Lawmakers assured that sink is for mops, not Muslims

Some anxious Tennessee legislators have been reassured that a newly installed sink in the state capitol is for janitors to wash their mops not for Muslims to wash their feet before prayer.

The AP's Eric Schelzig reports that state Sen. Bill Ketron had raised the concerns after the sink appeared in a men's restroom near the House chamber during recent $16 million renovations.

Senate Clerk Russell Humphrey said he had been approached by a House and Senate member to inquire about the new sink, which replaced a utility version that was mounted higher on the wall and was used for filling and emptying buckets.

"There was concern about why it had been modified," said Humphrey, who declined to identify the cncerned lawmakers.

State Sen. Bill Ketron, R-Murfreesboro, however, confirmed to the news agency that he had asked Humphrey about whether there were religious reasons for the new sink after the issue was raised by fellow Republican lawmaker Judd Matheny of Tullahoma.

"I just asked the question about what was the intent of that," Ketron tells the AP. "And it satisfied my curiosity after it was presented to me."

Matheny, however, denies that he had raised the issue or sought any legislative inquiry.

In 2011, Matheny and Ketron were main sponsors of a bill that sought to make it a felony punishable by 15 years in jail to follow some versions of the Islamic code known as sharia law, The Tennesseean reported.

The proposed bill would have exempted peaceful practice of Islam but labeled any adherence to sharia law — which includes religious practices such as feet washing and prayers — as treasonous. It claimed adherents of sharia want to replace the Constitution with their religious law.

In the end, the bill that passed was heavily watered down and did not refer to any specific religion.

in 2010, Ketron also raised concerns about the controversial construction of a mosque in Murfreesboro, asking whether it was really a church or a training center.

As for the last flap, Connie Ridely, legislative administration director, cleared up any concerns in an e-mail to the AP:

"I confirmed with the facility administrator for the State Capitol Complex that the floor-level sink installed in the men's restroom outside the House Chamber is for housekeeping use," she wrote. "It is, in layman's terms, a mop sink."