State lawmaker calls for hearings on banning Sharia law in Texas

By Bethany Blankley
The Center Square

A Texas lawmaker is calling for the state legislature to hold hearings on actions the legislature can take to ban Sharia law in the state.

He did so as a new Rasmussen poll published Thursday finding, “The influence of radical Islam in the United States is a cause for concern for a majority of voters, who oppose Muslims forming separate communities here.”

U.S. Rep. Brian Harrison, R-Midlothian, has called on House Speaker Dustin Burrow, R-Lubbock, to hold interim legislative hearings “to combat Sharia law” in Texas.

The Texas legislature meets every two years and passed hundreds of bills last year, including during special legislative sessions, The Center Square reported. In the interim year between legislative sessions, legislative committees hold hearings and lawmakers begin working on bills for the next legislative term. Next year, both Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick have cited property tax reform as a primary agenda for the legislature to address. Both have also proposed competing plans they claim will reduce, and in some cases, eliminate, property taxes, The Center Square reported.

Harrison is also requesting Burrows call for interim hearings to be held to address other issues, including eliminating property taxes, “saving Christian camps,” stopping taxpayer funded “DEI, LGBTQ indoctrination, and liberal Hollywood,” repealing “all excessive spending increases from previous bloated budgets” and banning “taxpayer funded lobbying.”

“Texas is the line in the sand for the future of our country and the future of Western Civilization,” Harrison wrote Burrows. “Bold, conservative leadership from the Texas government has never been more necessary.”

Addressing these issues now are necessary, he says, because last year “the Texas House failed to act on the most pressing issues facing Texans during three sessions.” The governor, lieutenant governor and speaker have all argued the legislature passed a conservative agenda, including passing school choice for the first time in Texas history.

“The House should spend the interim exercising our oversight responsibilities and advancing solutions,” including to “combat the threat from Sharia law in Texas,” Harrison said. “Despite public statements to the contrary, Texas has NOT banned Sharia within our borders. We must explore options to end taxpayer funding, expand prohibitions on Sharia courts to all parts of the Texas code, close loopholes such as the statutory exemption that protected EPIC City, legislatively designate CAIR and Muslim Brotherhood as terror organizations, and gather input.”

Harrison made the plea after Texas leaders are already leading on the issue nationally, The Center Square reported. Abbott has taken multiple actions, including designating CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organizations, launching criminal investigations into them and calling on the U.S. Treasury Department to take action. A Texas mayor has banned Sharia law and the state comptroller has held school choice applications submitted by private schools with potential connections to foreign adversaries, including to Sharia law. Texas congressional members also launched a Sharia Caucus.

The Republican Party of Texas included banning Sharia law in Texas as a proposition on the March Republican primary ballot, The Center Square reported.

According to the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey released Thursday, 77% of likely U.S. voters are concerned about the influence of radical Islam in America; 41% say they are very concerned. Only 18% polled say they “aren’t concerned about radical Islam.”

President Donald Trump issued an executive order designating the Muslim Brotherhood and its chapters as foreign terrorist organizations, The Center Square reported.