Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas House Bill HR971 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	89R26820 JH-F
2	2	By: Patterson H.R. No. 971
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7	7	R E S O L U T I O N
8	8	WHEREAS, The State of Texas is proud of its diverse
9	9	communities built on shared values of liberty, faith, and
10	10	patriotism; and
11	11	WHEREAS, All communities are important to Texas, and we honor
12	12	those who contribute to the strength, culture, and prosperity of
13	13	our state; and
14	14	WHEREAS, The Council on American-Islamic Relations has been
15	15	credibly linked to terrorist organizations such as Hamas and the
16	16	Muslim Brotherhood, both enemies of the United States and threats
17	17	to our way of life; CAIR's leadership has openly praised acts of
18	18	terror, defended violence against innocent civilians, and shown
19	19	contempt for American allies such as Israel; and
20	20	WHEREAS, The Federal Bureau of Investigation has suspended
21	21	all formal contacts with the Council on American-Islamic Relations
22	22	due to evidence demonstrating a relationship between CAIR and
23	23	Hamas; Hamas is designated as a foreign terrorist organization by
24	24	the United States Department of State and perpetrated the brutal
25	25	attack on the State of Israel on October 7, 2023, in which Hamas
26	26	indiscriminately killed more than 1,200 innocent people, including
27	27	Israelis, Americans, and other nationals, and took more than 240
28	28	civilians as hostages; and
29	29	WHEREAS, In the federal criminal prosecutions of persons
30	30	involved with the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development,
31	31	the largest successful prosecution of terrorism financing in our
32	32	country's history, CAIR was identified as an associate of the
33	33	Muslim Brotherhood and was named an unindicted co-conspirator in
34	34	the trial; and
35	35	WHEREAS, Soon after opening its first office in Washington,
36	36	D.C., CAIR received a grant from the Holy Land Foundation for Relief
37	37	and Development, a charitable organization that was closed and was
38	38	designated a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the United
39	39	States Department of the Treasury for funding jihadist terrorist
40	40	organizations; and
41	41	WHEREAS, In 2009, Ghassan Elashi, who was a member of the
42	42	founding board of directors of the Texas branch of CAIR and a leader
43	43	of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, was
44	44	sentenced to a total of 65 years in prison after being convicted of
45	45	10 counts of conspiracy to provide, and the provision of, material
46	46	support to a designated foreign terrorist organization as well as
47	47	numerous other charges; and
48	48	WHEREAS, Randall Todd Royer, also known as Ismail Royer, who
49	49	served as a communications specialist and civil rights coordinator
50	50	for CAIR, trained with and set up an Internet-based newsletter for
51	51	Lashkar-e-Taiba, an al Qaeda-tied Kashmir organization that is
52	52	listed on the United States Department of State's international
53	53	terror list; he was also indicted on charges of conspiring to help
54	54	al Qaeda and the Taliban battle American troops fighting in
55	55	Afghanistan and was sentenced to 20 years in prison on April 9,
56	56	2004; and
57	57	WHEREAS, In September 2003, CAIR's former community affairs
58	58	director, Bassem Khafagi, pleaded guilty to three federal counts of
59	59	bank and visa fraud and agreed to be deported to Egypt after he had
60	60	funneled money to activities supporting terrorism and had published
61	61	material advocating suicide attacks against the United States,
62	62	illegal activities that took place while he was employed by CAIR;
63	63	and
64	64	WHEREAS, Rabih Haddad, the Ann Arbor, Michigan-based CAIR
65	65	fundraiser, was arrested on terrorism-related charges and was
66	66	deported from the United States due to his work as Executive
67	67	Director of the Global Relief Foundation, which in October 2002 was
68	68	closed by the United States Department of the Treasury for
69	69	financing al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations; and
70	70	WHEREAS, It is a dangerous affront to the people of Texas to
71	71	allow any group that supports, sympathizes with, or excuses
72	72	terrorism to be welcomed or honored within the halls of our Capitol;
73	73	just as the Texas Capitol would never open its doors to groups such
74	74	as the Ku Klux Klan, to drug cartels, or to any other group that
75	75	promotes hatred and violence, it must not and will not open its
76	76	doors to CAIR; the ongoing Islamification of American communities
77	77	through extremist organizations represents one of the most urgent
78	78	cultural and security challenges facing our state today; and
79	79	WHEREAS, Texas has always stood firmly against enemies
80	80	foreign and domestic, rejecting any group that seeks to undermine
81	81	the Constitution, erode our freedoms, or endanger our families, and
82	82	it will never tolerate, support, or honor organizations aligned
83	83	with terrorism, hatred, or the enemies of the United States; now,
84	84	therefore, be it
85	85	RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 89th Texas
86	86	Legislature hereby declare the Council on American-Islamic
87	87	Relations unwelcome at the Texas Capitol.