The following Resolution will be considered by the DNC Executive Committee at its meeting in Charleston, SC on December 12, 2015.

Submitted by:            

Donna Brazile, DNC Vice Chair/District of Columbia
Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, DNC Chair/Florida
Christine Pelosi, California
James Zogby, At-Large/District of Columbia
Karen Carter Peterson, Chair/Louisiana
Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, DNC Secretary/Maryland
Andrew Tobias, DNC Treasurer/Florida 
Raymond Buckley, DNC Vice Chair & ASDC President/ New Hampshire 
Lottie Shackelford, Chair, DNC Women's Caucus/Arkansas 

_____________________________________________________________________________

Resolution Condemning the Anti-Muslim Rhetoric of the 2016 Presidential Campaign

WHEREAS, our nation was founded on the principle of freedom of religion and the Constitution has guaranteed the protection of that freedom since its ratification and through Amendments that have helped perfect our Union; and

WHEREAS, our nation’s diversity has strengthened our country, and has enabled us to lead the rest of the world by example; and

WHEREAS, shameful proposals to ban Muslims, or the members of any particular religion,  from entering the United States not only undermine our values as a country, but also damage America’s image among even our closest allies; and

WHEREAS, Muslims have been the biggest victims of terrorist organizations like ISIL, and are our vital allies at home and abroad in preventing attacks, identifying radicalization, and disrupting and defeating terrorist organizations; and

WHEREAS, Muslim-Americans have served honorably alongside Americans of every faith and every background throughout our nation’s history, with many paying the ultimate sacrifice for our country; and

WHEREAS, Muslim-Americans serve in government, business, academia and every sector of American life; and

WHEREAS, we are horrified by death threats against Muslim-Americans – including one against a U.S. Congressman; sickened by the vile personal attacks that denigrate Islam by attempting to use it to infer that President Obama is not a Christian and suggest it would make him somehow less fit for office; and outraged by the scapegoating against Muslims and other communities of color that are leading to acts of violence and intimidation against these communities; and

WHEREAS, the rhetoric from across the Republican field of 2016 presidential candidates has incited disturbing levels of fear mongering and demagoguery against racial, ethnic, and religious minority communities;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Democratic National Committee (DNC) condemns in the strongest possible terms the divisive and corrosive anti-Muslim rhetoric in the 2016 presidential campaign, such as calls to exclude immigrants and refugees on the basis of religion, establish databases of Muslim-American citizens, or engage in the blanket surveillance and closings of mosques; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the DNC urges all candidates in the 2016 presidential election to strongly condemn any violence or incitement to violence, and that all candidates should acknowledge that as political leaders they have a responsibility to denounce such acts; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the DNC urges all candidates in the 2016 presidential race to strongly condemn the scapegoating of racial, ethnic, and religious minorities, to reaffirm our commitment to protect religious freedom under the Constitution and to embrace the diversity of our nation as its strength; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we agree with President Barack Obama who said that “our freedom is bound up with the freedom of others, regardless of what they look like, or where they come from, or what their last name is, or what faith they practice;” that is what makes us Americans.