"On a day of new beginnings in Congress, Rep. Virgil H. Goode Jr. shook hands yesterday with the first Muslim House member. Rep. Keith Ellison used the Quran during a re-enactment of his swearing-in ceremony held for photo purposes.

Goode, R-Va., said that during a brief conversation on the House floor, he congratulated Ellison, D-Minn., on his election, and the two agreed to talk at length later.

"He said, 'I'd like to have coffee with you sometime.' I'm not a coffee drinker, but I'd be glad to talk with him," Goode said in an interview.

Goode, a Baptist, caused an uproar last month after sending a letter to constituents saying, "I do not subscribe to using the Quran in any way," referring to Ellison. Goode also called for tighter immigration controls to prevent "more Muslims [being] elected to office and demanding the use of the Quran."

Surrounded by his wife and four children, Ellison placed his hand on a copy of the Quran once owned by Thomas Jefferson.

"The authors of our Constitution, the most towering figures of American democracy, not only knew of the Quran, but actually used it to understand the world better," Ellison said in an interview. "It's nothing to be afraid of. Thomas Jefferson had one."

At a multifaith prayer service for Congress earlier in the day, Ellison spoke on behalf of his religion, reading a Quran verse that said, in part: "Oh, humanity, we created you from a single pair, male and female and made you into tribes and nations, so that you would know each other and not despise each other."

The two-volume Quran, bound in maroon leather, was printed in 1764 and is held by the Library of Congress.

Despite his genial meeting with Ellison, Goode said his position on the use of the Quran had not changed. "I stand by my letter," he said.

"Jefferson owned thousands upon thousands of books, which he generously provided . . . to the Library of Congress," Goode said, when asked if he saw Jefferson's ownership of the Quran as significant. "When Jefferson was sworn in [as president] in 1801 and 1805, I'm nearly positive he didn't use a Quran."" (Sean Mussenden, Richmond Times-Dispatch, January 5, 2006)