Washington, MINA – A Democratic proposal for a US State Department office to tackle anti-Muslim bias received a procedural vote on a US congressional committee on Tuesday after a Republican congressman used an Islamophobic slur against a fellow Democrat.
The bill, written by Representative Ilhan Omar, would establish a special envoy to monitor and combat Islamophobia, as well as include state-sponsored anti-Muslim violence in the department’s annual human rights report, MEMO reported.
The House Rules Committee will discuss and vote on the bill today, as a step before it can advance to the Congress in full.
It comes just weeks after videos emerged showing first-term Republican deputy Lauren Boebert naming Omar, a Muslim born in Somalia, as a member of “jihadist forces”.
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The comments led to Democrat calls for a vote stripping Boebert of his committee duties, and some criticism by fellow Republican Representative Nancy Mace. (T/RE1)
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)
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