00:00I'm seeing a lot of talk from my colleagues on the left, too, as we shift toward this reinvigorated talk
00:06about Jim Crow and the path to this country.
00:10And as someone who is a direct descendant of a slave, as someone whose great-great-grandfather was born on
00:16a plantation, I can assure you, slavery is over.
00:21Jim Crow is dead.
00:22Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
00:24Mr. Lopez, you're a six-year-old sophomore at Wiley High School.
00:27Did you ever imagine that your high school in Texas, of all places, our great state of Texas, of course,
00:33would become a breeding ground for pro-Sharia material and Islamic conversation?
00:38I would never imagine that we would have a hearing questioning the legitimacy of terror-linked organizations going to schools.
00:47I would never believe we would have this, but that's the America we live in, and it's a sad situation.
00:52Do you think there's an incongruency in the way you are treated as a Christian in your school, in the
00:58juxtaposition of that, in the way that your school is welcoming Sharia law and Islamic doctrine?
01:04Yes, there's a clear double standard.
01:06It's a shame that we are here today, and I'm sorry that we have failed you, but this is why
01:11we have this caucus, because we're going to make sure that we get this right, and everybody is treated fairly,
01:15regardless of your race, religion, or creed.
01:17To some people in this room, what I'm about to say may sound a bit controversial, but it's not controversial
01:22because it's true.
01:24America is a Christian nation.
01:27We're founded upon Christian values.
01:31Our founders believed that our rights did not come from government, but they came from God.
01:38Those ideals shaped our institutions, our culture, our laws, and the very moral foundation and fabric of what I know
01:44is the greatest country in the world.
01:46Now, America is also a country that welcomes people from all backgrounds of every culture and faith.
01:53That's actually what is a part of our greatness, and as somebody like me that fought in combat to ensure
01:58that anyone could come to this nation and believe what they want to believe and believe in their first and
02:03second amendment rights,
02:04I welcome that more than you could ever believe because I laid my life down on the line to ensure
02:09that that would happen.
02:11Again, but let's be clear about something, assimilation to American values and ideas matter.
02:19When we begin importing belief systems and cultural values that are fundamentally incompatible with the principles that build this nation,
02:27we should not be surprised when the social fabric begins to fray.
02:32Let me be clear, let me be clear, this is not hateful, this is not racist, this is not xenophobic,
02:39and I'm not racist, I've been black for like my whole life, for like 44 years.
02:45I see the Sharia law has no place to usurp our constitution in these United States of America, and especially
02:52in our schools, and especially in our public institutions.
02:57America's legal system is rooted in the constitution and equal justice under the law, not religious extremism or parallel legal
03:04systems.
03:05We have learned from many of our colleagues on the left that this tends to be how they tack in
03:11this general direction.
03:13Ten Commandments, not allowed, bad.
03:15Islamic pamphlets, good.
03:17Ten Commandments, bad.
03:19Free Korans in schools, good.
03:22Ten Commandments, bad.
03:24Understanding Sharia law.
03:26Brochures, good.
03:29This is the hypocrisy that we Christian Americans are quite sick of.
03:34The same people who mock or marginalize America's founding values suddenly become deeply tolerant when the ideology in question is
03:43directed against Western traditions and institutions.
03:46Meanwhile, Sharia law is normalized and distributed to children in school while expressions of traditional faith are treated like a
03:54threat.
03:55Here's how things should work.
03:57Math, yeah.
04:00Free Korans?
04:01No.
04:02History?
04:03Yeah.
04:04Sharia brochures?
04:05No.
04:06Science?
04:07Yeah.
04:09Shahada cards?
04:10No.
04:12This is a very simple idea that should be understood by all Americans.
04:19One of my best friends is a Muslim American and he is a fighting Texas Aggie, but he actually sees
04:24himself as an American first and has fully embraced our culture and what it means to be an American.
04:30That's good.
04:31That's what we want.
04:32That's why we call this place a melting pot.
04:35But I'm seeing a lot of talk from my colleagues on the left, too, as we shift toward this reinvigorated
04:42talk about Jim Crow and the past of this country.
04:47And as someone who is a direct descendant of a slave, as someone whose great-great-grandfather was born on
04:53a plantation, I can assure you slavery is over.
04:57Jim Crow is dead.
04:59When I go anywhere, I don't see any white-only signs.
05:03I don't.
05:04I promise you.
05:04I am a black man that represented a white-majority district in Texas, the great-great-grandson of a man
05:12born on a plantation, stands before you today as a proud conservative Republican from Texas, as a believer and follower
05:19in Christ, and as a believer in what this country can be if we allow equality for not just Muslim
05:27Americans, not just Buddhist Americans, but also Christian Americans like yourself.
05:32God bless you, young man.
05:33God bless you, young man.
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