[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1125 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. RES. 1125
Condemning rising antisemitism.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 17, 2022
Ms. Wasserman Schultz (for herself, Mr. Diaz-Balart, Mr. Schneider, and
Mr. Zeldin) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to
the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on
Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall
within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Condemning rising antisemitism.
Whereas the Jewish-American experience is a story of faith, fortitude, and
progress and is connected to key tenets of American identity;
Whereas generations of Jewish people have come to this Nation fleeing
oppression, discrimination, and persecution in search of a better life
for themselves and their children;
Whereas these Jewish Americans have created lives for themselves and their
families and played indispensable roles in our Nation's civic and
community life, making invaluable contributions to our Nation through
their leadership and achievements;
Whereas, on August 21, 1790, President George Washington sent a letter to the
Hebrew Congregation of Newport, Rhode Island, expressing that the newly
formed United States would be a Nation that ``gives to bigotry no
sanction, to persecution no assistance'' and that the Jewish people
should ``dwell in this land [and] continue to merit and enjoy the good
will of the other inhabitants . . . and there shall be none to make him
afraid.'';
Whereas we should acknowledge and celebrate the crucial contributions that
Jewish Americans have made to our collective struggle for a more just
and fair society, leading movements for justice and equality, and
working to ensure opportunities for all;
Whereas alongside this narrative of achievement and opportunity, there is also a
history, far older than the Nation itself, of racism, bigotry, and other
forms of prejudice manifesting in the scourge of antisemitism;
Whereas antisemitism is an insidious form of prejudice stretching back millennia
that attacks the humanity of the Jewish people and has led to violence,
destruction of lives and communities, and genocide;
Whereas conspiracy theories that Jews are uniquely evil and influential has led
to mass killings of Jews throughout time, including the poisonous Nazi
ideology that resulted in the murder of 6,000,000 Jews, including
1,500,000 Jewish children, and millions of other victims of the Nazis in
Europe;
Whereas over the course of the past decade, Holocaust distortion and denial has
grown in intensity;
Whereas a 2020 survey of all 50 States in the United States on Holocaust
knowledge among Millennials and Gen Z conducted by the Conference on
Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference), found a
clear lack of awareness of key historical facts; 63 percent of
respondents did not know that 6,000,000 Jews were murdered during the
Holocaust and 36 percent thought that ``two million or fewer Jews'' were
killed;
Whereas there is a documented and dangerous rise of antisemitism globally and in
the United States, where Jews are increasingly affected by the grotesque
spread of misinformation and lies including blame for the spread of
COVID-19, false claims including the control of the media and the
financial system, accusations of dual loyalty, and a multitude of
negative stereotypes;
Whereas the American Jewish Committee (AJC)'s 2021 State of Antisemitism in
America report, a survey of American Jews and the general public's
perceptions of antisemitism, revealed 24 percent of American Jews have
been personally targeted by antisemitism in the past 12 months, 4 in 10
American Jews changed their behavior at least once out of fear of
antisemitism, 90 percent believe antisemitism is a problem in the United
States, and 82 percent feel it has increased in the past 5 years;
Whereas, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Jews were the target
of 55 percent of all religiously motivated hate crimes in 2020, despite
accounting for no more than 2 percent of the United States population;
Whereas the Anti-Defamation League (ADL)'s 2021 Audit of Antisemitic Incidents
in the United States recorded 2,717 acts of assault, vandalism, and
harassment this past year alone, an average of more than 7 incidents per
day; a 34-percent increase from 2020 and the highest year on record
since ADL began tracking antisemitic incidents in 1979;
Whereas 525 antisemitic incidents took place at Jewish institutions, an increase
of 61 percent from data collected in 2020;
Whereas antisemitic assaults increased by 167 percent in 2021 compared to the
previous year and assaults in 2021 were 138 percent higher than the
rolling 5-year average of antisemitic assaults;
Whereas there was a substantial surge of antisemitic incidents in the United
States in May 2021, 387 incidents were reported, a 141 percent increase
in reports of antisemitic incidents compared to May 2020; Jewish
individuals were violently attacked in major cities including New York
and Los Angeles;
Whereas the use of antisemitic language, conspiracy theories, and hatred has
increased on multiple social media platforms--from Facebook and
Instagram to Twitter and TikTok--including tropes about Jewish control
and messages praising Hitler and demonizing all Jews;
Whereas a recent example of the violent antisemitism took place on Saturday,
January 15, 2022, when, during religious services at Congregation Beth
Israel, a terrorist held 4 people, including a rabbi, hostage at
gunpoint for 11 hours;
Whereas police departments in a number of American cities, including New York
and Los Angeles, have said that they are stepping up patrols at
synagogues and other locations associated with the Jewish community
following the hostage situation;
Whereas there are regular acts of antisemitic vandalism against synagogues and
Jewish schools in the United States and numerous nonlethal attacks on
American Jews, leaving many Jews feeling increasingly unsafe in public
spaces and houses of worship;
Whereas AJC's 2021 State of Antisemitism in America report revealed 56 percent
of respondents' religious institutions increased security since the Tree
of Life synagogue shooting; and
Whereas the rise in antisemitism is part of the larger trend of the rise of
hate-filled movements that are targeting marginalized communities here
in the United States: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) calls on elected officials, faith leaders, and civil
society leaders to use their bully pulpit to condemn and combat
any and all manifestations of antisemitism;
(2) calls on elected officials to condemn and combat any
and all denials and distortions of the Holocaust and to promote
Holocaust and antisemitism education;
(3) calls for amplifying and ensuring United States
leadership to fight global antisemitism, working with the
Department of State's Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat
Antisemitism and intensifying cooperation with international
governments and parliaments around the world;
(4) works in tandem with the cross-party Inter-
Parliamentary Task Force to Combat Online Antisemitism to help
craft thoughtful global initiatives designed to address online
antisemitism;
(5) calls on social media platforms to institute stronger
and more significant efforts to measure and address online
antisemitism while protecting free speech concerns;
(6) takes all possible steps to improve the physical
security of Jewish institutions and organizations, including by
using existing tools such as increasing funding for the
Nonprofit Security Grant Program of the Department of Homeland
Security to keep at-risk houses of worship, schools, and
community centers safe from terrorist attacks and other forms
of antisemitic violence;
(7) ensures the safety, security, and dignity of American
Jews in all aspects of their lives, including the workplace,
college and university campuses, synagogues, and at home; the
development of these measures must reflect the full diversity
of the Jewish community in its entirety; and
(8) supports the right of Americans to freely exercise
their religious beliefs and rejects all forms of terror and
hate.
<all>