National Origin-Based Antidiscrimination for Nonimmigrants Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

I just want to express my incredible gratitude, first of all, to Congresswoman Judy Chu for her tireless leadership on this issue, and to the Muslim community in my district for their tireless work and advocacy on this issue.

I remember the day well when President Trump issued this Muslim ban right at the beginning of his administration. And I remember running out to the airport immediately, to the international terminal. And shortly after I got there, there ended up being literally thousands of people who had gathered, at the shame on the United States of America. The people who came that day all had some documentation. They had visas. At first, even people with green cards were being held and oppressed.

Who are we? Who are we as the United States of America?

And I know that, finally, President Biden has said: No Muslim ban.

But we want to make it the law of the land so no other President can do such a thing that, based on religion, people would be banned from the United States of America.

I want to tell you, I take this personally as a Jew, myself. You know, I am a first-generation American. Neither of my parents was born in this country. They were able to emigrate to the United States.

But I also remember the story of our history as Jews, when the St. Louis, a boat that came to protect people from annihilation, was turned away from the American shores; was told to go back to where it came from; and many of those people then perished in the Holocaust.

Who are we?

This bill is about who we are, and I urge a ``yes'' vote.

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