Hearings on Radical Islam Open
Politico reports:
Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) struck a defiant tone as he opened his controversial House subcommittee hearing on radicalization within the American Muslim community, vowing to proceed despite a firestorm of charges that the congressional inquiry will fuel bigotry, hate crimes and violations of religious freedom.
“I am well aware that the announcement of these hearings generated considerable controversy and opposition,” King said, declaring he intended to continue despite harsh criticism and allegations of bias against Muslims. “I remain convinced that these hearings must go forward and they will. To back down would be a craven surrender to political correctness and an abdication of what I believe to be the main responsibility of this committee to protect America from a terrorist attack.”
But the controversial hearings reached an emotional turning point early when Rep. Keith Ellison, the first Muslim American elected to Congress, broke down while telling the story of a Muslim New York City paramedic who was killed in the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center.
“Mohammed Selman Hamdani was a fellow American who gave his life for other Americans,” said Ellison, a Minnesota Democrat, his voice quaking as he struggled to maintain his composure. “His life should not be identified as just a member of an ethnic group or just a member of a religion but as an American who gave everything for his fellow Americans.”
Ellison’s statement led Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) to ask King to waive the committee’s rules to allow all lawmakers on the panel to make statements about their views on the hearing and their scope. King rejected the request.
The sharp contrast between defiance and emotion illustrated the tense atmosphere that has surrounded the inquiry convened by King, the new chairman of the Homeland Security Committee in the Republican-majority House. Islamic advocacy and civil liberties groups decried the hearing as an insensitive witch hunt that smacks of McCarthyism, while King and his supporters insist it’s a much-needed examination of the American Islamic community’s responsibility in fighting emerging domestic terror threats.
In opening the inquiry, King cited a series of cautionary remarks about domestic radicals from the Obama administration in recent months, including Attorney General Eric Holder and White House Deputy National Security Adviser Denis McDonough. The remarks King cited an increased threat posed by the radicalization of Americans.
But the panel’s ranking Democrat, Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, warned that the language used in the hearing had the potential to cause tension between Muslim communities and the government and could even be fodder for groups like Al Qaeda.
“Our words transcend this hearing room,” Thompson said. “Acknowledgment of an obligation to be responsible does not equal political correctness.”
With various civil liberties group accusing King in recent days of becoming a latter-day Joseph McCarthy, the disgraced Red-baiting senator from the 1950s, Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) became the first person to invoke the specter McCarthy during the hearing. However, Dingell, who appeared as a witness to defend the patriotism of Muslims in his district, said he was confident that King could manage the process to avoid such an outcome.
“There is a reason for us to go into this,” Dingell said.
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