“It was a privilege to come before the subcommittee and share my experience and recommendations as we work together to combat hate against our communities,” said Pardeep ji, who currently serves as the Executive Director of the Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee. “As I said in my testimony, we must take immediate action to protect communities like ours, through new laws, more federal resources, and local-level work.”
You can read Pardeep ji’s full opening remarks
here. His testimony focused on the impact of Oak Creek on him and his family, the ongoing threat of white supremecist extremism to the Sikh American community and other minority communities, and policy prescriptions for the federal government to address this urgent issue. He spoke in favor of the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act, which will give the federal government the tools to counter white supremacist extremism, and the Justice for Victims of Hate Crimes Act, which will close a loophole in how hate crimes are prosecuted at the federal level; additionally, he advocated for increased federal funding for securing houses of worship, as well as improvements in how the federal government tracks hate crimes and bias incidents.
Pardeep ji’s testimony comes as the 10 year anniversary of the Oak Creek attack approaches this August; in the months ahead, the Sikh Coalition plans to launch additional commemorative work at the local and national level around this upcoming milestone. In the meantime, we remain engaged with federal lawmakers on efforts to prevent, prosecute, and track hate crimes and bias incidents, as well as broader work to increase diversity and inclusion in our society and push back against threats like white supremacist extremism. For more information about these priorities--and to learn what issues you can raise with your elected officials--review the latest version of our
flagship policy document.
As always, the Sikh Coalition urges you to practice your faith fearlessly.
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