Congressman says Muslim lawmaker's election threatens U.S.

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Congressman says Muslim lawmaker's election threatens U.S. 
CAIR demands apology from Virginia Republican Virgil Goode

A US lawmaker stirred up controversy when he expressed uneasiness over the election of a Muslim to serve with him in the House of Representatives, which he said endangered "the values and beliefs traditional" to the United States.

"The Muslim representative from Minnesota (Keith Ellison) was elected by the voters of that district, and if American citizens don't wake up and adopt the Virgil Goode position on immigration, there will likely be many more Muslims elected to office and demanding the use of the Koran" in their swearing-in ceremonies, Goode said in a letter to one of his associates, sent to AFP Wednesday.

The powerful Muslim rights group CAIR, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, demanded an apology from Goode in response to the letter.

"Representative Goode's Islamophobic remarks send a message of intolerance that is unworthy of anyone elected to public office," said CAIR National Legislative Director Corey Saylor. "There can be no reasonable defense for such bigotry."

Goode's spokesman said the lawmaker stood by his letter and would not offer any apology.

Ellison was also ordered by a conservative radio commentator, Dennis Prager, to take his oath of office using the Bible rather than the Koran.

"Mr. Ellison: America, not you, decides on what book its public servants take their oath," argued Prager, adding that taking the oath using the Muslim holy book would disqualify Ellison from serving in Congress.

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Congressman stands by anti-Islam letter
Goode fears many more Muslims to be elected if immigration policies not changed

U.S. Rep. Virgil H. Goode Jr. will not apologize to upset Islamic groups for a letter he wrote that decries the migration of Muslims to America, his press aide said today.

He stands by the letter," said Linwood Duncan, aide to the 5th District Republican.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations demanded an apology for the letter, which Goode, of Rocky Mount, sent to hundreds of constituents and which the council labeled Islamophobic.

"We need to stop illegal immigration totally and reduce legal immigration and end the diversity visas policy pushed hard by President Clinton and allowing many persons from the Middle East to come to this country," Goode wrote. "I fear that in the next century we will have many more Muslims in the United States if we do not adopt the strict immigration policies that I believe are necessary to preserve the values and beliefs traditional to the United States of America and to prevent our resources from being swamped."

Corey Saylor, national legislative director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, condemned the letter. "Representative Goode's Islamophobic remarks send a message of intolerance that is unworthy of anyone elected to public office," Saylor said. "There can be no reasonable defense for such bigotry."

Duncan said Goode wrote the letter earlier this month in response to hundreds of e-mails he had received from constituents concerned about Muslim Rep.-elect Keith Ellison's decision to use the Koran in his swearing-in ceremony. After one of the letters miscarried, its contents have been plastered online across the blogosphere.

"I do not subscribe to using the Koran in any way," Goode wrote in the letter's opening paragraph. "The Muslim Representative from Minnesota was elected by the voters of that district and if American citizens don't wake up and adopt the Virgil Goode position on immigration there will likely be many more Muslims elected to office and demanding the use of the Koran."