NEW YORK: US President Donald Trump has signed a bill to honor fallen Muslim U.S. Army Captain Humayun Khan, despite long-running fights with his father, a Pakistani-American lawyer, according to American media reports.
The bill, filed by Congressman Tom Garrett in July 2017, renames a post office in Charlottesville, a city in the US state of Virginia, after Humayun Khan, who was killed in Iraq in 2004 when a vehicle packed with explosives drove into his compound.
Humayun Khan, who was posthumously awarded a Purple Heart and Bronze Star, was 27 at the time. Captain Khan is revered not only in Charlottesville but across the nation, Virginia Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine said in a statement to The Daily Progress. With the dedication of this post office, were showing the Khan family that was forever grateful for his service and sacrifice for our country.
Humayun Khan’s parents, Khizr Khan and Ghazala Khan, were thrust into the spotlight when they appeared at the 2016 Democratic National Convention to criticize then-candidate Trumps Muslim ban proposal. There comes a time in the history of a nation when an ethical, moral stand has to be taken, regardless of the political response, Khizr Khan said. The only reason they’re not repudiating his behavior, his threat to our democracy, our decency, our foundation is just because of political consequences.
Trump lashed out after the DNC speech and accused Khizr Khan of not letting his wife speak, which many claimed played into negative stereotypes about Muslims. I was viciously attacked by Mr. Khan at the Democratic Convention. Am I not allowed to respond? Hillary voted for the Iraq war, not me he tweeted days later. Republican leadership took sides in the feud, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and then-Speaker Paul Ryan defending the Khans and Mike Pence defending Trumps proposed the ban.
The late Republican Senator John McCain also issued a lengthy statement in which he insisted that Trump did not speak for the Republican Party at a time when some were already questioning whether he would revoke his endorsement of the future President. The renaming ceremony for the post office is scheduled for next month.
