[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 15953]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    GROUND ZERO--MOSQUE OR MONUMENT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Madam Speaker, history is the great predictor. To 
understand today, all you have to do is to look at last Saturday. We 
all remember where we were when hijacked planes hit the World Trade 
Center. We remember the billowing clouds of smoke blacking out the New 
York skyline. Those towers--once pillars of strength and freedom--
became mass graves in the space of a few moments. Firefighters, police 
officers, innocent men women and children all died in a firestorm of 
hate.
  Our country men and women were killed at the hands of radical Muslim 
extremists. People who believe their religion tells them to be violent 
in the name of that religion.
  Now, 9 years later, it's clear that some Americans have forgotten the 
horror caused by these terrorists, and they expect us to forget as 
well. However, forgetting is not an option.
  Even though we don't show the pictures anymore except on the 
anniversary of September 11. We don't talk about those responsible for 
plotting and carrying out these deadly terrorist attacks against 
America. We're told we can't be angry. We are expected to blindly 
accept the hatred for America in the name of tolerance. Under this 
guise of ``religious tolerance,'' we're told we must allow a mosque to 
be built near Ground Zero.
  No one disagrees with the legal right to build a mosque, but the 
builder's decision is ill-advised and it's insensitive. This is a 
building where the landing gear from one of the hijacked planes tore 
through the roof.
  The media scolds those of us who disagree with this building. They 
say to be tolerant, be respectful and accepting of other people's 
religions. But why is not the same expected of those individuals? Is 
this really about tolerance?
  The day the two planes hit the World Trade Center, that piece of land 
in New York City took on a whole new meaning. Ground Zero is no longer 
just a location in New York. It is a symbol of America as powerful as 
the stars and stripes. It is hallowed ground of the victims who were 
victimized because of hate.
  Iman Feisal Abdul Rauf--the man behind the Ground Zero mosque--should 
instead build a memorial to the victims of the radical Muslim 
extremists instead of a mosque. That would be sensitive. That would be 
compassionate.
  The history books show ``victory mosques'' have been built in or near 
locations of Muslim conquests throughout history. In 1453, Mehmed II, 
the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, conquered Constantinople. One of his 
first acts was to convert a Christian church for more than 900 years--
the Hagia Sophia--into a mosque.
  Iman Rauf calls his project the Cordoba House. The first great mosque 
of Cordoba was built by medieval Islamic invaders. They built it on the 
site of a ransacked Roman Catholic cathedral in Spain. The name 
Cordoba--is that just a coincidence--the Cordoba mosque initiative at 
Ground Zero--too many in America thinks this mirrors history too 
closely.
  One of our greatest freedoms in America is our right to worship as we 
please. Our Nation was founded on liberty and freedom for everyone. Do 
not Muslims, like most religions and cultures, believe in tolerance and 
respect for other religions?
  Thousands of sons, daughters, fathers, and mothers at this very 
moment are stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan. They're fighting the 
terrorists in the deserts and in the rough mountain terrain. Thirty-
five American warriors from my congressional district area gave their 
lives in these two wars. They died protecting us from these same 
radical extremists that murder in the name of religion. It seems to me 
that the tolerance lesson is being preached to the wrong part of the 
world.
  Many Christians, Jews and other non-Muslims are offended by the 
building of this mosque and believe it is disrespectful and dishonors 
those who were murdered on 9/11. If building this mosque is meant to 
truly promote education and understanding of the Muslim religion, I 
suggest the supporters take a look at history. And rather than repeat 
history, they should remember history.
  Ground Zero is off-limits.
  And that's just the way it is.

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