mr. perez, thank you for being here. please proceed with your opening statement. [inaudible] >> members of the subcommittee, my name is tom perez. it's an honor to be back in front of this committee. i know my former boss senator kennedy is here in spirit today. it's a real honor to be here to talk about this critical issue. among others my home state senator, senator cardin. within hours of the 9/11 terrorist attacks muslim-americans, were confronted with a powerful backlash. it was a surge of violence targeting these groups including threats, assault, arson and murder. today's after the attacks an individual attempting to set fire to cars in the parking lot of a mosque in seattle. and shot at worshipers fling the mosque. on the same day an individual set fire to a pakistani american restaurant in utah. the first person killed in post 9/11 violence was shot while pumping gas at his gas station in arizona for days after 9/11. in the three and half months on the attacks more than 300 federal cri

i think, as you pointed out and mr. perez pointed out earlier as well, for every day american muslim what shari'a really means is those guidelines that guide our everyday life. so whether it's prayer, fasting, issues of marriage -- in the way that religious law guides those every day activities for christians and jews and the other faith communities in the united states. the kinds of -- should i say excesses of shari'a that you've outlined, i cannot imagine the circumstances under which they would -- they would be tolerated here in america in our legal system. you know, there is, as a legal matter, the supremacy clause ensures that the constitution is the law of the land, no religious law, no foreign law. and that is absolutely important. and something that, you know, i'm personally very thankful for is there. so i think this question of shari'a and these efforts to introduce bills to ban shari'a are just woefully misguided. and they're chasing a threat that does not exist but the implications, if they are actually allowed to

mr. chairman. >> thank you. perez is in the justice department. would you please stand at first and raise your right hand. do you are from the the testimony you are about to give before this committee is the truth, the whole truth. let the record reflect that the witness has answered in the affirmative. mr. peretz, thank you for being here. please proceed with their opening statement, it will have some balance statements. >> my name is tom perez, it is an honor to be back in front of this committee. i know my former boss is here in spirit today. it is a real honor to talk about this critical issue among others. within hours of the 911 terrorist attacks, a muslim americans, arab-americans, and south asian americans nationwide were confronted with a powerful backlash. there was a search of violence targeting these groups including threats, assault, arson, murder, two days after the attacks, and individual unpatented to set fire to cars in a mosque in seattle. on the same day, and individual set fire to a pakistani restaurant in utah. the first perso