Asian Law Caucus

November 19, 2009

The Honorable Paul Broun

325 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-4101

The Honorable Trent Franks

2435 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

Phone: (202) 225-4576

The Honorable Sue Myrick

230 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-1976

The Honorable John Shadegg
U.S. House of Representatives
436 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

Phone: (202) 225-3361

Re:  October 14^th Joint Press Conference

Dear Representatives Broun, Franks, Myrick and Shadegg:

We write to you as civil rights and civil liberties organizations across the United States to express our very serious concerns about the messages related in your press conference on October 14, 2009, where you spoke against the political participation of American Muslims and promoted the book, Muslim Mafia, for which Rep. Myrick wrote the introduction.

Just two weeks ago, after the tragic Fort Hood shootings, at a time when the country should be mourning together, the author of Muslim Mafia called for a backlash against American Muslims.  Underscoring the grave dangers of the statements made at your press conference and your endorsement of his book, Dave Gaubatz, in an interview with Family Security Matters, said, “Now is the time for a professional and legal backlash against the Muslim community and their leaders.”   We strongly believe that this call to hatred should not be tolerated, much less endorsed, by elected representatives in this nation’s great Congress.

As you know, the United States of America was founded on principles of democracy and freedom, values that our organizations and our communities work towards fulfilling every day.  The statements made at your recent press conference undermine these ideals and reflect an unfortunate disregard of both American Muslims and American history. If implemented, your proposed litmus test for American Muslim public servants would violate the right of all Americans to engage in full civic and political participation.

Collectively, the message you delivered at this widely publicized press conference was that the Council of American Islamic Relations (CAIR), a mainstream civil rights organization dedicated to promoting justice and empowering Muslim Americans, has a nefarious plan to gain access to the offices of Congressional members in order to influence public policy.  Rep. Broun referred to Muslims as “spies,” and Rep. Myrick stated that CAIR was “trying to infiltrate the offices of members of Congress.” And in a move reminiscent of the forced loyalty oaths from the McCarthy era, Rep. Franks demanded that CAIR “recognize Israel’s right to exist” or be labeled a terrorist group.

By portraying a civil rights organization’s efforts to encourage American Muslims to engage in public service as an anti-American “conspiracy,” and by suggesting an ideological “litmus test” for American Muslims to be permitted to participate in their own government, your messages had — and continue to have — a chilling effect on the very freedoms that make this country great, including freedom of speech, political thought, and religion. Moreover, the fact that you demanded this litmus test isolates American Muslims by perpetuating the view that American Muslims are to be distrusted and feared.

We respectfully request that you retract your unfortunate comments concerning American Muslims lawfully engaging in their human and civil rights. All Americans, regardless of their religious or racial identity, have the right to engage in the political process and participate in policy making. We further invite you to enter a dialogue with American Muslims about their lives and realities over the past eight years, the persisting prevalence of violations of their civil rights, the numerous hate crimes perpetrated against them, and the constant public and private discrimination that they unfairly endure. We finally ask you to join us in working to create a collective sense of justice and freedom for all people within the boundaries of our great nation.

Sincerely,

Asian Law Caucus | American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) | American Muslim Alliance (AMA) | Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC) | Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom (BALIF)| Bar Association of San Francisco (BASF) | Bill of Rights Defense Committee (BORDC) | Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) | Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA) | Counselors Helping (South) Asians/Indians, Inc. (CHAI) | Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) | Daya -Serving South Asian Families | Equal Justice Society (EJS) | Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club | Jewish Voice for Peace | MAI Family Services | Marriage Equality USA | Muslim Political Action Committee (MPAC) | National Lawyers Guild- San Francisco Bay Area Chapter (NLG-SF) | Sahara of South Florida, Inc | South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT) | South Asian Bar Association- Northern California (SABA) | Sikh Coalition | UC Berkeley Islamophobia Research & Documentation Project – Director Hatem Bazian

cc:

President Barack Obama

Attorney General Eric Holder, Department of Justice

Assistant Attorney General Tom Perez, Department of Justice

Senior Advisor and Assistant to the President for Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs Valerie Jarrett, Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs

Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus

Congressional Black Caucus

Congressional Hispanic Caucus

US House Committee on Judiciary

US House Committee on Foreign Affairs

US Senate Committee on Judiciary

US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations