[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 17]
[House]
[Page 23806]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     WELCOMING IMAM HASSAN QAZWINI

  (Mr. CONYERS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. CONYERS. To my colleagues this morning, I am very delighted to 
entertain Imam Hassan Qazwini and seven other members from the Muslim 
community in Detroit and Dearborn, Michigan. He and I are very good 
friends and I am honored that the Islamic Center of America is located 
in my congressional district. I am also proud of the fact that they are 
building what might likely be the largest religious center for Muslims 
in the United States, which will be in Dearborn, Michigan, which my 
colleague and the dean of the House, Mr. Dingell, and I both represent.
  The important point I would leave with you in extending my welcome is 
that Imam Qazwini has worked tirelessly with those of us Christians, 
Muslims and Jews to continue a dialogue that has taken place more than 
a dozen times in Detroit and in the District of Columbia with the help 
of my former staffer, Ms. Alexia Smokler, and my current general 
counsel of the Committee on the Judiciary, Burt Wides. We have worked 
together with Congressman Dingell to continue the discussion that is so 
necessary for us to come together, understand each other's cultures and 
also be amazed at the similarities of concerns that we raise.
  It is in that spirit that I too join in the welcome to the House of 
Representatives on this day to Imam Qazwini.

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