forces, the Department of Justice
Racial Profiling Guidance, Preemptive Prosecutions, Countering Violent
Extremism Programs, Suspicious Activity Reporting, Watchlists, Fusion
Centers, travel bans on people from Muslim and Black-majority countries
from entering the United States, and other policies continue to profile
and unfairly target Arab, Muslim, Middle Eastern, South Asian, Sikh,
Black, and African communities;
Whereas many politicians and influential members of the general public continue
to explicitly endorse, espouse and act upon this hateful rhetoric and
use it for their own political benefit, including Members of Congress
and State and local elected officials; and
Whereas Arab, Muslim, Middle Eastern, South Asian, and Sikh communities have met
these challenges with unwavering courage, strength, compassion, and
resilience, and united in the aftermath of 9/11 to advocate for civil
and human rights, work which continues to this day to benefit all
Americans: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) condemns all manifestations and expressions of racism,
xenophobia, discrimination, scapegoating, and ethnic or
religious bigotry;
(2) acknowledges the climate of hate that Arab, Muslim,
Middle Eastern, South Asian and Sikh communities have
experienced since September 11, 2001;
(3) acknowledges that the government implemented policies
that profiled and unfairly targeted Arab, Muslim, Middle
Eastern, South Asian, and Sikh communities after September 11,
2001;
(4) calls for the creation of an interagency task force to
work with community-based organizations to review these
government policies, investigate and document their impact, and
dismantle those policies which continue to profile and unfairly
target these communities;
(5) calls for hearings by congressional and civil rights
bodies to explore the findings and recommendations of this
interagency task force in consultation with and centering
community-based organizations;
(6) supports allocating resources to community-based
organizations outside and independent of law enforcement that
center the experiences and demands of Arab, Muslim, Middle
Eastern, South Asian, and Sikh communities to--
(A) support the needs of victims of hate and State
violence, including language support, mental health,
comprehensive support, system navigation, and crisis
response and recovery; and
(B) create alternatives to law enforcement and
transformative justice programs that are culturally and
linguistically accessible and focus on vulnerable
populations within these communities including but not
limited to working class people, undocumented and
immigrant communities, women, non-binary, and LGBTQ
communities; and
(7) calls the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the
National Institute of Health, and the National Science
Foundation to work together to study the impact of hate,
government targeting, and profiling on physical and mental
health.
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