[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Page 14706]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 BEING A TOLERANT AND ACCEPTING COUNTRY

  Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, in recent weeks two of the leading 
contenders to be President of the United States called into question 
the devotion of American Muslims to this great country, and one even 
outrageously suggested that being Muslim precludes you from being 
President. I denounce this. It is in violation of Article VI of the 
Constitution and in violation of our County's basic principles.
  Everyone that serves in public office from President to the Senate 
must uphold the Constitution. Article VI of the Constitution explicitly 
states:

       All debts contracted and engagements entered into, before 
     the adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against 
     the United States under this Constitution, as under the 
     Confederation.
       This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which 
     shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or 
     which shall be made, under the authority of the United 
     States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges 
     in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the 
     Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary 
     notwithstanding.
       The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the 
     members of the several state legislatures, and all executive 
     and judicial officers, both of the United States and of the 
     several states, shall be bound by oath or affirmation, to 
     support this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever 
     be required as a qualification to any office or public trust 
     under the United States.

  There are 3 million American Muslims in our country. They teach in 
our schools, they work in our hospitals, and they attend our 
universities. Their children play on the same playgrounds and go to the 
same schools. They are able to do this because one of our founding 
principles on which our country was established was freedom of 
religion. It is on that basis that the United States should strive to 
be a tolerant and accepting country where differences are understood 
and diversity is celebrated. This is not the America some leading 
candidates for President imagine. They are perpetuating an undercurrent 
of bigotry by suggesting that American Muslims can't be President 
because of their religious beliefs. Not only is this contrary to our 
American values, it defies the U.S. Constitution.

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