President Joe Biden has picked Pakistani-American Khizr Khan for appointment as an independent commissioner with the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.
Khan, founder of the Constitution Literacy and National Unity Project, is an advocate for religious freedom as a core element of human dignity, a White House statement said.
Khan, a Gold Star parent, hit national headlines during the 2016 election campaign, when waving a copy of the U.S. Constitution, he challenged former President Trump if he had ever read it, and advocated the cause of an inclusive America at the Democratic National Convention.
“Have you even read the US Constitution? I will gladly lend you my copy. In this document, look for the words ‘liberty’ and ‘equal protection of law,’” Khan said after pulling out a pocket-sized copy for effect. “Have you ever been to Arlington Cemetery? Go look at the graves of the brave patriots who died defending America — you will see all faiths, genders, and ethnicities. You have sacrificed nothing and no one.”
As a Republican candidate, Trump spoke dismissively of immigrants and diverse communities during the campaign, and Khan challenged him on many occasions, citing the example of his son. Several Republican candidates later criticized Trump for his remarks against the Gold Star family.
Khizr Khan immigrated to the United States in 1980 and is a Harvard Law School graduate. He is licensed to practice law before the Supreme Court of the United States, various Federal District Courts, and Washington, DC, and New York State courts. In his law practice, he devotes a substantial amount of his time to providing legal services to veterans, men, and women serving in uniform, and their families, the White House statement said.
Khan’s son, a U.S. Army Captain Humayun Khan. Capt. Humayun Khan was a University of Virginia graduate who was killed while serving in Iraq as he stopped an attack on his camp and saved the lives of scores of U.S. soldiers and Iraqi civilians.
Captain Khan was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star with Valor. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery Section 60 with full military honors.
Khizr Khan lives in Charlottesville, Virginia. He is the author of three books, including An American Family-A Memoir of Hope and Sacrifice, Founding Documents of the United States of America, and This is Our Constitution.
US Commission on International Religious Freedom keeps a watch on the state of religious freedom in countries around the world. The Commission comprises private sector commissioners who are volunteers but are appointed by the president, as well as members of Congress.
The independent commissioners are picked from among distinguished individuals who are experts at religious freedom issues with an understanding in the international perspective.
