For the relief of Durreshahwar Durreshahwar, Nida Hasan, Asna Hasan, Anum Hasan, and Iqra Hasan.

Mr. Speaker, Arab-Americans, Muslim-Americans, South Asian-Americans and Sikh-Americans are a vital part of America. These communities join other ethnic and religious groups as they and their ancestors came to this nation in search of political freedom and economic opportunity. They have flourished in this nation and have made great contributions to our society. They have joined the ranks of service-members, law enforcement officers, teachers, doctors, lawyers, and business people. They also hold positions of

leadership in this society, including members of Congress and Cabinet members.

But, tragically in the aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attacks, some bigots turned against Arab-Americans, Muslim-Americans, Sikh-Americans, and South Asian-Americans, and singled them out as targets for violence and threats of violence. Hate crimes against these communities, including violent physical assaults, increased sharply. The FBI reported that the number of anti-Muslim incidents increased by 1600 percent from 2001 to 2002, largely in response to this post 9/11 backlash. Obviously this kind of increase has only added evermore to the awesome responsibilities facing law enforcement offices. Therefore, it is unfortunate that their resources must be directed to the unreasonable few rotten applies that take out their vengeance on the unsuspecting innocent.

Most Americans all over responded and came to the support of Arab- Americans, Muslim-Americans, Sikh-Americans, and South Asian-Americans, condemning the attacks and embracing these communities. A resolution at that time, which I cosponsored, was passed that condemned violence against these groups.

But, now again Arab-Americans, Muslim-Americans, Sikh-Americans, and South Asian-Americans are suffering, and it is again time to express support for them. Since the time when the war in Iraq began, hate crimes have seen another hike. There was a man who law enforcement believes was motivated by anti-Arab sentiment, when he allegedly shot four people to death in New York City during February and March. Even after President Bush declared that major combat operations had ended, the hate crimes against Arab, Muslim, South Asian and Sikh-Americans have continued.

These crimes are wrong and are opposed to the values of American society. We must condemn them in the most serious and strongest terms, and law enforcement must investigate and vigorously prosecute the perpetrators.

By the same token, we must pay close attention to the concerns of Arab-Americans, Muslim-Americans, Sikh-Americans and South Asian- Americans, that the federal government views them with suspicion, and they are being subjected to grossly heightened levels of surveillance as a result of their national or religious origins. Counter-terrorism efforts must not discriminate on the basis of national origin or religion or violate the civil liberties of innocent Americans. The government's efforts to combat terrorism must focus on criminal or terrorist behavior, not ethnicity or creed.

Discriminatory counter-terrorism tactics and those that violate civil liberties are wrong and do not make the country safer. We must look to history, which has shown us that respect for individual rights enhances our stability and security. Singling out mostly innocent Arab, Muslim, South Asian and Sikh Americans runs counter to the principle of rejecting the use of racial and ethnic profiling, while we need to focus on building trust and respect by working cooperatively with community members.

The resolution before us today, H. Res. 234, recognizes that Arab- Americans, Muslim-Americans, Sikh-Americans, and South Asian-Americans greatly contribute to American society and serve honorably in the military or law enforcement and it urges respect for civil rights and liberties, condemns bias-motivated crimes against members of these communities, and calls upon federal and local law enforcement to prosecute such crimes vigorously. I strongly urge all of my colleagues to support it.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Res. 234. H. Res. 234 condemns bigotry and violence against Arab-Americans, Muslim-Americans, South Asian-Americans and Sikh-Americans, and I urge all of my colleagues to support it.

This resolution condemns bigotry and violence against individuals of Arab-American, Muslim-American, South Asian-American, and Sikh-American dissent. It was introduced in response to concerns about an increase in discriminatory backlash crimes following the commencement of military action in Iraq in March of 2003. Specifically, House Resolution 234 recognizes the many contributions of Arab-Americans, Muslim-Americans, South Asian-Americans, and Sikh-Americans to the Nation and calls upon law enforcement authorities to work vigorously to prevent discriminatory backlash crimes against such persons and to investigate such crimes that do occur and reaffirms the House of Representative's commitment to assuring that civil rights of all Americans, including individuals of Arab-American, Muslim-American, South Asian-American, and Sikh-American dissent, be protected.

In the weeks and months following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, this Nation saw a significant increase in the number of crimes committed against those perceived to be Arab-Americans, Muslim- American,

South Asian-American, and Sikh-American descent.

According to hate crimes statistics compiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, criminal acts motivated by bias against ethnicity/ national origin were the second-most frequently reported bias in 2001, more than doubling the number of incidents, offenses, victims and known offenders from 2000 data and the anti-other ethnicity/national origin category quadrupled in incidents, offenses, victims, and known offenders.

Similarly, the number of anti-Islamic incidents grew 1,600 percent between the year 2000 and 2001, taking such incidents from the second- least reported category of reported religious-bias incidents in 2000 to the second-highest category of religious-bias in 2001.

Mr. Speaker, there can be no room for hatred and bigotry in America. Our history has taught us that when we rise above such hatred, we are stronger as a Nation. Too often in our history, fear and panic have resulted in discrimination and even oppression by our government of groups perceived to be a threat. Invariably, when things calm down and cooler heads prevail, there is a great sense of national shame at the injustices perpetuated against innocent people whose only crime was their race, religion, national origin or ethnicity.

It is important that this House go on record as condemning these reprehensible acts which betray what is best about our Nation. We are a diverse Nation, and we are the stronger for it. We are we cannot permit blind hatred to destroy that.

In addition to this resolution, I would hope that this House will also turn its attention to the extent to which the government has assaulted the rights of innocent individuals simply because of their race, religion or national origin. In addition to the hate crimes perpetuated by individuals, we must be vigilant that the power of government not be abused and that people not be targeted by law enforcement even if they have done nothing wrong.

The right to live free from violence and discrimination is a fundamental right of all Americans. So long as one American is denied that right, no one can truly be free. I urges all my colleagues to support this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Crowley).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Holt).

Mr. Speaker, I have no requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Texas for the time.

I rise today to voice my strong support to House Resolution 234, introduced in a bipartisan way by the gentleman from California (Mr. Issa) and the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur). House Resolution 234 condemns bigotry and violence against Arab Americans, Muslim Americans, South Asian Americans, and Sikh Americans at a time when Americans in these communities are facing unprecedented levels of discrimination and abuse.

We cannot stand by and allow the ignorance of a few to overcome the tradition of tolerance in this Nation of Nations. I urge my colleagues to vote unanimously for this important resolution and, in so doing, send a clear and bipartisan message to all Americans that Congress will not accept, condone, or ignore acts of hatred.

Although the tragic events of September 11, 2001, united most Americans, some misguided individuals in our society have taken their anger and directed it at their neighbors because they look different or subscribe to a different religion.

We Americans have struggled throughout our history to purge ourselves of crippling stereotypes that spread a cloud of ignorance and despair on our otherwise great society. Members of this Congress and of the larger American community fought valiantly in the 1960s to end legal racial discrimination against African Americans. We have come a long way since the days of sanctioned racism, but we still have miles to go to eradicate the vestiges of bigotry that from time to time consume the ignorant among us.

In my home State of New Jersey, many of my constituents of Asian descent, many of Muslim religion or Sikh religion have suffered acts of violence simply due to their religion or the color of their skin. One of the most tragic cases involved the murder 4 days after September 11, 2001, of Waqar Hasan who was shot to death in his convenience store by a man who said he did it to retaliate against ``Arab Americans or whatever you want to call them.'' Hasan was a Pakistani immigrant who was murdered for no other reason than that he was a Muslim with a Middle Eastern face.

When Mr. Hasan was murdered, the visas and applications for permanent residency of his wife and four daughters died with him. After building lives in America for 9 years, the Hasan family has gone from being one step away from permanent residency to one step away from deportation.

Earlier this year, I introduced legislation, H.R. 867, to prevent the deportation of Waqar's wife and four daughters, who without this would be forced to leave America. I have been working closely with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, and I am grateful to the chairman and ranking member of the Committee on the Judiciary and its Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Claims for their bipartisan support of the Hasan family. I look forward to continue to work with them in the coming weeks to pass H.R. 867.

Today, Congress can take a step to help the Hasan family and immigrant families like them and any other families who are victims of racism and bigotry by passing House Resolution 234. We will be making a promise to the American people and all who seek a new life of opportunity on our shores that here in America we treat each other with dignity and respect.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Res. 234, a resolution to condemn bigotry and violence against many vital ethnic communities in the United States; and I want to say, unfortunately, many individuals including South Asian Americans, Arab Americans, Sikh Americans, and Muslim Americans have been targets of hate crimes for decades, being subject to assault, verbal slurs and property damage; but since the 9/11 attacks, there has been a significant backlash against men and women from all of these communities.

In my own district in New Jersey, I represent a number of Indian Americans, both Hindu, Muslim and Sikh, who have been targets of violence and discrimination. To my knowledge, eating establishments and places of worship have been damaged and vandalized as a result of systematic bigotry and racism. Moreover, South Asian Americans are specifically being targeted with violence because in the minds of some they had been inaccurately associated with those responsible for the 9/ 11 attacks.

Mr. Speaker, I wanted to mention specifically the Sikh American community because at several forums that I held after 9/11 two years ago, they in particular came to the forums. I remember one specifically at Rutgers University in my district where many of them had talked personally about the problems that they had. The Sikhs, as many of my colleagues know, wear the turbans usually, and they also carry a symbolic, although it is not a real knife, a symbolic sort of something that looks like a knife; and they in particular I know have been the subject of many of these attacks. We need to be very clear about the fact that the Sikh American community in no way was responsible for anything related to 9/11.

In addition to that, I know that the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Holt) and I at the time of 9/11 two years ago, just a few days later, there was one of our constituents from Milltown, I represented Milltown at the time. My colleague represents Milltown now, but we had one of the most reprehensible of these attacks that was perpetrated on Waqar Hasan, a resident of Milltown who had recently moved to Texas. This was only 4 days after 9/11 on September 15. He was shot to death in his Texas grocery store in the most extreme form of misplaced revenge since the 9/11 tragedy.

Mr. Hasan, his wife and four daughters are Muslims who emigrated to the United States in 1990, full of the hope and excitement that many new immigrants feel as they begin their lives afresh in America as Americans. But that happiness was cut short not by terrorists a million miles away but by a fellow American who felt justified in taking the life of an innocent man and destroying the lives of a wife and four children out of bigotry and hatred.

This spate of attacks on innocent Americans like Mr. Hasan around the country is a reprehensible reaction to a tragedy that befell all of America on 9/11, and they must not be tolerated.

Let me just say, Mr. Speaker, I support this resolution. It condemns such acts of hatred against innocent individuals. I also believe that Congress must support the enforcement of hate crime laws, provide support and protection to targeted ethnic communities, and reject policies that are inherently biased against South Asian Americans and Arab Americans.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my support for H. Res. 234. I am delighted to have had the honor of authoring this resolution with my friend and colleague, the gentlelady from Ohio, Marcy Kaptur. I also am grateful to the gentleman from Wisconsin, Chairman Jim Sensenbrenner, for his fine work in moving this bill through his Committee to the House floor.

I am pleased to be joined by over 52 Members who co-sponsored this resolution. Twenty other Members have also expressed their strong support for the resolution since it passed out of the Judiciary Committee on the 25th of July. Alcee Hastings, Jan Schakowsky, Bob Filner, Martin Sabo, Maurice Hinchey, Denise Majette, Chris Shays, Neil Abercrombie, Lee Terry, Henry Waxman, John Olver, Judy Biggert, Rod Kind, Lloyd Doggett, Ciro Rodriguez, Bill Pascrell, and Robert Matsui have all told me that they would like to be formally recognized for their support of this resolution. I thank them for their support.

This is an important moment for Arab-American, Muslim American, Sikh- American, and South Asian American communities throughout the United States. These communities have experienced increased levels of bigotry and violence since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

In the first nine weeks following the September 11 tragedy, there were about 700 violent incidents directed at Arab-Americans or those perceived to be Arab-Americans, like Sikh Americans and South Asian Americans. Fortunately, this rate dropped very quickly after those first nine weeks, thanks in large part to President Bush's repeated calls for tolerance.

The President's leadership on this issue prompted thousands of state and local officials, community leaders, and private citizens across the country to reach out to these minority groups with voices of compassion and support. I am delighted that Congress can now formally join them in standing by our fellow Americans who have unfairly had to live a cloud of suspicion.

Arab-Americans, Muslim Americans, Sikh Americans and South Asian Americans have all contributed greatly to this nation. Many serve in elected office, law enforcement agencies, or the military. The Commanding General of CENTCOM, John Abizaid, is an American of Arab ancestry. These men and women are part of the kaleidoscope of cultures that makes up this country. While they come from many diverse backgrounds, all of them traveled to America for one main reason: to taste freedom. We treat them as brothers and sisters because they share our desire to live in a nation that is tolerant, just, and free.

Again, thank you, Mr. Chairman, for your fine work on this effort.

Mr. Speaker, I stand in support of this resolution and congratulate the gentleman from California (Mr. Issa), who could not be here this afternoon for consideration of the resolution. I know it was his idea to have this resolution offered. As someone who represents a district with a

large Arab American population, I can tell my colleagues that they contribute mightily to our community in so many different ways.

My grandparents came to Peoria, Illinois, in 1895 from a region of Lebanon and settled in Peoria; and as a result of their being the first Lebanese Americans to settle in our neck of the woods, they were able to persuade others to come over. In those days, I am sure they were not known as Arab Americans. They were known as immigrants who came to America seeking the American Dream, and I think that has been true for decades of Arab Americans who have come to this country and contributed an awful lot to our society and contributed a lot to the growth of our country and the stability of our country.

It was not till 9/11, I think, until maybe people had a different point of view about Arab Americans and also perhaps Muslims; but these people have contributed so much, and I think it is important for Congress to speak out in a way that says that these folks are good Americans, they are good citizens. They contribute a great deal to our country.

I might make note, too, of the fact that there are Arab Americans serving in this body, including the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Rahall), the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. John), John Sununu who once served in the House and now is in the other body, and of course, the gentleman from California (Mr. Issa), and also in the administration Spencer Abraham who was also a member of the other body. So not only have Arab Americans contributed a great deal to the country and to the greatness of this country but have contributed also to the great body that we call the House of Representatives and to the other body.

So I think it is worth noting the contribution of Arab Americans and the fact that 9/11 has made a little different way of life for them and that Congress recognizes their contribution; and I appreciate the fact that this resolution recognizes that and appreciate the fact that the chairman has allowed me to recognize their contributions.

I thank the chairman for his indulgence.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Texas for yielding me this time.

I rise today to speak in strong support of this resolution. We have all seen the rise in violence against our fellow Americans, whether they are of Arab, Muslim, South Asian or Sikh descent, since the September 11 attack upon our Nation. Our Nation must not allow these attacks to continue. We need to work together to ensure that these types of crimes no longer occur.

A family in my district in Queens fell victim to a hate crime of this nature in August of this year. The Singh family, a proud Sikh American family of Woodside, Queens, my hometown, was attacked simply because of the way they looked. I am proud that the neighbors of the Singh family called the police when this hate crime was occurring and even came to their assistance during the attacks. That is the neighborhood of Woodside that I know and love.

A strong community is what it will take to stop these horrendous crimes from occurring in the future. It is hard for all of us to understand how people have so much hate in them, and we need to all work together to ensure that hate crimes stop. Whether they are against Sikhs, Blacks, Muslims, Jews or gays, hate crimes need to be stopped.

The best way, I believe, to stop hate crimes is through education. By bringing this problem out in the open, we can start to solve it by educating our population.

During July, I held a congressional briefing as the co-chair of the Caucus on India and Indian American Affairs about the rise of hate crimes against the South Asian population here in the United States. A representative of Sikh Mediawatch and Resource Task Force, also known as SMART, attended this briefing and spoke with Members of the Congress on the importance of educating people so they understand the culture and will be less likely to participate in hate crimes. I commend SMART's efforts to work not only within the Sikh community but with all communities affected by hate crimes. We all must work together to ensure that these types of crimes no longer occur.

I urge all of my colleagues to support this important resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I am honored to join my good friend and colleague, the gentleman from California (Mr. Issa), to sponsor this important resolution in condemning violence against South Asians in America.

As the Republican co-chair of the caucus on India and Indian Americans, I am very concerned about the weekly occurrences of violence committed against Indian Americans, especially Sikhs. Every week in national newspapers like India Abroad and News India-Times, I read reports of violence and even homicides committed against Indian Americans working in gas stations, convenience stores, food delivery positions, or driving taxis. I am concerned some of these attacks are motivated by ignorance and fear. These hardworking citizens perform some of the most thankless jobs in America. They are also vulnerable to physical harm due to their solitary conditions and late work hours.

There can be no justification for attacking a fellow American simply because of their skin color or religion. Americans understand we feel anger toward the terrorists who murdered our countrymen on September 11. However, we must not rush to judgment and display prejudice or bias against those Americans of South Asian descent, people who are just as angered about the attack on our country and just as eager to defeat terrorism. We must rally together as a Nation to prevent bias-motivated crimes against Indian Americans.

Schools must continue to educate student bodies so that harassment and violence against Sikh boys no longer occur. Further, we must vigorously prosecute these crimes when they do happen.

I want to commend Attorney General John Ashcroft because he is taking the necessary steps to aggressively root out those who seek to harm this Nation, yet maintain the civil rights of those citizens who are here legally and abide by our laws.

I want to again thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Issa) for his leadership in introducing this important resolution, and I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of it.