Weeks after Republican Representative Lauren Boebert of Colorado taunted Representative Ilhan Omar, a Democrat from Minnesota and compared her to a bomb-carrying terrorist, the House of Representatives passed a bill aimed at combating Islamophobia.
The bill, conceived in response to Boebert's controversial remarks, was sponsored by Omar and was approved on a 219-212 party-line vote. If fully passed, the bill would establish a new special envoy position at the State Department that would analyze instances of Islamophobia both in the U.S. and internationally.
According to House Rules Committee Democratic chairman Representative James McGovern, the proposal is not just a response to the rhetoric expressed by Boebart, but a response to rising cases of anti-Muslim sentiment presented by the House Rules Committee.
While discussing the bill, McGovern, who did not name Boebert in his remarks, said the bill came to light after a member of Congress "told a completely fabricated story again and again that implies a Muslim colleague is a terrorist ... just because they are Muslim."
McGovern added he felt that those actions were "a stain on this entire institution."
One of the co-sponsors of the bill, Representative Jan Schakowsky, also condemned the actions and rhetoric expressed toward her colleague. "She has been subjected to relentless attacks and horrifying threats not just from her fellow Americans, but even within the halls of Congress," she said of Omar. "And enough is enough."
Omar herself defended the bill, saying that the U.S. was built on protecting religious freedoms. Because of this, she argued, they should have a larger hand in protecting Muslims against religious persecution.
"We must lead the global effort," she said. "As Americans, we should stand united against all forms of bigotry."
Boebert did not speak during the debate. The bill is not expected to pass through the Senate, although it is significant as the first piece of legislature made in response to the controversy.
The ordeal provides yet another window onto the state of affairs in the Republican Party left behind by Donald Trump, almost a year after his supporters stormed the Capitol trying to overturn Joe Biden's election. Republican leaders are unwilling or unable to publicly admonish their own, particularly those allied with Trump, even when their everyday rhetoric borders on racist hate speech.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters Tuesday's vote will not be the last word from the Democratic leaders on Boebert's behavior.
But they have repeatedly said it's up to the Republican leadership to stand up to their most outspoken members who cross a line. The Democrats so far have refrained from more punitive actions of censuring Boebert or removing her committee assignments, as they have for other lawmakers -- and as some Democrats wanted.
Representative Kevin McCarthy, the minority leader, has not signaled any further steps.
McCarthy, R-Calif., has said he helped engineer a phone call between Boebert and Omar days after the Republican's remarks came under scrutiny.
And before the call, he said Boebert had apologized.
But her apology — "to anyone in the Muslim community I offended" — fell short for some lawmakers.
Rather than smoothing tensions, the call between Boebert and Omar ended abruptly. Boebert refused Omar's request for a public apology and said Omar hung up on her. Omar said in a statement that she ended an unproductive call.
Boebert set off the firestorm around Thanksgiving after a video posted to Facebook showed her telling constituents about an interaction with Omar at a House elevator.
As she stepped on the elevator, Boebert said she spotted Omar. "Well, she doesn't have a backpack," Boebert recalled saying, an apparent reference to a suicide bomb. "We should be fine."
Omar, one of just a few Muslims in Congress and the only lawmaker who regularly wears a religious headscarf, said the scene never happened.
It wasn't the first time Boebert, the conservative newcomer, has tested the rules of civility.
Last month, Boebert derided Omar as a member of the "jihad squad" during the House debate to censure another Republican, Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz. He was being reprimanded for having tweeted an animated video depicting the slaying of another member of the so-called "squad" of liberal lawmakers, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.
Gosar, shortly after the censure vote, reposted the offensive video to his Twitter account.
In many ways, the Republican lawmakers are taking a page from Trump's playbook. On the campaign trail and in the White House, Trump routinely mocked minority groups, derided certain African countries with a vulgarity, and slapped a ban on arrivals from predominantly Muslim countries as one of his early executive actions as president.
Republican opponents said the bill was too quickly produced, failed to fully define "Islamophobia" and shouldn't provide special protections for Muslims separate from other religious groups.
One Republican, Representative Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, brought up past statements by Omar that he said were anti-Semitic and supportive of terrorism.
Shortly after taking office in 2019, Omar, who has been critical of Israel, tweeted that some lawmakers are only supportive of the Jewish state for the fundraising money — a comment widely seen as a slur. At the time, she "unequivocally" apologized. Perry also mentioned Omar's remarks about the September 11, 2001, attacks that were seen as dismissive but have also been circulated out of context.
Democrats moved to strike Perry's comments from the record as violating House rules.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
