Democratic proposal for State Department anti-Islamophobia office to get House committee vote

[December 14, 2021]    By Moira Warburton

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Democratic proposal for a U.S. State Department office addressing anti-Muslim bias will get a procedural vote in a House committee on Tuesday, after a Republican congresswoman used an Islamophobic slur against a Democratic colleague.

U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN) attends a news conference addressing the anti-Muslim comments made by Representative Lauren Boebert (R-CO) towards Omar, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., November 30, 2021. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz

The bill, authored by Representative Ilhan Omar, would create a special envoy for monitoring and combating Islamophobia, and include state-sponsored anti-Muslim violence in the department's annual human rights reports.

The House Rules committee will discuss and vote on the bill Tuesday, a key step before it can advance to the full House.

That comes just a few weeks after video emerged showing first-term Republican Representative Lauren Boebert calling Omar, a Muslim who was born in Somalia, a member of a "jihad squad."

That comment led to calls by Democrats for a vote to strip Boebert of her committee assignments, and some criticism by fellow Republican Representative Nancy Mace.

(Reporting by Moira Warburton; Editing by Scott Malone and Bill Berkrot)

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