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Bonior Announces Candidacy for Governorship of Michigan
WASHINGTON, Aug 15 (IslamOnline) - U.S. Congressional Representative David Bonior (D-MI), a steadfast ally of American Arabs and Muslims, announced his candidacy for the office of governor of Michigan on Wednesday, beginning a statewide campaign revolving around what he considers his state's most pressing issues.
Bonior is well known in the American Muslim community for his vocal condemnation of the use of secret evidence, primarily used against Arabs and Muslims held under the suspicion of supporting terrorism.
"Secret evidence violates our deepest trust in the right to due process," Bonior said during a hearing on the Secret Evidence Repeal Act in May 2000, "and violates our democracy's most sacred document, the United States Constitution."
Bonior, along with former Representative Tom Campbell (R-CA), and current Representative John Conyers Jr. (D-MI) co-authored the Secret Evidence Repeal Act of 1999 (H.R. 2121), which has now been reintroduced by Bonior as H.R. 1266, The Secret Evidence Repeal Act of 2000. Bonior also openly and repeatedly discussed repealing the unconstitutional practice with both the former Bill Clinton presidential administration and current U.S. President George W. Bush.
Bonior's work with American Muslims came into focus again in June, when one of his interns, Duke University student Abdullah al-Arian, was "escorted" out of a White House meeting with Muslim leaders by Secret Service guards who provided no explanation for the ouster. Al-Arian's father, Sami al-Arian, is the brother-in-law of Mazen al-Najjar, a Florida resident who was jailed for over three years under secret evidence provisions of the "Effective Death Penalty and Anti-Terrorism Act of 1996".
A New York Times article quoted Bonior's statement after the al-Arian incident: "There have been too many instances where Muslims have been stopped, harassed or discriminated against for no apparent reason. This happens in airports, on our highways, and now we see it happens in the Bush White House."
Bonior remained deeply engaged in Al-Najjar's and other secret evidence victims' cases. He even went to visit the victims in jail during their detainment, becoming the first policy-maker to do so; and openly testified against the practice in front of the U.S. Congress Judiciary Committee. He also called for former Attorney General Janet Reno's resignation after she overruled court decisions to free two secret evidence victims.
Bonior has also opposed Congressional resolutions (e.g. H.R. 1795 and H.R.1087), which have called for placing sole blame for the current violence in the Middle East on the shoulders of the Palestinians; the imposition of sanctions; and the prohibition of U.S. aid to Palestinians.
He has also been one of the strongest advocates of the battle to ease the suffering of the Iraqi people, held prisoner under U.S-led sanctions imposed on them in 1990. He signed a Congressional letter to former president Clinton asking him to re-evaluate the sanctions and alleviate the suffering of Iraqi civilians.
Bonior told IslamOnline that he intended to maintain the ties he has built with Muslims in America.
"I am very much interested in continuing my close relationship with the Islamic community," he said.
He emphasized that as governor, he planned to involve Michigan's large Muslim and Arab community in his government, indicating that Muslims would hold key positions in his administration should he be elected.
American Muslims have greatly criticized various presidential administrations' lack of American Muslim appointments to policy-making positions in government.
"In Congress, I've been at the forefront of the battle against secret evidence and racial profiling, I've spoken out against the Iraq sanctions and I've advocated securing a safe and just peace in the Middle East, and justice and peace everywhere," he said.
"I will bring that same commitment to my governorship in Michigan."
In Michigan, Bonior has fought for safer schools, cleaner water, affordable prescriptions and secure retirement for the elderly, and improved health care, according to his official House web site.
An article by the Detroit Free Press said that Bonior's four-day campaign started at the Cobo Conference Center in Detroit, where he told supporters that, "Progress comes brick by brick, house by house, lot by lot, neighborhood by neighborhood."
The Free Press article said that so far, Bonior trails behind two other candidates, former Governor James Blanchard and Attorney General Jennifer Granholm.
Bonior is currently the House Minority Whip, one of the top-ranking leaders of the Democratic party, and will be giving up nearly a quarter century of seniority in the House of Representatives to work on improving his home state, the article said.
A county prosecutor, Carl Marlinga, who also plans on running for Congress next year, voiced his support for Bonior in the article, saying, "He's the most decent guy I've ever met in politics. He believes thoroughly what he says. He's so darn bright, and he knows the issues."
With additional reporting by Neveen Salem
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