(RepublicanDaily.org) – Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) has chiseled out a reputation as one of the most radical leftist lawmakers currently in office. As a member of “The Squad,” the loose allegiance of liberal lawmakers of which Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) is considered the de facto leader, Omar has backed many far-left policies. She’s also courted controversy more than once by making statements analysts regarded as anti-Semitic.
Now, it looks like the firebrand Minnesota lawmaker has alienated figures within her own party with a controversial new measure.
The Combating International Islamophobia Act
This bill, which the Democratic majority on the House Foreign Affairs Committee approved last week, would institute important changes in the way our legal system deals with instances of Islamophobia. Under the terms of the legislation, the State Department would create a new office and special envoy to deal with Islamophobia globally. There would also be changes in how the department reports on human rights issues and global religious liberty.
The Biden Administration Pushes Back
However, despite Omar’s keenness to get this proposal over the line, the White House doesn’t appear to be on board. Several officials have expressed reservations about the legislation.
The State Department allegedly sent a list of concerns about the bill to congressional staffers. While department heads claimed to agree with the provisions of the legislation in principle, they had a number of objections in terms of the specific changes it would make. For example, the State Department would like to retain more flexibility in how it should apply certain rules and its structuring of the new office and special envoy.
Additionally, the department feels the bill’s attempts to change human rights reporting conventions are misguided. Officials claim there’s no need to add more specificity in terms of how topics of human rights abuses are dealt with, and that some of the challenges the bill aims to address are already dealt with by authorities in other areas.
Mitch Hailstone, director of communications for the Republican Study Committee, said the new rules were unnecessary because there were already a number of State Department offices dealing with Islamophobia. Also, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), who is the ranking member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the State Department wants to see the bill undergo considerable changes before it gets through the chamber. In particular, he claims the department is opposed to the creation of a new special envoy.
Will Omar get her way, or will she have to submit to pressure from the Biden administration?
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