House to Advance Legislation to Combat Islamophobia

The House is planning to advance Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar’s legislation to create a special envoy to combat Islamophobia on Thursday, marking the first step members are taking since Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert’s anti-Muslim comments calling Omar a terrorist.

The bill, led by Omar that CNN exclusively reported in July, is scheduled to get voted out of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on Thursday, Omar’s office told CNN, and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer’s office announced the bill will get a floor vote on Tuesday. The bill would still need to pass the Senate before it could go to President Joe Biden’s desk to be signed into law.

“As the United Nations said this year, anti-Muslim hatred has reached ‘epidemic proportions’ and every country must take action,” Omar said in a statement to CNN.

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Omar and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke on the phone and at the Library of Congress on Wednesday and discussed Omar’s bill, according to a source familiar with the exchanges.

Moving forward this legislation that addresses the rise in incidents of Islamophobia worldwide, which has been sitting in committee for months, comes as Pelosi has been facing increasing pressure from members within her own party to take aggressive action against Boebert.

Progressive Democratic Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts is introducing a resolution, cosigned by other progressives, that would strip the Colorado Republican of her committee assignments.

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