It's one thing to criticize a specific policy or statement, but U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley felt compelled to "apologize on behalf of my country" to Muslim Americans during impromptu remarks at an Islamic college Saturday.

Quigley, D-Ill., has represented a suburban Chicago district since 2009 and serves on the House Judiciary Committee.

The apology was videotaped and posted on a conservative Illinois-based website called Rebel Pundit.

The remarks were made at a meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation at the American Islamic College in Chicago. Other invited speakers included representatives of the Islamic Society of North America, the Muslim Public Affairs Council and the Council on American-Islamic Relations A 2009 Hudson Institute report identified the AIC as having been planned by the Brotherhood-affiliated Muslim Students Association (MSA). The AIC was once headed by MSA founder Ahmed Sakr.

The tape is an excerpt of Quigley's full remarks, starting with him describing an ideological war in America in which people cynically "create scapegoats … who pit one group against the other."

He invoked comments by Martin Luther King, saying "discrimination against anyone or any faith is discrimination against all." While Quigley said he was optimistic things would change, "I think it's appropriate for me to apologize on behalf of this country for the discrimination you have faced."

See the tape here.