Rep. André Carson, D-Ind., will soon become the first Muslim lawmaker to serve on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi during a closed-door weekly caucus meeting Tuesday, reported Politico.
Pelosi, D-Calif., plans to announce Carson's appointment to the intelligence oversight committee panel in the "coming days," according to a senior Democratic aide.
Carson, the second Muslim ever elected to the House, first converted to Islam about 10 years before his 2008 election, in which he replaced his late grandmother, Rep. Julia Carson, according to International Business Times. He has since won re-election four times in Indiana's 7th Congressional District.
With his appointment, Carson will have access to some of the nation's most sensitive intelligence information. The committee is expected to tackle a number of international issues in 2015, including threats imposed by the Islamic State group and the crisis in Ukraine.
Carson currently serves on the Armed Services Committee and has previously worked for the Department of Homeland Security's Fusion Center, which helps facilitate data sharing between the CIA, FBI, Department of Justice and the military, according to Politico.
His resume also includes a stint at the Indiana Department of Homeland Security's terrorism unit, and nine years as an officer for the Indiana State Police.
Carson notably told the Congressional Black Caucus in 2011 that "some of them in Congress right now of this tea party movement would love to see you and me hanging on a tree," accusing tea party members of wanting a return to Jim Crow, Politico reported.
His spokesman, Jason Tomcsi, later clarified, saying, "The congressman used strong language because the tea party agenda jeopardizes our most vulnerable and leaves them without the ability to improve their economic standing."
In another controversial comment made in 2012 while speaking to the Islamic Circle of North America, Carson said, "America will never tap into educational innovation and ingenuity without looking at the model that we have in our madrassas, in our schools, where innovation is encouraged, where the foundation is the Quran," reported The Huffington Post.
Carson later released the following statement to explain his comment:
"While I do not believe that any particular faith should be the foundation of our public schools, it is important that we take note of the instructional tools these schools utilize to empower their young people. Christian, Jewish, and Islamic schools have experienced notable success by casting off a one-size-fits-all approach to education, and this is a model we must replicate. Having attended a parochial elementary school myself, I've seen these successes first hand," Newsmax reported.
