Sheila Jackson Lee: “As a senior member of the Committees on the Judiciary and Homeland Security, the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, the…”

“As a senior member of the Committees on the Judiciary and Homeland Security, the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, the bipartisan Congressional International Religious Freedom Caucus, and the Helsinki Commission, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 881, a resolution that puts the House on record in condemnation of the heinous terrorist attack on Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas on January 15, 2022 and against anti- Semitism wherever this hate rears its ugly head. On January 15, 2022, Malik Faisal Akram entered Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, taking four individuals hostage. Britain's counterintelligence and security agency, MI5, investigated Mr. Akram in 2020, and he was listed as a subject of interest, but was later determined to no longer pose a threat. Mr. Akram arrived at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport on December 29, 2021, staying in New York City for two days until taking a flight to Dallas, Texas. Whereas it is reported Mr. Akram chose the synagogue because it appeared to be the closest gathering of Jewish people to a Federal prison where he demanded to see a woman who is in custody after being found guilty of two counts of attempted murder, armed assault, using and carrying a firearm, and three counts of assault on United States officers and employees in Afghanistan.…”