VOLUME No: 49 Issue No: 2

Washington, D.C. - May 9, 2003

A Senate Resolution Condemning Hate Crimes Against Muslims

On Tuesday, Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), Senators John Sununu (R-NH)
and Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) introduced a resolution condemning
bigotry and violence against Muslim Americans, Arab Americans,
South-Asian Americans and Sikh Americans.

"There is never a place for this kind of hatred in this country,
but now, more than ever, we simply cannot allow prejudice to divide
our nation. These communities are an important part of America, and
they must be protected." Sen. Durbin said.

In the aftermath of the September11th terrorist attacks, hate crimes,
including violent physical assaults, against, Muslim Americans, Arab
Americans, South-Asian Americans and Sikh Americans seriously
increased. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reported that
the number of anti-Muslim incidents rose 1600 percent from 2000 to
2001.

Since the beginning of the war in Iraq, hate crimes against these
communities have surged again, with many of these crimes taking place
in the Chicago area. Since the end of February, the FBI has
investigated at least six reports of possible hate crimes in the
region, including violent assaults, death threats and vandalism at a
mosque.

Durbin said the resolution recognizes that members of these
communities greatly contribute to American society and serve
honorably in the military and law enforcement, urges respect for
civil rights and civil liberties, condemns bias-motivated crimes
against members of these communities and calls upon federal and local
law enforcement to prosecute such crimes vigorously.

Evangelical Christians Discuss Christian-Muslim Relations

In an a positive first step towards a constructive Christian-Muslim
dialogues, Evangelical Christian leaders gathered from around the
nation to oppose anti-Muslim and anti-Islam statements made by some
of their leaders such as Jerry Farewell, Franklin Graham and Pat
Robertson. Graham has called Islam an "evil" and
"wicked" religion. Robertson portrayed Muhammad as "an
absolute wild-eyed fanatic . . . a robber and brigand." Falwell
called the Muslim prophet "a terrorist."

No Muslims attended the one day conference. To that effect, Diane L.
Knippers, president of the Institute on Religion and Democracy, said:
"we felt that we weren't ready, that we had to have a
conversation among ourselves first."

"The primary motivation, speakers made clear, is concern that
remarks intended for a domestic constituency have reverberated
through the Islamic world, inflamed Muslim governments, sparked
riots, endangered Christian aid workers and made missionary efforts
harder."

Rev. Ted Haggard, president of the National Association of
Evangelicals, which organized the gathering of about 40 pastors,
missionaries and heads of religious charities that are active in
Muslim countries said that "since we are in a global community,
no doubt about it, we must temper our speech."

Last month, Mr. Richard Cizik, vice president of the National
Association of Evangelicals attended the Islamic Institute's Third
Annual Conference on Free Trade and Democracy held in Doha, Qatar.

A Tax-Cut Bill Agreement Reached by Republican Senators

Last night, Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME) managed to reach a deal on
President Bush's tax-cut bill that reduces the tax individuals pay on
corporate dividends. Although the president had sought a full
elimination of the taxes that individuals pay on dividends, the new
plan sought something different. Under this deal, the first $500 of
income from dividends would not be taxed. As for the rest of an
individual's dividend income, in the first five years, 10 percent of
the rest of the income wouldn't be taxable, and for the next five
years, 20 percent wouldn't be taxable.

The Senate bill is expected to be worth about $430 billion. Sen.
Snowe and Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH) have maintained their position
that "any amount above $350 billion be accounted for through
offsetting spending cuts or revenue increases, and Republicans have
apparently found enough to satisfy the two."

"Given my concerns about future deficits, I believe this plan is
a fiscally-responsible approach," Sen. Snowe said. Her office
added that "nearly 85 percent of those who receive dividend
income are covered completely under the $500 limit."