Demand Republican Senators Attend Dilawar Syed’s Vote in Committee
An American Muslim nominee is being blocked.
The Senate Small Business & Entrepreneurship Committee has scheduled a vote on Dilawar’s confirmation for Tuesday, September 21.
UPDATE: CAPAC Members Call for Vote on Dilawar Syed, Condemn Lies and Anti-Muslim Rhetoric (Sept. 14, 2021)
Live in Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Florida, Oklahoma, or South Carolina? We need your help to ask these Republican members of the Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship to show up for the vote on Sept. 21 and allow a confirmation vote on Dilawar.
Roger Marshall (KS)
Jim Inhofe (OK)
Jim Risch (ID)
Joni Ernst (IA)
Todd Young (IN)
Rand Paul (KY)
Marco Rubio (FL)
Tim Scott (SC)
Use this template to email these Senators.
Back in March, President Biden nominated Dilawar Syed to be the deputy administrator of the Small Business Administration — his confirmation would make him the highest-ranking American Muslim in the Biden Administration. Unfortunately, several senators are deploying anti-Muslim bias to block a vote on his nomination.
This is un-American.
Our Constitution explicitly states that “no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.” The Religious Test Clause protects all Americans who aspire to serve in government from religious discrimination.
WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT FOR A NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION TO END THE BLOCKADE ON SYED.
We are doing everything we can to ensure that Republican’s show up to the next vote.
Syed is eminently qualified. An entrepreneur with 20+ years of business experience alongside a history of public service from his role as the chairman of the California Entrepreneurship Task Force to his recent responsibilities on the Silicon Valley Recovery Roundtable helping the region bounce back from COVID. During the Obama Administration, he chaired the White House’s AAPIs’ Economic Growth Committee to help small businesses recover after the 2008 financial crisis.
But instead of focusing on the Syed’s qualifications and history of public service, some senators deployed offensive anti-Muslim tropes to unfairly and falsely paint Syed an anti-Israel.
Led by Bend the Arc Jewish Action, Jewish American organizations have come to Syed’s defense and joined forces with Muslim Advocates, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and many other groups to call on the Senate to stop playing offensive games and finally vote on his nomination.
Syed is an American Muslim entrepreneur who worked hard to live the American Dream and also dedicated his life to lifting entrepreneurs in under-served communities. The campaign to block his confirmation vote is an un-American religious litmus test.
It is well-past time for the Senate’s leader to sideline the bigots and end this bigoted blockade — and allow a vote on his nomination so he can start working for the American entrepreneurs and small business owners.
You can make a big difference right now.
We need your help to ask these Republican members of the Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship to show up for the vote on Sept. 21 and allow a confirmation vote on Dilawar.
Roger Marshall (KS)
Jim Inhofe (OK)
Jim Risch (ID)
Joni Ernst (IA)
Todd Young (IN)
Rand Paul (KY)
Marco Rubio (FL)
Tim Scott (SC)