‘The enemy are inside the gates’: Republicans take to House floor to reject radical Islam

A dozen members of the Sharia Free America Caucus spoke consecutively on the House floor Thursday evening to speak out against the “threat of radical Islamic terrorism” in the United States.

The speeches, organized by Republican Texas Reps. Keith Self and Rep. Chip Roy, the founders of the caucus, claimed that America was on the same migration trajectory as Europe and drew attention to a string of recent “radicalized Islamist” attacks in the United States.

“These attacks, clustered in just a few weeks, shows that the enemy are inside the gates,” Self said.

“We cannot allow that here in the United States,” Self-continued. “According to Islam many non-Muslims like me are regarded as infidels, and many others who convert to Christianity or any other religion are labeled apostates. Both infidels and apostates are punishable by death in Islam.”

Rep. Mary Miller, R-Il., added that “we are currently witnessing a rise of radical Islamic terrorist who claim allegiance to Sharia law.”

Self also said Sharia law represents a threat to the Constitution. “The American people demand that we stop an ideology seeking to replace the U.S. Constitution,” Self added.

The Root of The Caucus’ Concerns

The caucus, which has now reached 60 members, was founded in hopes of stopping the United States from falling victim to “civilization jihad,” Roy said on the floor.

During his remarks, Roy read a 1991 manifest from the Muslim Brotherhood that states Islamists have the “responsibility” to carry out “civilization jihad” against its host nation. The State Department designated certain elements of the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization in 2025.

“In order for the Islamic movement to become part of the homeland to which it exists, its movement must plan and struggle to obtain the keys and the tools of this process to carry out the grand mission as a civilization jihadist, a responsibility which relies on the shoulders of Muslims,” the memorandum reads, according to Roy. “The process of settlement is a civilization jihadist.”

“What I’m here to tell you is that this, by what I just read, is that this is a political ideology that is designed to attack and take over our civilization, to carry out the civilization jihad I just described.”

Self claimed in his speech that, “Sharia does not content itself through private practice. It demands eventual dominance over the host culture.”

A War Against the West

Roy then called on his colleagues to acknowledge the threat of radical Islam, which he claims has allowed the alleged attackers to inflict damage on Americans.

“The fact is you cannot win a war that you do not acknowledge exists,” Roy said. “This has been brought on by our own actions as a government.

Republicans have accused Democrats of refusing to acknowledge radical Islamic violence.

“Let’s be very clear, there is a war being waged against Western civilization, against the United States of America, and against the state of Texas,” Roy said. “Since 9/11, some five million people have been granted ability to come into our country, from majority Muslim countries, in a post 9/11 world where we were attacked.”

Europe’s Fight

Members of the caucus suggested America is trending in the same direction as Europe thanks to mass migration.

“They [Europeans] have fallen to mass immigration of those who refuse to embrace western values,” Rep Buddy Carter, R-Ga., said. “European culture is disappearing to open border policies, all the while crime across the board is skyrocketing. The United States must not fall down the same path.”

“If you look at Paris and you look at London, and you think that this is somehow acceptable, you are misguided,” Roy added.

Self claimed that radical Muslims “are infiltrating western nations.”

Carter, however, applauded the “patriotic Europeans” that have begun to fight back against their “self-sabotaging governments and electing leaders and policies that place Europe first.”

In Germany and France, political parties that reject mass migration from Muslim majority countries have dramatically risen in popularity in recent years.

This week, the European Parliament voted for the first time to allow the deportation of migrants.

[Editor’s note: This story originally was published by The Daily Signal.]