I`d like to say is that I am a patriotic, loyal American. I love my country and the values that it stands for. And I am a Muslim.
I hope we are able to shift debate over to the Middle East and change this debate to how we help the people in their home countries rather than believing we can be their relief valve for the poverty and the grief that`s in the world by bringing people here.
Muslims are a part of the fabric of this country. By the way, they always have been, and more so now than ever.
These two value systems [islam and U.S constitution] do not clash in any way, and my son is a member of the United States Armed Forces active duty. He`s proud to serve his country. And there are many more people who are exact same thing.
George W. Bush, another Republican who I probably didn`t agree with on much, right after 9/11 went to a mosque and joined with some Muslim leaders and said that, look, you know, we`re not going to tolerate any backlash. These people who attacked our country are criminals and they`re terrorists, and they might try to profess a religion, but they definitely violate the principles of that religion.
It's the culture, not the blood. If you can go anywhere in the world and adopt these babies and put them into households that were already assimilated in America, those babies will grow up as American as any other baby with as much patriotism and love of country as any other baby. It's not about race. It's never been about race. In fact the struggles across this planet, we describe them as race, they're not race. They're culture based. It's a clash of culture, not the race. Sometimes that race is used as an identifier.
We're a country here, that if you take a picture of what America looks like, you can do It in a football stadium or a basketball court and you see all different kinds of Americans There. We're pretty proud of that, the different looking Americans that are still Americans.
The current practice of extending U.S. citizenship to hundreds of thousands of 'anchor babies' must end because it creates a magnet for illegal immigration into our country. Now is the time to ensure that the laws in this country do not encourage law-breaking.
