Muslim Radicalization Hearings Begin on Capitol Hill

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (WJBK) - There was emotional testimony Thursday on Capitol Hill as Washington began controversial hearings into Muslim radicalization. At the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), they say these hearings aren't making us any safer. They're just dividing us further.

"Today's hearing will be the first in a series of hearings dealing with the critical issue of the radicalization of Muslim-Americans," said U.S. Representative Peter King from New York.

The Republican chairman of the Homeland Security Committee defended the hearing as necessary to protect America from terrorist attacks. On the panel are activists and law enforcement, as well as parents whose own children converted to radical Islam.

"There is nothing radical or un-American in holding these hearings," King said.

However, others have likened this focus on one religious community to the days of Senator Joe McCarthy and his attack on innocent Americans in the name of rooting out Communists in the 1950's. Michigan's own Representative John Dingell waved a cautionary flag.

"For years I ran investigative committees. I kept a picture of Joe McCarthy hanging on the wall so that I would know what it was I did not want to look like, to do or to be," he said.

Others worried the hearing gives strength to the enemy.

"I believe it's contrary to the best of American values and threatens our security," said Representative Keith Ellison.

The Democrat and Muslim from Detroit originally, now representing Minnesota, became emotional when recounting the story of a Muslim man who died trying to save others on 9-11.

"Some people spread false rumors and speculated that he was in league with his attackers because he was a Muslim," Ellison said.

For Dawud Walid, executive director of CAIR, a Muslim and Navy veteran watching the hearings play out from his office in Southfield, this is offensive and irresponsible.

"This is a neoMcCarthyism type of hearing. It's a witch-hunt, and it's not doing anything to make us safer. It's dividing us as a country," he said. "This hearing serves absolutely no useful purpose."