[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 19]
[House]
[Page 25690]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               TRI-CAUCUS WELCOMES ALL INTERNS AND STAFF

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Ellison) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. ELLISON. Madam Speaker, I come here to read a statement that was 
recently issued by an organization here in our own Congress, our own 
body, known as the Tri-Caucus. The Tri-Caucus includes members of the 
Black Caucus, Hispanic Caucus and the Asian Caucus, and is made up of 
about 87 Members of this body.
  The statement says as follows:
  ``Four of our colleagues, Representatives John Shadegg of Arizona, 
Paul Broun of Georgia, Trent Franks of Arizona and Sue Myrick of North 
Carolina recently requested the House Sergeant at Arms to launch an 
investigation of the civil rights group CAIR, or Council on American-
Islamic Relations, to determine whether it was placing staff and 
interns in key congressional offices who they fear are acting as 
`spies.'
  ``This proposed investigation coincides with the launch of a book by 
Dave Gaubatz, an anti-Islamic activist and author of the book `Muslim 
Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld that's Conspiring to Islamize 
America.' It features an introduction by Representative Myrick and was 
written after Gaubatz posed as an intern at CAIR in an effort to 
`infiltrate' the group.
  ``These charges smack of an America 60 years ago where lists of `un-
American' agitators were identified. We should be affirming the 
importance of diversity and tolerance for all interns and staff who 
serve in Congress without suspicion of being identified as `spies.'
  ``The idea that we should investigate Muslim interns as spies is a 
blow to the very principle of religious freedom that our Founding 
Fathers cherished so dearly. If anything, we should be encouraging all 
Americans to engage in the U.S. political process, to take part in, and 
to contribute to, the great democratic experiment that is America.
  ``We all have experienced the sting of discrimination and we know 
that there will be challenges ahead. But our message should be firm 
that the America we believe in welcomes people of all backgrounds to 
the U.S. Congress.
  ``We ask these charges be disavowed and we issue a hearty welcome to 
interns and staff of all creeds, color, ethnicities and sexual 
orientation.''
  I read this statement and will submit it for the Record and again 
thank the leadership of the Tri-Caucus, Congresswoman Barbara Lee, 
Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez and Congressman Mike Honda. I thank all 
of them.

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