[USA: ACTION NEEDED!] Say no to New Hair Sampling Bill Posing Threat to Sikh Operators!

Sign Petition here

In 2013, Congressman Eric “Rick” Crawford (R-AR1) introduced the Drug Free Commercial Driver Act of 2013 (H.R. 3403). UNITED SIKHS took action and reached out to Congressman Crawford’s staffers to educate them on the Sikh religion, its articles of faith, and the importance of uncut hair. We then asked you to sign a petition requesting your elected officials not to vote for the bill due to the detrimental effect it would have on the Sikh community. After hundreds of you signed the petition, and UNITED SIKHS met with the sponsors of the bill and their staff at the 2014 Sikh Summit in Washington, DC, the bill did not get enacted into a law.

Today we ask you to sign another petition due to two new hair sampling bills that have been introduced in congress and the senate.

On March 19th, 2015, Congressman Crawford introduced the bill as H.R. 1467: Drug Free Commercial Driver Act of 2015 to the House of Representatives, and Senator John Boozman (R- AR3) introduced bill S. 806: Drug Free Commercial Driver Act of 2015 in the Senate. If enacted, these bills will allow employers to force a Sikh operator to provide a hair sample without offering an alternate form of testing such as urinalysis, thereby preventing Sikhs from seeking employment as operators due to their inability to cut their hair for any purpose. Once again, Sikhs would have to choose between employment, and their faith.

Action Taken

On the heels of the introduction of these new bills, UNITED SIKHS drafted amendment language that would require motor carriers to offer an alternate form of testing to employees who cannot cut their hair due to established religious requirements. We then met with Congressman Crawford’s office once again to propose this amendment. We were subsequently told by the office that, “There is not a need to include discrimination clauses in each piece of legislation Congress passes.”

On the contrary, we know that there is a dire need for such a clause. In 2013, UNITED SIKHS had to write a legal demand letter to a trucking company in Arizona which refused to hire an elderly Sikh unless he submitted a freshly cut sample of his hair for drug testing, and the company ignored the letter. If these proposed bills go through, they will unfold disastrous consequences for Sikh truck drivers. UNITED SIKHS is now emailing, calling, and meeting every one of the 85 congresspersons and senators who are on the bills’ sponsoring committees, asking them to support our effort to include religious accommodations.

Our message: While accommodation language just has to be one sentence, neglecting to include it will essentially give the trucking industry a free hand to impetuously reject Sikh applicants on their refusal to cut their hair. Devout Sikhs should not be forced to choose between employment and their faith. We cannot allow incidents like the one in Arizona to be repeated. For this, we need your support.

Act NOW!

While these bills have not yet been brought to a vote, we urge you to sign this petition to your congresspersons and senators, especially constituents of those officials who have sponsored, or co-sponsored the bills, and request them not to proceed with them as they are. These officials should be informed of the detrimental effect of these bills on the Sikh community, and that overall, it stands in stark contrast to the free exercise clause of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.