Although President-elect Donald Trump has yet to officially take office—thank goodness—he's already making scary moves such as blocking press access and making some unnerving cabinet appointments, including a man with ties to white nationalists, and another with a history of making racist comments.
Horrified? So was Congresswoman Suzan DelBene, who represents Washington state's first congressional district.
This afternoon, DelBene, who was recently reelected, introduced the No Religious Registry Act, a bill which would ban the creation of any kind of registry based on religion.
Here are the details from a press release announcing the proposal:
[The] bill would prohibit the Attorney General, Secretary of Homeland Security and any United States government official from establishing or utilizing a registry for the purposes of classifying individuals on the basis of religious affiliation. The legislation would cover U.S. nationals, U.S. visa applicants and aliens lawfully present in the United States.
“President-elect Donald Trump is breaking his promise to be a President for all Americans by supporting the creation of a Muslim registry. This kind of xenophobic and hateful rhetoric has no place in our government,” DelBene said in a statement. “We cannot allow our country to disregard the civil liberties enshrined in the Constitution. My bill would prohibit the administration from violating the constitutional rights of Americans because everyone should be treated equally under our laws.”
The bill's original sponsors currently include Representatives John Conyers, John Lewis, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Doris Matsui, Steve Cohen, Keith Ellison, Andre Carson and Judy Chu. When reached for comment, a representative from Congressman Adam Smith’s (WA-09) office said Smith planned to sign onto the bill. A representative from Rep. DelBene's office said that Reps. Rick Larsen (WA-02), Adam Smith (WA-09), and Denny Heck (WA-10) requested to be added to the bill.
"Once the House is back in session we’ll ask that they be added and hopefully Congress.gov reflects that in following days," they said.
Trump's religious registry goes against American values. I support @RepDelBene's bill to prohibit this repugnant proposal.
— Nancy Pelosi (@NancyPelosi) November 20, 2016
I joined @RepDelBene to introduce the No Religious Registry Act because our country was founded on freedom of religion. 1/2
— Judy Chu (@RepJudyChu) November 21, 2016
People targeted for who or how they worship have always found safety in the U.S. The No Religious Registry Act will keep it that way! 2/2
— Judy Chu (@RepJudyChu) November 21, 2016
Washingtonians: Contact your elected officials to get them to support Rep. DelBene's bill! Here's how to reach them:
Congressional District 2: Rep. Rick Larsen
San Juan and Island Counties, Mountlake Terrace, and Bellingham
(202) 225-2605Congressional District 3: Jaime Herrera Beutler
Lewis County, Klickitat County, Skamania
(202) 225-3536Congressional District 4: Dan Newhouse
Okanogan County, Yakima County, Grant County
(202) 225-5816Congressional District 5: Cathy McMorris Rodgers
Stevens County, Lincoln County, Ferry County
(202) 225-2006Congressional District 6: Derek Kilmer
Clallam County, Grays Harbor County
(202) 225-5916Congressional District 7: Jim McDermott
Vashon, Edmonds, Shoreline, Burien
(202) 225-3106Congressional District 8: David Reichert
Chelan County, Kittitas County
(202) 225-7761Congressional District 9: Adam Smith
Bellevue, Renton, Federal Way, SeaTac
(202) 225-8901Congressional District 10: Denny Heck
Olympia, Lakewood, and parts of Tacoma
202-225-9740
This post has been updated.