IV 
112TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 651 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the illicit 
ethnic and religious profiling and surveillance of Muslim American com-
munities by the New York Police Department. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 10, 2012 
Mr. HOLT (for himself, Ms. CHU, Mr. ELLISON, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. JACK-
SON of Illinois, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. HONDA, and Mr. MORAN) sub-
mitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
the Judiciary 
RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regard-
ing the illicit ethnic and religious profiling and surveil-
lance of Muslim American communities by the New York 
Police Department. 
Whereas the First Amendment of the Constitution ensures 
freedom of speech, religion, and assembly; 
Whereas the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution protects 
from unreasonable searches and seizures; 
Whereas the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution 
guarantees the equal protection of the laws to all people 
regardless of their religion, race, ethnicity, or national or-
igin; 
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•HRES 651 IH 
Whereas, in August 2011, press reports revealed the New 
York City Police Department engaged in extensive sur-
veillance and investigation of individuals and groups in 
the Muslim community based upon their religion, race, 
ethnicity, and national origin, and without a reasonable, 
articulable basis to suspect that the individual or group 
has engaged in or is about to engage in unlawful conduct; 
Whereas the New York City Police Department engaged in 
unreasonable, suspicion-less surveillance and investiga-
tions of mosques, college campuses, restaurants, busi-
nesses, and individuals without evidence of wrongdoing or 
criminality; 
Whereas the New York City Police Department documented 
and retained information about the First Amendment- 
protected activities of individuals and groups surveyed or 
investigated in these intelligence operations; 
Whereas according to these reports and information now 
made available to the public, the New York City Police 
Department conducted operations well beyond its juris-
diction in other municipalities in New York and other 
States, including Connecticut, New Jersey, and Pennsyl-
vania, and which may be ongoing; 
Whereas the unreasonable suspicion-less surveillance and in-
vestigation of Muslim American communities undermines 
the Nation’s commitment to religious liberty and equal 
protection of the law; 
Whereas these unreasonable suspicion-less surveillance prac-
tices stigmatize innocent members of the Muslim commu-
nity merely because of their religion; 
Whereas the Central Intelligence Agency has publicly ac-
knowledged that it had personnel assisting and training 
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•HRES 651 IH 
New York City Police Department officers who subse-
quently engaged in surveillance and investigation of Mus-
lim Americans in the absence of suspicion of illegal activ-
ity; 
Whereas this episode recalls other dark chapters in the Na-
tion’s history, including the internment of Japanese 
Americans during World War II, and the illegal surveil-
lance of civil rights and anti-war activists by intelligence 
and law enforcement agencies during the 1960s and 
1970s; 
Whereas Congress has allocated millions of dollars to the 
New York City Police Department; 
Whereas, in December 2011, 34 Members of Congress wrote 
the Attorney General requesting an investigation of po-
tential violations of the law by the New York City Police 
Department and Central Intelligence Agency, and also re-
quested a hearing by the House Committee on the Judici-
ary into this issue; and 
Whereas, on March 19, 2012, 117 groups representing a 
range of concerned citizens likewise called upon the De-
partment of Justice to launch an investigation into the 
New York City Police Department’s illicit ethnic and reli-
gious profiling and surveillance of Muslim American com-
munities: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) condemns the unjustified surveillance and 
unlawful profiling of Muslim American communities 
by the New York Police Department; 
(2) demands that the New York Police Depart-
ment cease and desist with any such warrantless 
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•HRES 651 IH 
surveillance activities within the United States and 
purge its intelligence databases; and 
(3) urges the Department of Justice to imme-
diately investigate whether the New York Police De-
partment’s action violated the Constitution or any 
Federal law, and whether any agency of the Federal 
Government facilitated any profiling or surveillance 
conducted by the New York Police Department 
against members of the Muslim American commu-
nity in violation of the Constitution or any Federal 
law. 
Æ 
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