It is traditional for newly-sworn members of the House of Representatives to repeat their oaths with their hand on a Bible for photographers. When Ellison was ceremonially "sworn-in," he used a Quran that once belonged to Thomas Jefferson. Ellison went to a Islamic hajj pilgrimage to Mecca this past winter, becoming the first U.S. congressman to make the pilgrimage. After claiming he paid for the trip, it was determined to be paid for by a U.S. group tied to Muslim extremists, the Muslim American Society of Minnesota.