Less than three weeks after a much-criticized House Republican hearing on the radicalization of American Muslims, Senate Democrats countered Tuesday with a hearing of their own — this one focusing on protecting the civil rights of Muslims.
The two hearings highlight the chasm between the Republican-led House and the Democratic-led Senate on the issue of balancing the religious and civil rights of Muslims against the need to protect the country against radical offshoots of Islam.
“We should all agree that it is wrong to blame an entire community for the wrongdoing of a few,” Sen. Richard J. Durbin said in his opening remarks Tuesday. “Guilt by association is not the American way, and American Muslims are entitled to the same constitutional protections as every other American.”...