Lawmaker Goode urged to reconsider

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An Illinois Democrat yesterday called on Rep. Virgil H. Goode Jr. to meet with Rep.-elect Keith Ellison, whom the Virginia Republican criticized for his intention to take the oath of office using the Koran rather than the Bible.

"If he meets with Keith, he'll see what I saw: a good American with good values of a different faith who's trying to do right by the people he represents," Rep. Rahm Emanuel, who is Jewish, said of Mr. Ellison, Minnesota Democrat, who is the first Muslim elected to Congress.

Earlier this month, Mr. Goode sparked a controversy when he told constituents that if Americans "don't wake up" and strengthen the country's immigration laws, more Muslims will be elected to Congress and will demand to use the Koran when they take the oath of office.

"I will not be putting my hand on the Koran," Mr. Goode said at a press conference yesterday at the Franklin County Courthouse.

Mr. Goode made the comments in a letter he wrote responding to an onslaught of e-mail complaints he received from constituents who were angered by Mr. Ellison's decision to use the Koran during the swearing-in ceremony.

"The Muslim Representative from Minnesota was elected by the voters of the 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," he said in the letter. "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."

Mr. Goode said he is receiving more positive than negative comments from constituents.

"One lady told me she thinks I'm doing the right thing on this," he said in a Fox News interview yesterday. "I wish more people would take a stand and stand up for the principles on which this country was founded."

Mr. Ellison was born in Detroit and converted to Islam in college.

In the letter, Mr. Goode also wrote, "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."