March 3, 2026

The Honorable Chip Roy
Chairman
Subcommittee on the Constitution & Limited Government
Committee on the Judiciary
2138 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

The Honorable Mary Gay Scanlon
Ranking Member
Subcommittee on the Constitution & Limited Government
Committee on the Judiciary
2142 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Chairman Roy and Ranking Member Scanlon:

As organizations that work to protect and advance religious freedom and civil rights, we write to voice our strong opposition to the religiously discriminatory ideas underlying the Subcommittee’s February 10 hearing. This hearing was an attack on religious freedom, a fundamental American value and cornerstone of our democracy that ensures we are all free to believe as we choose and that no religion is favored or disfavored.

The hearing, “Sharia-Free America: Why Political Islam & Sharia Law Are Incompatible with the U.S. Constitution,” was among the latest in a long line of attacks that are designed to sow fear and conspiracy theories about an entire religion and a diverse community for political gain. Such attacks undermine our nation’s values of religious freedom for all.

The Constitution protects religious freedom for all. Indeed, Thomas Jefferson explained that the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, the model for the Free Exercise and Establishment Clauses of the First Amendment, would ensure religious freedom for “the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and Mahometan, the Hindoo, the infidel of every denomination.” Given our nation’s robust, longstanding commitment to the freedom of religion and belief, it is no surprise that the United States is among the most religious, and religiously diverse, nations in the world.

As a result of repeated waves of anti-Muslim rhetoric, Muslims across the country have suffered violence, intimidation, and stigmatization. Other religious communities also have been singled out and face harm. Discriminatory rhetoric and policies that deny any one religious community the right to practice their faith are harmful to everyone as this undermines the protections that apply equally to all of us, no matter our religion or belief.

We believe in the enduring strength and wisdom of our Constitution and our nation’s promise of religious freedom for all. We urge you to uphold these foundational constitutional principles in the work of the Subcommittee.

Sincerely,

Alliance of Baptists
American Atheists
American Civil Liberties Union
American Humanist Association
American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC)
Americans United for Separation of Church and State
Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC
Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty
Bend the Arc: Jewish Action
Bridges
CAIR Washington
Conference of National Black Churches
Cooperative Baptist Fellowship
Council of Bishops, United Methodist Church
Faithful America
FFRF Action Fund
Interfaith Alliance
Japanese American Citizens League
Jewish Council for Public Affairs
Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC)
National Council of Churches
National Council of Jewish Women
NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice
Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans (PANA)
Peace Catalyst International
People For the American Way
Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association
Shoulder to Shoulder Campaign
Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund
T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights
The Right to Immigration Institute
The Sikh Coalition
Union for Reform Judaism
United Church of Christ National Ministries
Western States Center