Candidate Notes on 02-CAPAC1

02-CAPAC1 on Sep 18, 2001

On behalf of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus and Congressional Caucus on India and Indian-American Affairs, we offer our deepest condolences to those suffering from the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington DC. We strongly condemn terrorism of any kind.

As Americans, we must honor the victims of terrorism by upholding fundamental American ideals of freedom and democracy. We must not express our fears and anger by indiscriminately striking out against those with different names, skin color, religion, or origin.

Within the aftermath of the terrorist attacks, there have been reported incidents of hate crimes committed against Arab Americans and Americans f South Asian descent.

We urge restraint and ask Americans to wage war on terrorism—not on fellow Americans. While we all experience the shock and anger in the aftermath of the September 11th tragedy, we should not direct our hostility toward our neighbors in ethnic communities across the country.

America must not take revenge by blind retribution. We must preserve fundamental civil rights and defend the rights of Arab and South Asian Americans, who are our neighbors, friends, and colleagues.

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