[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 14]
[House]
[Pages 20194-20195]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            JUSTICE FOR ALL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Al Green) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today and I stand in the 
well of the House as a proud American.
  I love my country, Mr. Speaker. Because I love my country, I have 
tried not to forget those who go to distant places, those who go into 
harm's way. They do it because they love the country. Many of them do 
not come back the same way they left, Mr. Speaker. They are the men and 
women who serve in our military. I never want to forget the sacrifices 
that they make.
  Today I want to salute and honor them for the many causes that they 
have taken up and for the many times that they have left their homes 
and their loved ones to stand up for liberty and justice for all, to 
make real the great American ideals, and to provide us the safety and 
security that we have today.
  But I also stand here today in the well of the House, Mr. Speaker, to 
announce my solidarity for justice, my solidarity with the Muslim 
community for justice, because I understand what it is like to be a 
part of a community that is treated unjustly.

[[Page 20195]]

  I lived through segregation in the United States of America. I know 
what it is like to go to the back door. I know what it is like to drink 
from filthy ``colored'' water fountains. I know what injustice looks 
like. I have seen its face. I know what it smells like.
  I have been in waiting rooms where only Blacks could sit. They were 
for Blacks only because there were other places for others. I don't 
want to see anything like that, similar to that--anything that is 
remotely similar--occur to someone else.
  I am standing here today in solidarity with the Muslim community 
because of the injustice that is being perpetrated against Islam.
  I am a Christian. My grandfather was a Christian minister. But I 
stand here to support Islam today, one of the great religions of the 
world. I do this, Mr. Speaker, because to demean Islam by adding the 
word terrorist with it is an injustice to the religion.
  Islam is a peaceful religion. No religion condones the taking of 
innocent lives intentionally. Let me repeat this. No religion condones 
taking the lives of innocent persons intentionally.
  This is why I am here, because I want to make it clear that Islam 
does not condone this. We should not be talking about Islamic 
terrorists. Why not call them what they are: people who commit 
dastardly deeds. If you do it in the name of a religion, that doesn't 
make what you do a part of the religion. People ought not be found 
guilty by their affiliation with a religion.
  What these people are doing--ISIL, al Qaeda, Daesh, ISIS, any name--
is evil, and we ought to call it such. It is not Islam. We ought not, 
as a result, decide that we are going to bar all members of the Islamic 
faith from this country. That would be wrong, Mr. Speaker. To even 
consider it is something that I find repugnant: barring all people 
because of their faith.
  The Islamic faith is not--is not--the motivating factor behind all of 
this injustice that we see perpetrated by ISIL. They can claim what 
they want, but the members of the faith have spoken up.
  In Houston, Texas, we met just recently and discussed this at length. 
Every Muslim in that room denounced what was being perpetrated and 
perpetuated by ISIL, by ISIS, by any name--evil. We ought not do this 
to a great religion.
  I stand for justice, and I stand for justice for the Islamic faith. I 
believe that persons who are in harm's way in Syria and in other 
countries ought to be given an opportunity to escape harm.
  I believe that the Good Samaritan was right. The Good Samaritan 
didn't ask: What will happen to me if I help this person who is in 
harm's way? The Good Samaritan posed the question: What will happen to 
him if I don't help him?
  That is the question we have to ask ourselves as it relates to our 
brothers and sisters. They are our brothers and sisters because there 
is but one race. That is the human race.
  One God created all of humanity to live in harmony, to quote Dr. 
King. But the question we have to ask is: What will happen to them if 
we don't extend the hand of friendship?
  The Good Samaritan went so far as to take the person to a place where 
there was shelter, where the person could receive some attention, and 
said to the innkeeper, if you will: Extend me a line of credit. If this 
person needs more than what I can give you today, I will come back and 
I will take care of my line of credit.
  We owe it to ourselves, as a great leader of the world, the world 
leader, to make sure that we extend justice to Islam.
  Mr. Speaker, I include for the Record a list of the persons who were 
in attendance at the meeting.

                                     House of Representatives,

                                Washington, DC, December 13, 2015.
     Topic: Meeting with Community Leaders to Discuss Various 
         Issues of Importance that Impact America, our Community, 
         and Future Generations.
     Hosted by: Congressman Al Green.


                          List of Participants

       1. Tahir Javid, President, Pakistan Association of Golden 
     Triangle
       2. M.J. Khan, President, Islamic Society of Greater Houston
       3. Mehmet Okumus, President, Turkish Community
       4. Muhammad Sheikh, President, Houston-Karachi Sister City 
     Association
       5. Mian Nazir, President, Pakistan Association of Greater 
     Houston
       6. Mustafa Carrol, Executive Directory, CAIR USA
       7. Shahnela Nasim, President, South Asian Chamber of 
     Commerce
       8. Shah Haleem, Chairman, Bangladesh Association of Greater 
     Houston
       9. Khalid Khan, Vice-Chair, Bangladesh Association of 
     Greater Houston
       10. Murad Ajani, President, His Highness The Agha Khan 
     Council
       11. Jamal Entlique, Vice President, Houston-Abhu Dabhi 
     Sister City Association
       12. Matloob Khan, President, Shah Latif Cultural Institute
       13. Syed Akhtar, President, Pakistan Chamber of Commerce-
     USA
       14. Ilyas Choudry, Islamic Circle of North America
       15. Shabbir Hussain, ICNA Houston Chapter
       16. Representation from Arab American Community Cultural 
     Center
       17. Abuzer Tyabjee, Dawoodi Bora Community
       18. Latafat Hussain, Indian Muslim Association of Greater 
     Houston
       19. Syed Shahid Sunni, President, Muslim Consul USA
       20. Akhtar-Abdullah, Al-Noor Society of Greater Houston
       21. Mohammad Junggua Community Member
       22. John Shike WAA TV
       23. Saeed B. Gadi, (P.A.S.T.) and Pakistan Post.
       24. Mahmud Dahri, Shah Latif Cultural Institute
       25. Abdul Sattar Quereshi, PAGH.


                                 media

       1. Shamim Syed, Pakistan News
       2. Tariq Khan, Pakistan Chronicle
       3. Kamran Jilani, Pakistan Journal and Pakistan Chronicle
       4. Mahmood Ahmed, Urdu Times
       5. Tariq Hameed, Geo News
       6. Zahid Akhtar Khanzada, Geo News and Jang Group.

                          ____________________