CAPAC Leadership Denounce Hateful, Anti-Muslim Comments from Republican Members of Congress

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the leadership of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) issued a statement in response to hateful comments from Republican Members of Congress: 

 “In recent weeks, Republican Members of Congress have spewed racist, Islamophobic, and xenophobic rhetoric against prominent Muslim American officials. This includes calling their fellow colleague a ‘Muslim terrorist’ and advocating for the denaturalization and deportation of a U.S. citizen. 

“Let us be clear: this type of conduct is completely unacceptable and beneath the office that we are elected to serve. At a time when political violence is on a disturbing rise, we cannot allow such dangerous comments to be left unchecked. Yet Speaker Johnson has continued to turn a blind eye to this disgusting rhetoric from his own party — emboldening his members and normalizing racist, xenophobic, and anti-Muslim sentiment. 

“This moment cannot be met with silence. Every American deserves to feel safe in this country, no matter their race, religion, gender, or identity. As members of CAPAC leadership, we demand Speaker Johnson to hold his members accountable and to stop the spread of dangerous rhetoric that is unbecoming of this legislative body.” 

The statement was signed by CAPAC Chair Grace Meng (NY-06), First Vice Chair Mark Takano (CA-39), Second Vice Chair Jill Tokuda (HI-02), Whip Ami Bera (CA-06), Freshman Representative Suhas Subramanyam (VA-10), and Chair Emerita Judy Chu (CA-28). 

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