Friends, Islamophobia has no place anywhere — especially in the halls of Congress.

But week after week, Republicans in Congress have made vile, anti-Muslim comments about me and people who look and worship like me. Recently, one of my far-right colleagues has only escalated her attacks against me, invoking Islamophobic trope after trope and associating me with terrorism.

Unfortunately, I am not alone in the hatred I experience because of my religion. I just finished speaking alongside my fellow Muslim representatives in Congress, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib and Congressman André Carson, about the hatred Muslims face every single day.

Anti-Muslim hatred isn’t just getting worse in the United States, but around the globe, too.

Two years ago, a white supremacist shot and killed over 50 people at multiple mosques in New Zealand. Just this past summer, an Islamophobe murdered a Muslim family in Canada, including children. This year alone, there have been over 500 anti-Muslim incidents in our country. We even saw a rapid rise in anti-mosque incidents in May and June.

Enough is enough.

We need accountability and action. That’s why I introduced the Combating International Islamophobia Act to address Islamophobia worldwide and create a Special Envoy to combat it. I’m fighting every day to pass it.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy also needs to hold his own members accountable for the hatred they have come to represent — instead of staying silent or even defending them.

I will work every day to defeat hate and defend religious freedom. Thanks for standing with me.

In solidarity,

Ilhan Omar