[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 137 (Monday, October 5, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1905-E1906]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 HONORING THE AMERICAN MUSLIM COMMUNITY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. THOMAS M. DAVIS

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, October 5, 1998

  Mr. DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak for one 
minute about American Muslim involvement in our Nation's political 
process. Participation is a fundamental requirement for the strength of 
our democracy, so it is gratifying when I see a community making such 
great strides toward becoming politically active. The American Muslim 
community is drawing strength from their common interests to bring 
issues of concern to the forefront.
  This summer, I had the pleasure of attending the American Muslim 
Council's (AMC) 7th Annual National Convention. The AMC was established 
in 1990 to provide a fair and accurate picture of the American Muslim 
community to policy makers. The theme of the convention was 
``Strengthening Our Common Ground.'' I was amazed at the diversity of 
this gathering. The attendees were from a wide variety of backgrounds 
with their American citizenship and religion as their common bonds. 
Important issues on their agenda included protection of Muslim families 
from harassment, media abuse, and obstacles for Muslim students in 
public schools.
  I would like to bring your attention to an article by Larry Witham 
that recently appeared in the Washington Times. It aptly describes the 
Muslim community's quest to become more active in local and national 
politics.
  The article explains that although many American Muslims are still 
absent from civic and political activities, increased involvement of 
the community has begun to make a positive difference. American Muslims 
have been

[[Page E1906]]

instrumental in electing candidates to State and Federal offices. 
Community members have begun to occupy visible positions themselves, as 
chaplains in the military and as law enforcement officials.
  I move to insert the Washington Times article ``Muslims urged to play 
part in politics'' from June 28, 1998 in the Congressional Record to 
honor the value American Muslim participation adds to our political 
system.
  It greatly concerns me, that in a nation that prides itself on 
religious freedom and values religious diversity, that many American 
Muslims are stereotyped by the media and even government officials as 
terrorists or likely terrorists. The vast majority of American Muslims 
embody the American Dream, are loyal to our flag, and are substantial 
contributing members to our communities. I am proud to represent so 
many Muslims and proud of their achievements in our Nation.
  Mr. Speaker, I know my colleagues join me in commending the American 
Muslim community for their efforts to become more politically involved. 
Their increasingly active community serves as a wonderful example to 
all Americans.

                 Muslims Urged To Play Part in Politics


                   End of isolation is called a must

                           (By Larry Witham)

       As a politically-conscious Muslim, M.M. Ali shows up at 
     both Democratic and Republican meetings in Northern Virginia 
     but finds himself ``the lone person from my part of the 
     world.''
       The absence of Muslims from civic and political life may 
     still be the rule in the United States, except where they 
     make up a large voting block, speakers said at the annual 
     national meeting yesterday of the American Muslim Council 
     (AMC).
       ``It is unwise, as some of us do, to live in islands of 
     isolation,'' Mr. Ali told the event, which drew nearly 1,000 
     participants from across the country. ``Mainstreaming is the 
     only viable way to rise up and be counted.''
       A main focus of the second annual Washington meeting of the 
     council, formed in 1990 as the leading policy and lobbying 
     group for Muslims, is to encourage more political involvement 
     and to fight defamation.
       Muslims now serve as chaplains in the military, one is a 
     state senator in North Carolina, and others work for the FBI 
     and attorneys general. Politicians, moreover, go to their 
     mosques and write resolutions to recognize their festivals.
       Yet the financially based political clout of other 
     minorities--such as Jews, Greeks, Hispanics and blacks--is 
     not yet a tool of an estimated 5 million Muslims nationwide, 
     divided roughly in half between immigrants and blacks.
       Khalil Munir, a former congressional staffer, said he 
     witnessed how lack of money prompted three lawmakers he 
     campaigned for in Brooklyn, N.Y., to overlook voters of the 
     Islamic faith.
       ``When election time came, they knew they did not have to 
     be accountable to the Muslim people,'' he said.
       He and other speakers said Muslims must pool their money, 
     earmark it for favorite lawmakers, do volunteer work and 
     serve the community in civic roles.
       One success story, said Randa Fagmy, a foreign policy and 
     legal affairs aide for Sen. Spencer Abraham, Michigan 
     Republican, was his narrow election victory on a Muslim swing 
     vote.
       Mr. Abraham, the only Arab-American in the Senate, was 
     bolstered by a registration campaign among Muslims and a 
     telephone network that urged them to vote on Election Day, 
     she said.
       ``Encourage your kids to go into politics as a 
     profession,'' Mrs. Fahmy said.
       New Jersey's 350,000 Muslim families also were instrumental 
     in electing one local official and one senator in recent 
     years, said Morad Aboud Sabe, president of the Arab American 
     League of Voters of the state.
       ``It's time for the Muslim community to produce its own 
     candidates from within,'' Mr. Sabe said, noting that such 
     civic involvement must start with the second generation at an 
     early age.
       While one political concern of Muslim activists may be U.S. 
     foreign policy toward their homelands, the priority at the 
     AMC meeting was protection of Muslim families from 
     harassment, media abuse or obstacles in public schools.
       On Friday, FBI Director Louis Freeh was scheduled to 
     address the group at a meeting in the Hart Senate Office 
     Building, but he canceled and instead sent Brekke Tron, head 
     of the FBI's civil rights program.
       ``I was not satisfied with the director not showing up,'' 
     AMC Secretary Abdurahman Alamoudi said. He acknowledged the 
     tension between FBI efforts to stop terrorism and American 
     Muslim concerns about suffering from guilt by association.
       Despite the director's absence, ``we broke the myth of the 
     FBI in our Muslim community,'' Mr. Alamoudi said. ``The 
     public meeting was a milestone.''
       After Mr. Tron gave a presentation on FBI enforcement 
     ethics and efforts to work with all ethnic groups, three 
     Muslim representatives recounted cases in which law 
     enforcement agents violated the civil rights of that group.

     

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