Speech #1140069249

No family should have to live with the fear that their loved ones were the perpetrators of mass violence. We must work together to guard against such ideologies that would steal our young people from us. Given that the United States is historically a nation built upon immigration and the tenets of religious freedom. Americans have long lived alongside others and have seen people of different faiths live together in peace. Muslims have lived in America since the colonial days and served under the command of George Washington. There are an estimated 5.900 Muslims who currently serve in our armed services defending our country and our way of life. When the Supreme Court ruled this summer in favor of a young Muslim woman who allegedly suffered employment discrimination because of her head scarf. Justice Scalia announced the 8to1 decision. noting. "This is really easy." Neither immigrants nor Muslims are new to our shores. Islam is also not new to Europe. Europes own historic relationship with the rest of the globe has set the stage for ties that have long served as the backbone of prosperity for the Western world. Europeans have created a presence throughout the worldand that is a twoway street. Many countries in the OSCE region. including our own. therefore have a learned history of integration that can be useful in addressing the increasing diversity stemming from the refugee crisis and changing demographics. Given the conflicts that have forced mass displacement and migration. we should support longterm inclusion and integration efforts at the national. regional. and local level throughout the OSCE regionespecially with the leaders of humanitarian efforts for Syrian and other refugeessuch as what is being done today in Turkey. Germany. Sweden. Austria. and OSCE partner states such as Jordan and Lebanon. They are taking on tremendous burdens for the refugees because they know it is the right thing to do. They need partners. including the United States. The successful integration of immigrants and refugeesincluding access to quality housing. education. employment. and public servicesfacilitates meaningful intellectual. economic. and other contributions of migrants and refugees that are especially critical for children. These are areas in which our nations should exchange experts and information. Earlier this year. I introduced provisions in the Senate for a Joint Action Plan between the United States and the European Union to formulize and coordinate public and private sector antidiscrimination and inclusion efforts. We need diverse coalitions working together to address the momentous threats we face today. This includes leading by example by providing factual information about refugees and immigrants and publicly addressing narratives of hate. It is in that spirit that I will continue to work with other parliamentarians and with the administration to combat antiSemitism. racism. and other forms of intolerance in the United States and elsewhere in the OSCE region. I will do that as the special representative of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. and I will do that as a U.S.