The Muslim-American Homeland Security Congress (MAHSC) on March 18 praised Sheriff Lee Baca for his support of mainstream American Muslims and their organizations, and for his rejection of fear-mongering tactics aimed at mar-ginalizing the Islamic community.
At a hearing earlier this month of the House Committee on Homeland Security, Sheriff Baca testified: “Americans, particularly elected officials, should not claim Islam supports terrorism. This is counter-productive to trust. It plays into the terrorist strategy that the West is against Islam. At this time in our history, with billions of dollars being spent on a war against terror, our nation should ask that all Americans follow President Obama’s example and be the instrument of goodwill to Muslims throughout the world.
“It is my belief that the average American has the potential to be our best ambassador of goodwill. However, senators, members of congress, governors, mayors, boards of supervisors, sheriffs, police chiefs, scholars, scientists, and laborers and their leaders must set the example with a desire to visit mosques and communicate with Muslims, worldwide, in the quest of better understanding Islam. Extremists are what they are, but they cannot thrive or survive in a world that is not indifferent.”
During the hearing, Rep. Mark Souder, a five-year Republican member from Indiana, questioned Sheriff Baca’s relationship with the Washington, D.C.-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
Souder said, “There’s a substantial difference between protected speech and government officials going to fundraisers for organizations that do speech that is radical. And Sheriff Baca, you’ve been 10 times to the fundraisers for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which even the FBI has separated themselves from.”
Baca interrupted Souder to say, “and I’ll be there 10 more times,” adding that CAIR did not support terrorists.
Sheriff Baca cited his four decades in law enforcement, his service in the Marines, and his many trips to Israel, and told Rep. Souder, “For you to associate me somehow through some circuitous attack on CAIR, is not only inappropriate, it is un-American.”
After the hearing, Sheriff Baca said, “People who are misinformed are going to have opinions,” he said. “But when a member of Congress is that misinformed, you gotta question whether or not they understand what their constitutional obligations are when it comes to public safety. Which apparently are not very much.”
