Ranking Member Scanlon’s Opening Statement at Subcommittee Hearing on Republicans’ Unconstitutional Effort to Restrict Religious Freedom
Washington, D.C. (February 10, 2026)— Today, Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government, delivered opening remarks at a subcommittee hearing on Republicans’ attack on religious freedom.
Below are Ranking Member Scanlon’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, at today’s hearing.
WATCH Ranking Member Scanlon’s opening statement.
Ranking Member Mary Gay Scanlon
Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government
Hearing on “Sharia-Free America: Why Political Islam & Sharia Law Are Incompatible with the U.S. Constitution”
February 10, 2026
Thank you, Chairman Roy. And thank you to our witnesses for being here. But, I have to say, I think it’s unfortunate that the Majority has decided to hold this hearing today, the premise of which flies in the face of our country’s history and most cherished values.
Because I can’t think of anything more un-American than for members of Congress to stoke fear and suspicion against fellow Americans, or anyone else, solely because of their religious beliefs.
No matter what hysterical rhetoric we hear from our Republican colleagues, our Constitution is clear. In this country, people have the right to hold and express whatever religious beliefs they choose or none at all. You don’t have to agree with those beliefs, but no one can use the power of the government to punish or discriminate against those who do.
There’s nothing foreign or suspicious about that principle. In fact, there’s nothing more American.
Whether our colleagues actually believe the histrionic and unsupported statements they’ve made about Muslims and Sharia law, I’m not sure. All I know is that their efforts appear to be a cynical political ploy, driven by the Texas Republican primary, where early voting starts in a week and federal, state, and local candidates are trying to outdo one another with anti-Sharia, anti-Muslim sentiment to score political points. In the words of one Texas Republican political strategist, “the Muslim community is the boogeyman for this cycle.”
It seems the pretext for all this bluster is a proposed real estate development in the Dallas suburbs led by the area’s growing Muslim population. But there’s no evidence it has anything to do with imposing Sharia law on non-believers of Islam. And there’s no evidence it’s a “Sharia compound,” as Texas Republicans have alleged.
The Trump Justice Department itself closed an investigation into the development, finding no basis for any violation of fair housing laws.
As with so many things Republicans bring to this committee, there’s just no “there” there.
But, their view seems to be, as long as they can scapegoat someone or something for political gain, who cares, right?
And it’s entirely clear they don’t care at all whether fellow Americans or others end up collateral damage to the anti-Muslim hatred and fear they stoke.
In addition, this hearing appears designed to support unconstitutional legislation.
Last October, Chairman Roy introduced H.R. 5722, a bill that requires the government to, among other things, “deny any immigration benefit, visa, immigration relief, or admission to the United States” to any foreign national who “adheres to Sharia law.”
It similarly directs the government to remove any foreign national who is already in the United States if the government determines that the person is “an adherent of Sharia law.”
This kind of government discrimination, based purely on a person’s religious beliefs, is a blatant violation of the First Amendment’s Free Exercise and Free Speech guarantees.
And to the extent that this bill implicitly favors Christianity or another faith over Islam by singling out Islam for governmental disfavor, it could violate the Establishment Clause – at least in spirit. By banning “an adherent of Sharia law” from the country, the bill essentially targets any observant Muslim for government discrimination.
Sharia is concerned with guiding individual, personal religious observance, not shaping national laws. Just as other belief systems guide the adherents of those faiths, Sharia guides Muslims in how to pray, dress, eat, or fast, and includes rules about marriage, divorce, and the raising of children.
So, to say that an “adherent of Sharia law” should be excluded or removed from the country is to say that Muslims should be excluded or removed from the country because of their religious beliefs and observances.
It goes against everything America stands for, and we need look no further for confirmation of that than one of our founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson. In his autobiography, Jefferson wrote about what he considered one of his proudest achievements: the drafting of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom of 1786 – a precursor to our First Amendment. He affirmed that religious freedom was meant to encompass, “within the mantle of its protection…[people] of every denomination.”
In addition to expressing the fundamentally American belief in the right to freely practice one’s religion, and to prevent the government from favoring one religion over another, Jefferson’s writings specifically reference, among other faiths, believers of Islam, illustrating that, from our Republic’s earliest days, Muslims were intended to be included within the fabric of American life.
The kind of demagoguery that this hearing represents is unbecoming of this subcommittee and unbecoming of Members of Congress.
Our attentions should be focused on the Trump Administration’s repeated attacks on Americans’ rights, including the rights to free speech, a free press, and to peaceably assemble to petition the government for redress of grievances.
We shouldn’t be here furthering ugly islamophobia and justifying a blatantly unconstitutional bill. It’s shameful, and it’s un-American.
I yield back.