Congresswoman-elect Ilhan Omar of Minnesota (AP/Jim Mone)
Annulment of the 181-year-old ban would enable the wearing of a hijab or skullcap in the House.
By Jack Gold, World Israel News
Democratic Congresswoman-elect Ilhan Omar of Minnesota has set her sights on several issues she wants to change after taking office, the first possibly being the end of an 1837 ban on head coverings in House of Representatives.
Omar, the first Somali American woman to be elected to the House, wears a hijab. She will be joined by Michigan’s Rashida Tlaib as the first two Muslim women in Congress.
Congress’ current regulations prohibit any kind of head covering, but Omar plans to annul the 181-year-old ban.
“No one puts a scarf on my head but me. It’s my choice—one protected by the first amendment. And this is not the last ban I’m going to work to lift,” Omar tweeted Saturday.
The lifting of the ban would also the enable the wearing of Jewish skullcaps in the House.
Roll Call magazine reported that the proposal, put forward by Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, incoming Rules Chairman Jim McGovern and Omar would create a religious exception to the no-head-covering rule.
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