‘Scapegoating Muslims’: Rep. Scanlon TORCHES GOP over anti-Islam rhetoric at Anti-Sharia Law Hearing

Added: 2026-05-24

[00:00:00]Texas's fiercely contested Republican primaries have moved into runoff elections now just under two weeks away.

[00:00:06]So in Texas, this issue continues to be a flash point for Republican, federal, state, and local candidates as they desperately compete with one another over who can be toughest against their Sharia law fantasy. Politicians standing up against madeup threats of Sharia law incursions are shamefully scapegoating Muslim Americans for political gain.

[00:00:29]Over and over again, we've seen this White House and its Republican allies in Congress try to use the power of the federal government to spy on and target Americans whose opinions and beliefs they don't like, whether those are religious, political, or otherwise. But Americans know, we know at our core that if the government can go after one group, it can go after all of us. And that's why people have shown up, stood up, and spoken out about this kind of activity.

[00:00:58]Uh this is the second time this year that this subcommittee has been convened to hold a hearing about Sharia law, which unsurprisingly doesn't even rank on the list of top 10 issues keeping Americans up at night. Actually, it doesn't appear to be an issue anywhere in this country except in Texas, where Republican politicians are so desperate to distract voters from their disastrous economy and surging gas prices because, as one Republican strategist said, these candidates don't want to be talking about the economy right now. So, they've met up made up a conspiracy theory about their Muslim neighbors in order to scare and motivate voters. But repeating lies over and over and over again doesn't make them true and it doesn't make unconstitutional bigotry legal. The last time the subcommittee convened on this topic, I wondered if our colleagues actually believed their own hysterical and wildly unsubstantiated claims about people of the Muslim faith trying to impose so-called Sharia law on the United States. But as before, they're not producing one ounce of proof to vindicate their fear-mongering.

[00:02:14]Tellingly, they've also not produced a single Muslim witness or expert on Islam or Sharia law.

[00:02:21]And now, the only thing that's changed between the last hearing and now is that Texas's fiercely contested Republican primaries have moved into runoff elections, now just under two weeks away. So in Texas, this issue continues to be a flash point for Republican, federal, state, and local candidates as they desperately compete with one another over who can be toughest against their Sharia law fantasy. It's a threat based not on reality, but invented with manufactured alarm. Because like belief systems that guide adherence of other faiths, including Christianity or Judaism, Sharia is about individual personal religious observance, not about shaping America's national laws. And contrary to the misleading claims that have been offered here, there's no evidence of any plot to impose Sharia law on non-believers of Islam. It's just not happening. No matter how many right-wing influencers make videos about it, no matter how many Texas laws are passed to combat it, or what legislation is introduced here in DC with flashy acronyms decrying it, there's no evidence that a proposed real estate development in the Dallas suburbs, which was initiated by members of the area's growing Muslim population, is a Sharia compound, as Texas Republicans have claimed. To say otherwise is to spread blatant misinformation. In fact, even the Trump Justice Department closed an investigation into the development, finding no basis for any violation of fair housing laws. Politicians standing up against madeup threats of Sharia law incursions are shamefully scapegoating Muslim Americans for political gain without any care for how many people end up as collateral damage to this kind of rhetoric. Because these culture wars, including desperate political stunts like scapegoating followers of Islam, have realworld consequences. Words matter and stirring up hatred and bigotry. When that happens, real people are put at risk. Hate crimes against Muslims in particular have increased. In cynically playing on division to win an election, Republicans sacrifice the safety of the very Americans they're supposed to be trying to represent.

[00:04:45]The fact is in this country you can't ban a person's right to practice Islam any more than you could ban a person's practice of Christianity, Judaism, or the decision to practice no religion at all. Our Constitution and particularly the First Amendment, which was central to its adoption in 1787, remains clear.

[00:05:04]In this country, people have the right to hold and express whatever religious beliefs they choose, or none at all. And despite the arguments we're hearing from our Republican colleagues, we know that from our republic's earliest days, Muslims were intended to be included within the fabric of American life.

[00:05:23]Thomas Jefferson specifically referenced followers of Islam among other faiths in his writings about the passage of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom in 1786, which was one of his proudest achievements and the First Amendment's precursor. This is a core component of our Constitution that's particularly valued in my home state of Pennsylvania, which was founded by William Penn to promote religious freedom and where the Constitution was written. For hundreds of years, Pennsylvania has been home to people of many faiths and denominations, including Protestants, Catholics, Jews, Evangelicals, Quakers, Muslims, Sikhs, and people of no faith at all.

[00:06:03]In my district, we have a growing cultural center, Africa Town, founded by immigrants turned citizens, many of whom are Muslim, and who have made huge contributions to our economic, cultural, charitable, and civic life. One of our most cherished American values is that you don't have to agree with your neighbors beliefs, but no one can use the power of the government to punish or discriminate against those who do. And since this is the Constitution subcommittee, any of my colleagues who find that principle suspicious or foreign should probably take another look at the First Amendment and the oath they took to support and defend the Constitution. Unfortunately, over and over again, we've seen this White House and its Republican allies in Congress try to use the power of the federal government to spy on and target Americans whose opinions and beliefs they don't like, whether those are religious, political, or otherwise. But Americans know, we know at our core that if the government can go after one group, it can go after all of us. And that's why people have shown up, stood up, and spoken out about this kind of activity. Instead of trying to score political points at the expense of innocent people, I wish our Republican colleagues would focus on making Americans lives better. instead of going along with this administration when it starts tariff wars which have driven up the price of housing, cars, and consumer goods or slashing programs that Americans rely on for better health care, housing, energy, and nutrition, and starting foreign wars that have put Americans in danger, driven up the cost of gas, or making attacks on basic liberties like free speech, free press, the right to peaceful protest, or in this hearing, freedom of religion.

[00:07:48]We should be uniting behind these fundamental principles that make this country actually great. Not fueling division by going after our fellow Americans with trumped up charges. Uh going after our family, our friends, our neighbors, and casting them as the enemy. So, I'm hopeful that we won't have a third round of this pointless hearing. But with that, I yield back.