Our congressman, Virgil Goode, stands by his anti-Islamic rhetoric: "...If American citizens don't wake up and adopt the Virgil Goode position on immigration there will likely be many more Muslims elected to office and demanding the use of the Koran.

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Follow-up Appended

Brace yourself for the following letter, shared with C-VILLE by John Cruickshank, chair of the local Sierra Club chapter. Representative Virgil Goode (www.house.gov/goode) told us, through his press secretary, “I wrote the letter. I think it speaks for itself.”

Congress of the United States
House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515-4605

December 7, 2006

Mr. John Cruickshank
7—— S—————————— Dr.
Earlysville, VA 22936

Dear Mr. Cruickshank:

   Thank you for your recent communication. When I raise my hand to take the oath on Swearing In Day, I will have the Bible in my other hand. I do not subscribe to using the Koran in any way. The Muslim Representative from Minnesota was elected by the voters of that district and if American citizens don’t wake up and adopt the Virgil Goode position on immigration there will likely be many more Muslims elected to office and demanding the use of the Koran. We need to stop illegal immigration totally and reduce legal immigration and end the diversity visas policy pushed hard by President Clinton and allowing many persons from the Middle East to come to this country. I fear that in the next century we will have many more Muslims in the United States if we do not adopt the strict immigration policies that I believe are necessary to preserve the values and beliefs traditional to the United States of America and to prevent our resources from being swamped.

The Ten Commandments and “In God We Trust” are on the wall in my office. A Muslim student came by the office and asked why I did not have anything on my wall about the Koran. My response was clear, “As long as I have the honor of representing the citizens of the 5th District of Virginia in the United States House of Representatives, The Koran is not going to be on the wall of my office.” Thank you again for your email and thoughts.

Sincerely yours,
Virgil H. Goode, Jr.
70 East Court Street
Suite 215
Rocky Mount, Virginia 24151

Cruickshank had never communicated with Goode’s office about Muslim immigration or official uses of the Koran. According to Goode’s office, Goode had received a flood of e-mails from constituents in response to newly elected Minnesota Representative Keith Ellison’s declaration that he would use the Koran, not the Bible, when being sworn into Congress next month. This letter was Goode’s response to those e-mails; Goode’s office says Cruickshank received the letter in error.

December 21, 2006

Media attention continues to grow around Rep. Virgil Goode and his letter to constituents, first published by C-VILLE. The story has been widely circulated by AP, Gannett, and others. The Smoking Gun has posted a copy of the letter with credit to C-VILLE. Stories close to home include the Roanoke Times, Richmond Times-Dispatch, and Washington Post, as well as an editorial in the Roanoke Times asking “How can one swear to uphold the Constitution while denying its protection to all Americans?”

December 20, 2006

Since this story was first published by C-VILLE on December 19, numerous websites have linked to it eliciting responses from around the country, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Wonkette, Talking Points Memo Muckraker, and The New York Times. The story has been picked up by a host of other news and policy organizations. CAIR called for Goode to apologize. Contacted by C-VILLE on December 20, Goode's press secretary Linwood Duncan said, "He has no intention of apologizing and he stands by the letter." Duncan took the call after a Goode staffer, who had answered the phone, asked C-VILLE, "Are you going to call us an 'ass' again?" The answer: Yes.