Representative Peter T. King and Islam to Retire from Congress

ALBANY — U.S. Rep. Peter King announced early Monday morning that he will not seek a 15th term in Congress, adding his name to a growing list of Republicans heading for the exits in a difficult political period.

Islam

During the 1990s, King enjoyed a close relationship with the Muslim community in his congressional district. King often gave speeches at the Westbury Islamic Center, held book signings in the prayer hall, took in Muslim interns, and was one of the few Republicans who supported U.S. intervention in the 1990s to help Muslims 

in Bosnia and Kosovo. The Muslim community thanked King for his work by making him the guest of honor for the 1993 opening of a $3 million prayer hall. For years, a picture of King cutting the ceremonial ribbon hung on the bulletin board by the mosque's entrance.

In a September 2007 interview with the website Politico.com, King said "There are too many mosques in this country ... There are too many people sympathetic to radical Islam. We should be looking at them more carefully and finding out how we can infiltrate them."King later said he meant to say that too many mosques in the United States do not cooperate with law enforcement

Rep. Peter King (R-NY), the new chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, has promised to launch a series of investigations of Muslim Americans beginning in February. “I’ve made it clear that I’ll focus the committee on counterterrorism and hold hearings on a wide range of issues, including radicalization of the American Muslim community and homegrown terrorism,” he told Newsday. King has repeatedly said that he only wants to single out “Islamic terrorism” in his hearings on domestic security, and has even claimed that there are “too many mosques in this country.”