[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 252 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 252

 Unequivocally condemning the recent rise in antisemitic violence and 
harassment targeting Jewish Americans, and standing in solidarity with 
        those affected by antisemitism, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 27, 2021

   Ms. Rosen (for herself, Mr. Lankford, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Blunt, Ms. 
Cantwell, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Carper, Mr. Moran, Mr. Kelly, Mr. Cornyn, Mr. 
 Menendez, Mr. Daines, Ms. Hassan, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Peters, Mr. Portman, 
   Mr. Sanders, Mr. Tillis, Mr. Cardin, Ms. Collins, Mr. Bennet, Mr. 
   Cassidy, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Cramer, Ms. Sinema, Mrs. Hyde-Smith, Ms. 
  Klobuchar, Mr. Risch, Mr. Markey, Mr. Hoeven, Ms. Cortez Masto, Mr. 
 Braun, Mr. King, Mr. Boozman, Mr. Kaine, Mr. Wicker, Mr. Schumer, Ms. 
Murkowski, Mr. Padilla, Mr. Thune, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mrs. Blackburn, Mr. 
 Reed, Mr. Barrasso, Mr. Booker, Mrs. Fischer, Mr. Coons, Mr. Kennedy, 
  Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Sullivan, Mr. Casey, Ms. Ernst, Mr. Wyden, Mr. 
Rounds, Mr. Hickenlooper, Mr. Inhofe, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. 
   Van Hollen, Mr. Romney, Mrs. Murray, and Mr. Young) submitted the 
   following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the 
                               Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Unequivocally condemning the recent rise in antisemitic violence and 
harassment targeting Jewish Americans, and standing in solidarity with 
        those affected by antisemitism, and for other purposes.

Whereas antisemitism remains a serious and growing danger for Jews in the United 
        States and around the world;
Whereas, in May 2021, antisemitic incidents and rhetoric have surged in the 
        United States and around the world as hostilities between Hamas and 
        Israel escalated;
Whereas, since the beginning of 2021, there has been an increase in acts of 
        antisemitism, including--

    (1) individuals in London calling for Jewish ``daughters to be raped'';

    (2) a German synagogue being pelted with rocks;

    (3) an attack on Jewish diners in Los Angeles, California;

    (4) fireworks hurled at a crowd in New York City, New York;

    (5) synagogues in Tucson, Arizona, and Skokie, Illinois, being 
vandalized;

    (6) Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi's claim in an 
interview that Israel ``controls the media'' and has ``deep pockets,'' 
perpetuating an antisemitic conspiracy theory; and

    (7) Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's invocation of the blood 
libel myth, which has historically been used to justify violence against 
Jews;

Whereas such antisemitic incidents are part of a broader increase in the number 
        and intensity of antisemitic incidents in the United States and around 
        the world, as evidenced by--

    (1) studies by the Kantor Center for the Study of Contemporary European 
Jewry, finding that violent antisemitic attacks worldwide rose 18 percent 
in 2019 and shifted online in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, which 
resulted in antisemitic conspiracy theories related to the pandemic 
proliferating; and

    (2) hate crime statistics collected by the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation, demonstrating--

    G    (A) a 14-percent increase in antisemitic hate crimes in the United 
States in 2019; and

    G    (B) that Jewish Americans were the target of 60.2 percent of all 
religiously motivated hate crimes in 2019, despite accounting for 2 percent 
of the population of the United States;

Whereas Holocaust denial and distortion, including intentional efforts to excuse 
        or minimize the impact of the Holocaust, dishonors those who were 
        persecuted and murdered and reinforces the need for advancing accurate 
        Holocaust education globally;
Whereas, over the course of the past decade, Holocaust distortion has grown in 
        intensity;
Whereas protecting the history of the Holocaust and recognizing and confronting 
        Holocaust denial and distortion is critical to preventing antisemitism;
Whereas Jewish houses of worship are increasingly targets of violent attacks in 
        the United States, as evidenced by the deadly assaults on synagogues in 
        Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 2018 and Poway, California, in 2019;
Whereas, in October 2020, the Department of Homeland Security warned that 
        ``racially and ethnically motivated violent extremists--specifically 
        white supremacist extremists--will remain the most persistent and lethal 
        threat in the [United States] Homeland'';
Whereas the Nonprofit Security Grant Program of the Department of Homeland 
        Security provides critical funding to support physical security 
        enhancements to Jewish organizations and institutions, including 
        synagogues, that are at high risk of a terrorist attack or targeted 
        violence;
Whereas the United States has played a crucial leadership role in combating 
        antisemitism internationally, including by working to promote Holocaust 
        education, improve the safety and security of at-risk Jewish 
        communities, combat online radicalization, ensure foreign public 
        officials and faith leaders condemn antisemitic discourse, and 
        strengthen foreign judicial systems in their prosecution of antisemitic 
        incidents;
Whereas section 59 of the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (22 
        U.S.C. 2731) establishes the Office to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism 
        of the Department of State, which is headed by an individual who has the 
        rank of ambassador and reports directly to the Secretary of State, to 
        develop and implement policies and projects to combat global 
        antisemitism by working closely with foreign governments, 
        intergovernmental organizations, and civil society; and
Whereas the Never Again Education Act (36 U.S.C. 2301 note; Public Law 116-141), 
        which was signed into law on May 29, 2020, expands United States 
        Holocaust Memorial Museum education programming, requires the museum to 
        develop and nationally disseminate accurate, relevant, and accessible 
        resources to improve awareness and understanding of the Holocaust, and 
        authorizes various Holocaust education program activities to engage 
        prospective and current teachers and educational leaders: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) unequivocally condemns the recent rise in antisemitic 
        violence and harassment targeting Jewish Americans, and stands 
        in solidarity with those affected by antisemitism;
            (2) recommits to combating antisemitism in all forms;
            (3) calls on elected officials, faith leaders, and civil 
        society leaders to denounce and combat all manifestations of 
        antisemitism;
            (4) urges the President to--
                    (A) continue the leadership role of the United 
                States in combating antisemitism internationally, 
                including by nominating a qualified Ambassador to 
                Monitor and Combat Antisemitism and engaging 
                intergovernmental organizations to ensure that the 
                anti-discrimination efforts of the organizations 
                include combating antisemitism;
                    (B) advance accurate Holocaust education and 
                counter Holocaust denial and distortion, including by 
                fully implementing the Never Again Education Act (36 
                U.S.C. 2301 note; Public Law 116-141);
                    (C) ensure the physical security of Jewish 
                institutions and organizations, including by requesting 
                sufficient resources 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; and
                    (D) produce an analysis that accounts for the level 
                and scope of the threat that antisemitism poses to the 
                people of the United States; and
            (5) urges Federal, State, local, and Tribal law enforcement 
        agencies to fully participate in the data collection process of 
        the Federal Bureau of Investigation in order to improve 
        antisemitic hate crime data collection.
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