[House Hearing, 118 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
______
CONFRONTING THE SCOURGE OF
ANTISEMITISM ON CAMPUS
=======================================================================
HEARING
Before The
SUBCOMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
of the
COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND THE WORKFORCE
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
HEARING HELD IN WASHINGTON, DC, NOVEMBER 14, 2023
__________
Serial No. 118-27
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Printed for the use of the Committee on Education and the Workforce
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available via: edworkforce.house.gov or www.govinfo.gov
______
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
55-964 WASHINGTON : 2024
COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND THE WORKFORCE
VIRGINIA FOXX, North Carolina, Chairwoman
JOE WILSON, South Carolina ROBERT C. ``BOBBY'' SCOTT,
GLENN THOMPSON, Pennsylvania Virginia,
TIM WALBERG, Michigan Ranking Member
GLENN GROTHMAN, Wisconsin RAUL M. GRIJALVA, Arizona
ELISE M. STEFANIK, New York JOE COURTNEY, Connecticut
RICK W. ALLEN, Georgia GREGORIO KILILI CAMACHO SABLAN,
JIM BANKS, Indiana Northern Mariana Islands
JAMES COMER, Kentucky FREDERICA S. WILSON, Florida
LLOYD SMUCKER, Pennsylvania SUZANNE BONAMICI, Oregon
BURGESS OWENS, Utah MARK TAKANO, California
BOB GOOD, Virginia ALMA S. ADAMS, North Carolina
LISA McCLAIN, Michigan MARK DeSAULNIER, California
MARY MILLER, Illinois DONALD NORCROSS, New Jersey
MICHELLE STEEL, California PRAMILA JAYAPAL, Washington
RON ESTES, Kansas SUSAN WILD, Pennsylvania
JULIA LETLOW, Louisiana LUCY McBATH, Georgia
KEVIN KILEY, California JAHANA HAYES, Connecticut
AARON BEAN, Florida ILHAN OMAR, Minnesota
ERIC BURLISON, Missouri HALEY M. STEVENS, Michigan
NATHANIEL MORAN, Texas TERESA LEGER FERNANDEZ, New Mexico
JOHN JAMES, Michigan KATHY MANNING, North Carolina
LORI CHAVEZ-DeREMER, Oregon FRANK J. MRVAN, Indiana
BRANDON WILLIAMS, New York JAMAAL BOWMAN, New York
ERIN HOUCHIN, Indiana
Cyrus Artz, Staff Director
Veronique Pluviose, Minority Staff Director
------
SUBCOMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
BURGESS, OWENS, UTAH, Chairman
GLENN THOMPSON, Pennsylvania FREDERICA WILSON, Florida,
GLENN GROTHMAN, Wisconsin Ranking Member
ELISE M. STEFANIK, New York MARK TAKANO, California
JIM BANKS, Indiana PRAMILA,JAYAPAL, Washington
LLOYD SMUCKER, Pennsylvania TERESA LEGER FERNANDEZ, New Mexico
BOB GOOD, Virginia KATHY E. MANNING, North Carolina
NATHANIEL MORAN, Texas LUCY McBATH, Georgia
JOHN JAMES, Michigan RAUL M. GRIJALVA, Arizona
LORI CHAVEZ-DeREMER, Oregon JOE COURTNEY, Connecticut
ERIN HOUCHIN, Indiana GREGORIO KILILI CAMACHO SABLAN,
BRANDON WILLIAMS, New York Northern Mariana Islands
VIRGINIA FOXX, North Carolina SUZANNE BONAMICI, Oregon
ALMA ADAMS, North Carolina
C O N T E N T S
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Page
Hearing held on November 14, 2023................................ 1
OPENING STATEMENTS
Owens, Hon. Burgess, Chairman, Subcommittee on Higher
Education and the Workforce Development.................... 1
Prepared statement of.................................... 4
Scott, Hon. Robert C. ``Bobby'', Ranking Member, Committee on
Education and the Workforce................................ 6
Prepared statement of.................................... 8
WITNESSES
Hauer, Rabbi Moshe, Executive Vice President, Orthodox Union. 9
Prepared statement of.................................... 11
Marcus, Kenneth L., Founder and Chairman, Louis D. Brandeis
Center for Human Rights Under Law.......................... 15
Prepared statement of.................................... 17
Burdett, Stacy, Independent Consultant in Antisemitism
Prevention and Response.................................... 25
Prepared statement of.................................... 27
Tartak, Sahar, Student, Yale University...................... 37
Prepared statement of.................................... 39
ADDITIONAL SUBMISSIONS
Chairman Owens:
Comments submitted by MorseLife Holocaust Learning
Experience............................................. 97
Takano, Hon. Mark, a Representative in Congress from the
State of California:
Letter dated October 26, 2023, from the Brandeis
University............................................. 44
Bonamici, Hon. Suzanne, a Representative in Congress from the
State of Oregon:
Press Release dated October 11, 2023, from CAIR-Maryland. 52
Press Release dated October 13, 2023, from CAIR-Texas.... 55
Article dated October 31, 2023, from The Washington Post. 57
Manning, Hon. Kathy, a Representative in Congress from the
State of North Carolina:
Letter to Secretary Cardona dated August 22, 2023........ 68
Stefanik, Hon. Elise, a Representative in Congress from the
State of New York:
Letter to Harvard dated October 13, 2023................. 90
QUESTIONS FOR THE RECORD
Responses to questions submitted for the record by:
Rabbi Moshe Hauer........................................ 103
Mr. Kenneth L. Marcus.................................... 108
CONFRONTING THE SCOURGE OF
ANTISEMITISM ON CAMPUS
----------
Tuesday, November 14, 2023
House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce
Development,
Committee on Education and The Workforce,
Washington, DC.
The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:03 a.m.,
House Rayburn Office Building, Room 2175, Hon. Burgess Owens
[Chairman of the Subcommittee] presiding.
Present: Representatives Owens, Grothman, Stefanik, Banks,
Smucker, Good, Moran, Chavez DeRemer, Williams, Houchin, Foxx,
Takano, Leger Fernandez, Manning, McBath, Courtney, Sablan,
Bonamici, Adams, and Scott.
Also present: Walberg, Miller, Kiley, and Bean.
Staff present: Cyrus Artz, Staff Director; Nick Barley,
Deputy Communications Director; Mindy Barry, General Counsel;
Jackson Berryman, Speechwriter; Hans Bjontegard, Legislative
Assistant; Solomon Chen, Professional Staff Member; Isabel
Foster, Press Assistant; Daniel Fuenzalida, Staff Assistant;
Sheila Havenner, Director of Information Technology; Paxton
Henderson, Intern; Amy Raaf Jones, Director of Education and
Human Services Policy; Alex Knorr, Legislative Assistant;
Andrew Kuzy, Press Assistant; Georgie Littlefair, Clerk; Hannah
Matesic, Deputy Staff Director; Audra McGeorge, Communications
Director; Gabriella Pistone, Oversight Legislative Assistant;
Rebecca Powell, Staff Assistant; Mary Christina Riley,
Professional Staff Member; Chance Russell, Economist and Policy
Advisor; David Samberg, Associate Investigative Counsel; Brad
Thomas, Deputy Director of Education and Human Services Policy;
Maura Williams, Director of Operations; Amaris Benavidez,
Minority Professional Staff; Jonah Bertheleson, Minority Legal
Intern; Nekea Brown, Minority Director of Operations; Ilana
Brunner, Minority General Counsel; Rashage Green, Minority
Director of Education Policy & Counsel; Eric Hale, Minority
Grad Intern; Stephanie Lalle, Minority Communications Director;
Kristen Lemus, Minority Intern; Raiyana Malone, Minority Press
Secretary; Shyann McDonald, Minority Staff Assistant; Veronique
Pluviose, Minority Staff Director; Banyon Vassar, Minority IT
Administrator.
Chairman Owens. The Subcommittee on Higher Education
Workforce Development will come to order. I note that a quorum
is present. Without objection, the Chair is recognized to call
a recess at any time. I would also like to welcome Committee
members who are not members of the Subcommittee and are waiving
on to this process for today's hearing.
Thank you for joining us today for this very timely and
consequential hearing. I want to begin by expressing sympathy
for the Jewish members of our community that feel endangered
and discouraged and disappointed by exposure of antisemitism
through our country.
I also want to thank our witnesses for coming forward to
testify and working with our Committee during this difficult
time of upheaval. This Committee is convening today to address
the scourge of antisemitism spreading like wildfire on college
campuses. As a first step toward eradicating this evil, this
Committee has invited Jewish campus and community leaders to
help us understand the source of this proliferation.
I recognize that antisemitism is not a new problem. It has
taken on various forms throughout our history, the most noted
prior to October 7th with the horrors of the Nazi Holocaust.
Both will forever remain a stain in the annals of human
history.
The modern form of antisemitism is more subtle, or is often
disguised under progressive, political innuendos, for example.
Office of Diversity Equity and Inclusion steeped deeply in
Marxism. It is anything but inclusive for Jews. Evidence shows
that the campus DEI bureaucracies play a major role in
propaganda spread of antisemitism.
There is a dirty little secret at the heart of DEI as it
seems to dismantle systems of oppression. It divides the world
into oppressors and the oppressed, ascribing collective guilt
to the oppressors and collective innocence to the oppressed.
What does this mean to the Jewish community?
You think DEI industry would be sympathetic to the Jewish
people's history of oppression, prosecution and wholesale
slaughter, but no. The DEI hierarchy places the Jewish people
at the very bottom of oppression spectrum. A study from the
Heritage Foundation explains that how diversity offices fuel
antisemitic fire.
After searching through the Twitter feeds of 741 campus DEI
personnel, the Heritage Jay Green found that 96 percent of the
Israel related tweets were either critical of Isreal, or
especially antisemitic. DEI programs are at its core,
antisemitic because it ascribes collective guilt to the entire
State of Israel for their mere existence.
The core principles of this Marxist ideology are not
diversity, equity or inclusion. Instead, discrimination,
intolerance and bigotry toward individuals thought to belong to
the wrong group. Rather than curbing discrimination on campus,
these DEI bureaucracies stoke racial tensions. A report from
the National Association of Scholars founds that DEI officials
routinely organize race segregated events. Race exclusive
affinity groups, race segregated spaces such as black only
dorms, black only graduations, and race specific training. You
literally cannot make this stuff up.
If it reminds anyone of the hate fueled 1960's days of deep
south Jim Crow segregation and the roaming gains of KKK
bullies, it is because it is. Hopefully our witness from Yale,
Ms. Sahar Tartak, can speak more about her experiences with
campus DEI and if it made her feel included.
I cannot think of a time since the 1960's when a group of
students were more blatantly targeted, harassed, bullied,
intimidated, physically assaulted, than Jewish students in the
last month. Swastika graffiti over college campuses, Jewish
students being segregated in classrooms by their professors.
Jewish students at the New York City's Cooper Union being
forced to lock themselves in a college library, and later
escorted out the back door.
What is the core of this problem? A gang of face covered,
cowardly bullies who feel no shame, who feel no fear of
accountability from college administrators where this hate is
being taught. Chants for genocide ring loudly. A Cornell
history professor called the pure evil of the terrorist attack
on civilian innocents exhilarating.
Antisemitic speech might be free. It deserves our moral
condemnation. With respect to all free speech, this Committee
fully supports students' rights to political expression. What
we do not and will not support is terrorism and threats of
violence. We can no longer support the use of taxpayer dollars
to cultivate, nourish and grow hate on our campuses.
I look forward to hearing from our witness accounts of
exclusive and divisiveness that are now being promulgated and
promoted throughout our country. DEI definitely plays a large
role in promoting this hate, but in what other areas should we
look at to hold our universities accountable.
Once again, I thank you for being here and with that, I
yield for the Ranking Member for his opening statement, Mr.
Scott.
[The prepared statement of Chairman Owens follows:]
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Mr. Scott. Thank you, Chairman Owens, and thank you to our
witnesses for your testimony today. It has been over a month
since Hamas's terrorist attack on innocent civilian in Isreal
and the start of a brutal war in Gaza. This conflict has
directly devastated thousands of people, Israeli's and
Palestinian's alike.
Countless families and friends across the world and in the
United States. Tragically, but not surprisingly, this conflict
has also been marked by a rise in both antisemitic and
Islamophobic incidences on America's colleges and universities.
To be clear, this discrimination is nothing new.
Student of history knows that it did not start with the
current war, foreign influences, or any new philosophy. My
colleagues would do well to recall this country's century long
history of racism and antisemitism. We can all agree that free
speech is a constitutional right, and bedrock of our democracy
and colleges and universities have been on the front line of
advancing that right for decades, but we should also be able to
agree that schools have a responsibility to protect student's
civil rights and safety. If they do not want to agree to that,
Title VI makes it clear that they have that responsibility.
Under President Biden's direction, the Department of
Education has recently provided additional guidance to colleges
and universities on how to uphold their obligation under Title
VI of the Civil Rights Act and better address antisemitism,
Islamophobia, and other forms of discrimination on campus.
While the Biden administration has taken an active role in
helping institutions protect students, regrettably many of my
colleagues have spent this Congress fueling divisive and
baseless culture wars.
Moreover, this week Congress will consider a government
funding bill. It includes cuts for the Department of
Education's Office of Civil Rights, the very agency charged
with protecting students from discrimination. Today I hope our
republican colleagues will denounce the culture wars that have
distracted us from protecting our vulnerable students, and I
hope we can all stand behind the Biden administration's
critical work to ensure that every student and educator has
access to a campus free from discrimination, harassment and
violence.
I thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I yield back.
[The prepared statement of Ranking Member Scott follows:]
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Chairman Owens. Thank you, Mr. Scott. Pursuant to Committee
Rule 8-C, all members who wish to insert written statements
into the record may do so by submitting to the Committee Clerk
electronically in Microsoft Word format by 5, 14 days after
this hearing, which is November 28th, 2023. Without objection,
the hearing record will remain open for 14 days to allow such
transactions and statements, and materials referenced during
this hearing to be submitted for the hearing record.
I will now turn to the introduction of our four
distinguished witnesses. Our first witness is Rabbi Moshe
Hauer, who is Executive Vice President of the Orthodox Union,
which is located in New York City, New York. Our next witness
is Mr. Kenneth Marcus, who is a Founder and Chairman of
Brandeis Center for Human Rights under the Law, which is
located in Washington, DC.
Our third witness is Ms. Stacy Burdett, who is an
Independent Consultant in Antisemitism Prevention and Response
and is located in Washington, DC. Our final witness is Ms.
Sahar Tartak, who is a Student at Yale University in New Haven,
Connecticut.
I would like to thank the witnesses for being here today
and look forward to your testimony. Pursuant to Committee
rules, I would ask that each of you limit your oral
presentation to a 5-minute summary of your written statement. I
also would like to remind the witnesses to be aware of their
responsibility to provide accurate information to the
Subcommittee. I would like to first recognize Rabbi Hauer.
STATEMENT OF RABBI MOSHE HAUER, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT,
ORTHODOX UNION, NEW YORK, NEW YORK
Rabbie Hauer. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Ranking
Member, members of the Subcommittee. My name is Rabbi Moshe
Hauer, and I have the privilege to serve as the Executive Vice
President of the Orthodox Union, which is the largest
organization serving Orthodox Jews in the world.
I am not standing here or sitting here today simply in that
capacity. I work day to day together with colleagues across the
Jewish community, all of whom all of us are engaged in our
future, our students. Students on campus. We have an
organization that serves our communities on campus, and we work
side by side, along with Hillel, Chabad and others serving
Jewish students of all types on our campuses.
I hope in these remarks to be able to represent them. To
present to you in addition to the many specific stories from
which the Chairman mentioned and cited and others which you
will hear here today, and will hear unfortunately and sadly in
the future to give you a bit of a sense of the bigger picture.
Our organization like others in the Jewish space, we place
educators on university campuses. Educators who are there who
enter the field in order to be able to provide a home on campus
for Jewish students.
To help nurture their sense of community, their sense of
identity, to have a place to come together to celebrate Jewish
holidays and the Sabbath, to study, to eat together, to
maintain their sense of community of their faith community.
Today, the entire community of Jews on campus do not need a
home, they need a fortress. People who went into this field in
order to be able to educate and to nurture instead find
themselves, despite their own trauma, and their own fear,
having to spend their time just caring for the trauma and the
fear of their students.
Day to day, instead of educating, they are protecting. They
are counseling people, students, how to avoid danger. How to
navigate a class where the professor, where the staff that is
in the class is creating a hostile environment for the
students. The notion of being able to be there, to build, to
grow, where the campus is a nurturing environment for all of
its students is unfortunately not their reality.
Once upon a time, Jews were not admitted to these campuses.
Today, we have come a long way. Jews are admitted to every
campus, but today, unlike a short time ago, that admission
introduces them to an environment where they experience fear
and hostility, which is better? To not be allowed in, or to be
welcomed, and then to be intimidated?
Title VI, as you will hear from my friend and colleague,
Ken Marcus, Title VI ensures that our environments, our
federally funded environments, our university environments are
supposed to provide a place where all students are welcome, and
what we are experiencing today is a test case in noncompliance
of Title VI.
I would also like to make a last point. That is to draw you
back to the big picture of how the Jewish community, the
students and the Jewish community as a whole are experiencing
this moment. We are the people of the book, and that book
contains values and morals, and it tells us our story.
We all know our story. This is the story of the Jewish
people in a nutshell. We have been around for a few thousand
years. We come to a country where we live, where we wander to.
We thrive there. We contribute to the community, and after a
period of time, that country spits us out. That has been our
story.
We live with it. We know it, and we did not think it was
going to happen here. We believed that the United States of
America built as it is, on the principles of liberty and
freedom and civil rights, would never spit us out. We never
imagined not 5 years ago, not 1 year ago, that we would be
sitting here in this Committee room because of the kind of vile
and terrible antisemitism, which is being directed at us on
campuses.
It is in your hands. You are elected officials. We have
entrusted you to bring back the liberty and freedom to our
land, to make our community believe again that America will be
different.
[The prepared statement of Rabbi Hauer follows:]
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Chairman Owens. Thank you, Mr. Hauer, I appreciate that. I
next recognize Mr. Marcus.
STATEMENT OF MR. KENNETH L. MARCUS, ESQ., FOUNDER AND CHAIRMAN,
BRANDEIS CENTER, WASHINGTON, D.C.
Mr. Marcus. Chairman Owens, Ranking Member Scott, Members
of the Subcommittee, it is an honor to be here today for this
briefing. I thank you for holding it and for including me. I am
the Chairman of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights
Under Law. We speak every day with Jewish students who are
facing antisemitism on college campuses.
A month ago, shortly before this 7th of October, I would
have told you that we were facing historic levels of campus
antisemitism, worse than we had ever seen before. That was
nothing like what we have seen since then. During the weeks
following October 7th, we had more than a 10fold increase in
intake as compared to the historic levels that we had seen
before that.
That was even before we announced a joint program with the
Antidefamation League and Hillel, to do intake together, at
which point it skyrocketed above that. We have a crisis today
on America's campuses. This is an emergency. I would suggest to
this Committee that when the problem is exceptional and
unprecedented, the solutions need to be unprecedented and
exceptional.
My testimony describes some of what is happening on college
campuses, but the Chairman's opening remarks reflects an
understanding of that. Students are being assaulted. Students
are being threatened. There is a vandalism, there is harassment
of all sorts, not just on a few hotspot campuses, but all over
this country, including at institutions that we had previously
considered to be entirely safe for Jewish students.
Let me suggest if I may, a few answers because there are
things that can be done, especially under the statute that
Rabbi Hauer mentioned, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of
1964. The Biden administration has addressed antisemitism in
various ways, and I think should be praised for issuing a
national strategy on antisemitism.
The Office for Civil Rights or OCR, which I formerly headed
at the U.S. Department of Education, has issued their colleague
letters and has had various meetings and public events, which I
think are helpful. Much of that was what I would call October
6th thinking.
We are now in an emergency. Here are a few things that
should be done, certainly within the next 30 days. No. 1, the
Secretary of Education has authority to institute compliance
reviews. When I served in the George W. Bush and Trump
administrations, when there was a matter of national importance
that we wanted to address and bring public attention to, we
would establish a nationwide initiative, with investigations
proactively addressed through all of the regions of the agency.
That would put significant resources, but also raise public
attention.
There is no need to simply wait for complaints to come in.
The agency can reach out. Second, even short of compliance
initiative, the agency has the power to institute self-directed
investigations. Jewish communal organizations like mine are
similarly stretched.
We are providing complaints where we can as fast as we can,
but the U.S. Department of Education has the authority any time
it opens the newspaper, or watches the news, to investigate in
those cases of which there are many, in which it is apparent
that there are issues of non-compliance with Federal law.
Third, Executive Order 13899 on combatting antisemitism.
The Biden administration has committed over and over again to
issue regulations implementing President Trump's former
executive order on combatting antisemitism, which remains
active policy, but lacks the durability of a regulation.
This has been delayed and delayed again. It is now due next
month in December. It would be unfortunate at a period of
extreme antisemitism for this to be delayed again, and yet
there has been no mention of it in either the national
strategy, or the most recent OCR report to this Congress and
the President.
At a minimum, the administration should do what it has
promised, and what they promised long before October 7th, and
issue the notice of proposed rulemaking regarding Executive
Order 13899.
Fourth, the Antisemitism Awareness Act, that is up to this
Congress, not the executive branch, but there is legislation
that has been introduced that would formalize and codify the
executive order established by the last President, President
Donald Trump. This would provide tools needed by OCR in order
to ensure that there will be consistent, standard use of the
understanding of antisemitism.
Those are four things, but in general what we need is not
just good words, not just an occasional letter, but a
combination of strong guidance, and most importantly, proactive
action. There is no need to simply wait for complaints to come
in. The Federal Government should take action, and there is no
reason why it cannot do so within these next 30 days. Thank
you, sir.
[The Statement of Mr. Marcus follows:]
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Chairman Owens. Thank you, Mr. Marcus. I will now recognize
Ms. Burdett.
STATEMENT OF MS. STACY BURDETT, INDEPENDENT CONSULTANT IN
ANTISEMITISM PREVENTION AND RESPONSE
Ms. Burdett. Thank you very much. Thank you, Chairman
Owens, and Ranking Member Scott for this opportunity.
Antisemitism is not just a threat to Jews, it is a threat to
democratic norms, and American values. Its presence has always
been a warning sign about the health of free democratic
societies. All the members here have noted that what we are
seeing is not new, it follows the core logic of antisemitism
throughout history.
It is a lie to blame Jews for what is wrong in the world.
You have also recognized antisemitism is a feature, not a bug
of American society and history. The demand for a better life
for Palestinians is a worthy cause, but attacks on Jewish
students have nothing to do with criticism of Israel's policy
or actions.
They don't serve Palestinian freedom or advance any
peaceful future for Israelis and Palestinians. Here Is what
some of the most responsive universities I have seen have in
common. No. 1, they get that this is not business as usual. We
have heard from the other panelists. October 6th was a
different world. They have been communicating steadily and
repeatedly with students and faculty to remind them
antisemitism violates, first of all, the university's values.
There are rules. There are parameters around protests, they
have increased security services like escorts and hotlines to
report threats. Some have formed antisemitism task forces to
look system wide at policies, and even their academic
offerings. We hear the call from communities, where are my
allies?
Jews need support. We need solidarity, and we need
recognition that antisemitism is serious. That is why
organizations like the American Jewish Committee, and the Anti-
Defamation League see DEI as a critical framework for their
work, they are investing in DEI compatible education material
about antisemitism.
It is true, Jews do not fit neatly into the protected
categories. It is not rocket science to fix that, so enhance
it. Do not make us the excuse to shutdown something important.
Pushing back against antisemitism means we need an all hands-
on-deck approach across society, and the national strategy to
counter antisemitism is a comprehensive roadmap. It is already
being implemented across Federal agencies.
The Department of Education and eight new agencies have
made crystal clear antisemitism, discrimination against Jews
violates civil rights laws. They have pledged and are taking
action. They are being proactive, whether it is revising
complaint forms, starting education campaigns, and training
their investigators and staff.
The national strategy is a serious plan. If Congress is
serious, then implement your part of it. Look, I am a mom of a
kid on a college campus. Enforcement is not my goal, it is my
worst nightmare. There is not a single more important way to
help a Jewish student on campus than to prevent the attack from
happening in the first place.
We have to give our kids more than bulletproof glass and
barricades. Prevention is not an extra, not with any kind of
crime, and not with antisemitic hate crimes. Hate does not just
frighten people it isolates them, and that is why community
solidarity building is such a key focus of Jewish organizations
and of the national strategy.
That's how we could make fighting antisemitism a community
value, an American civil value. How can we effectively stop a
problem that we cannot measure? Antisemitic crimes are rising,
and the number of police agencies who bother to track it is at
a 5-year low. That is something you can take action on.
People who work on this issue agree it's time to make this
reporting mandatory. Antisemitism has been alive in this
country for generations, but what we have seen, not just on
campuses now, on the streets of Charlottsville, and Poway, and
Muncey, and at Cornell. Well, there is no quick fix to put this
poison back in the bottle, you have four witnesses here, but
please use the roadmap from the White House that has serious
input from over 1,000 organizations and Jewish community
stakeholders.
If you do, a lot of Americans will be better allies to Jews
and each other. The Jewish community and the American community
will be stronger for it. Thank you very much.
[The Statement of Ms. Burdett follows:]
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Chairman Owens. Thank you, Ms. Burdett. Last, but not
least, I would like to recognize Ms. Tartak.
STATEMENT OF MS. SAHAR TARTAK, STUDENT, YALE UNIVERSITY, NEW
HAVEN, CONNECTICUT
Ms. Tartak. There is a Jewish concept that encourages
bringing light into times of darkness through acts of love and
kindness. I will begin by dropping a few coins into this
charity box, and I would encourage you to do the same.
Distinguished members of the Subcommittee, good morning. My
name is Sahar Tartak, and I am an Orthodox Persian Jewish
student at Yale University.
Thank you for having me speak. It is an honor, and I
appreciate your service to this country. I am humbled before
you. Noting your commitment to democracy and to the free world,
I want to paint a picture of how since Hamas's October 7th
massacres, college campuses have become a place for the
opposite.
A love of Hamas, and all the oppression it represents.
Since October 7th, there has been a 400 percent increase in
reported antisemitic incidents of vandalism, harassment and
assault, in comparison to the same timeframe in the previous
year across America.
Let us start with Yale, my own university where I received
death threats for my Jewish activism, and the Ivy League
institution refuses to provide me with direct protection. That
is just the beginning. I have not had time to mourn the murder
of over 1,400 members of my Jewish family across the sea. I
have not had time to cry.
I have been too busy handling an interdepartmentally
sponsored Yale event entitled ``Gaza Under Siege''. My Jewish
friends and I were barred from entry. We pressed our ears
against the door for 2 hours listening, ``The Israeli State
cannot remain the State of the Jewish people.'' ``Israel aims
to inflict as much harm, damage and death as possible.''
Panelists, excuse me, panelists refused to label Hamas
``terrorists'', let alone to condemn them when asked. They
instead justified their brutalities saying, ``Violent
resistance movements often emerge in colonized spaces.'' An
official Yale University response declared that ``Opinions and
positions from people of all backgrounds were expressed
respectfully during the program,'' but we heard nothing of the
sort from behind the door.
The week before that I also did not have time to cry. I was
too busy with the Yale Daily News, the oldest collegiate paper
in the country, redacting my mention of Hamas' raping women and
beheading men from an article I published for the paper,
deeming these atrocities unsubstantiated.
Yale's administration made no comment. The week before that
I did not have time to cry because I went to film one of many
pro-Hamas protests at Yale, where hundreds of my peers
gleefully yelled, ``Resistance is justified.'' Yales
administration made no comment. The week before that I wrote an
article about the officially recognized campus group, Yale is
for Palestine, publicly, ``Celebrating the resistance's
success,'' not to mention similar statements made by university
professors.
Again, the Yale University administration did nothing.
Again, I did not have time to cry. On campus, I sit in a
crowded dining hall, and I ask myself how many people in this
room want me dead? You have no doubt heard about assaults and
intimidation of Jewish students at Cornell, Columbia and Cooper
Union.
You have heard about the words ``Glory to our martyrs,''
projected onto George Washington University's library. Those
Jews also did not have time to cry. You may not, however, have
heard about my Jewish friend, a freshman whose residential
counselor laughed contemptuously at a survivor of the Nova
Music Festival massacre for visiting their university to detail
his trauma.
Others told me they are uncomfortable approaching their own
professors for help with course work because they are openly
pro-Hamas. Another slept on a friend's couch because her
roommate supports Hamas. One, attended a seemingly innocent
dance concert, whose program featured a donation link to
``Support Palestinian Anarchist Fighters on the Front Lines of
Resistance.'' I wonder where that was going.
They have all receded into Jewish centers exclusively, for
reasons which are crystal clear. Universities have allowed Jew
hatred to run rampant. If they fail to protect their Jewish
students, they should be stripped of their Federal funding.
They must derecognize and defund student groups that promote
violence, calling for ``intifada,'' or supporting U.S.
designated terrorist organizations.
The Federal Government cannot subsidize hotbeds of
antisemitism. The Department of Education should proactively
open Title VI investigations, not just receive them passively.
Diversity equity and inclusion offices should be scrutinized
for protecting every minority group other than mine. This is
not an exhaustive list, but I urge you to mobilize on this
issue.
Do not abandon your Jewish students during this crisis.
Academia has turned its back on us. Will you do the same?
[The Statement of Ms. Tartak follows]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Chairman Owens. Thank you. Thank you so much. Pursuant to
the previous order, the Chair declares the Subcommittee in
Recess, subject to the call of the Chair for votes on the House
floor. We will reconvene immediately following the last vote in
the series. Thank you. The Committee stands in recess.
[Recess.]
Chairman Owens. The Committee will come to order. Under
Committee Rule 9, we will now question witnesses under the 5-
minute rule. I will begin this process. Rabbi Hauer, in your
testimony you made a striking statement. You said that Jewish
students need a fortress now rather than a home. Can you share
with me more what this looks like?
In other words, are the mentors that are Orthodox Union and
other organizations place--have they had the protection that
they need for the Jewish students? Has that changed in recent
years, especially since the Hamas attack?
Rabbi Hauer. Thank you for the question. It has changed. It
has changed dramatically. It has changed over the years. Yes,
as you will hear from all of us, October 6th we were also
dealing with an intensely fearful and changed campus
environment, and it has multiplied exponentially since October
7th.
Yes. Our professionals, our educators are spending, as I
said in the original testimony as well, they are spending a lot
of time, a lot of time counseling students about this
environment, about how to respond, how to report, how to
navigate what has become an increasingly unfriendly
environment.
Our Jewish students on campus when they come to the place,
very often they are doing something, which is really essential,
essential to themselves, and to their identity. They cannot,
and they should not need to melt into a campus environment by
hiding who they are. The ability to convene in Jewish spaces.
Jewish spaces are targeted. People are seeking extra
security. One of the things that we are working together as
Jewish organizations, is to bring greater physical security to
Jewish spaces on campus and surrounding the Jewish students,
and that is the story of the fortress.
Our leaders are struggling to make their voices heard in
university administrations, in order to be able to bring out
the proper reaction. All such administrations should be having
serious discussions about how they restore a sense of safety
and freedom to Jewish students. Many of our educators are
trying to be on the front lines of doing that.
Sometimes they are welcomed, sometimes their voices are
welcomed, sometimes the process begins. Too frequently, they
are struggling to be able to do it. I could just tell you if I
may, myself, I am a by career, before I assumed this position,
which is for a national organization of congregations, I was a
congregational rabbi. I am a teacher.
I went into this business in order to be able to work with
people to build Jewish identify. I did not get into the
business in order to be able to argue about the rights of Jews
to exist.
Chairman Owens. Thank you. Thank you so much. Ms. Tartak,
you noted that the so-called diversity equity inclusion offices
should be questioned for protecting every minority group. I
personally think that the diversity, equity and inclusion is a
fraud. What we are seeing now in our campuses across the
country is proof of that.
What is the diversity, equity inclusion office at Yale
doing to protect you and your other Jewish students on campus?
From what you have heard, other peers in other campuses?
Ms. Tartak. Yale diversity equity and inclusion offices and
organizations alike have done nothing for me and my friends,
and the horrifying experiences that I detailed in my testimony.
Surveys of DEI organizations on college campuses have found
that only 2 in 24 even address antisemitism, and if and when
they refuse to step in for Jews, I know what comes next.
Chairman Owens. Okay. Thank you. In the few seconds I have
left Mr. Marcus, we have heard the voices of the left express
concerns about the pro-Hamas students not being given their
free rights of speech. In your testimony you noted that
Brandeis Center, over half the Jewish fraternities of sorority
students surveyed expressed aborting their views on Israel
because of the concerns they might have themselves. Do you have
any comments on that? Any further comments on that?
Mr. Marcus. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Certainly, I would say
that we speak every day with students who feel that they are
unable to express their Jewish identity on campus without
various forms of punishment, or social stigmatization. Jewish
students for whom Zionism is an integral part of their identity
are in particular, unable to do so.
They are finding that they are excluded from student
government positions that are subjected to impeachment votes,
or otherwise excluded.
Chairman Owens. Thank you much. I now recognize Mr. Takano.
Mr. Takano. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am appalled by the
rise of antisemitism, amid a painful and precarious moment in
light of the October 7th attack launched against Israel. I
would like to take this opportunity to address a recent vote
that I took, and so folks could understand why I did what I
did.
Congressman Owens, the Chairman, introduced a resolution
titled ``Condemning the Support of Hamas, Hezbollah, and other
Terrorist Organizations at Institutions of Higher Education,''
which may lead to the creation of a hostile environment for
Jewish students, faculty and staff.
To be clear, the early draft of this resolution was a
resolution that I intended to support. I believed that
condemning the actions, the heinous actions of Hamas was an
important thing for Congress to express, and to express maybe
something different than what was going on, on many of our
Nation's campuses.
However, the resolution that came to the floor for a vote
differed vastly from the initial version. The subsequent
iteration contained added whereas clauses, many of which
misrepresented instances of antisemitism on college campuses.
Congress has a responsibility to remain truthful above all
else.
If we are misrepresenting data to present a false narrative
or perpetuate a narrative which may provide some political
gain, then we are providing a disservice to those we represent.
After much thought and deliberation, I voted against the
resolution because it was overly broad and implied university
administrations are not challenging, or properly responding to
instances of antisemitism, notwithstanding what our witness
here has testified today.
I do realize that some administrators have not acted with
appropriate alacrity. One of the whereas clauses in this
resolution included an instance of a Stanford lecturer
targeting Jewish students. From what I heard it was a
despicable moment. This did not depict, however, a full,
accurate picture because the text of the resolution failed to
recognize that the instructor was subsequently suspended by
Standford University.
A second mischaracterization occurred on page 2 of the text
which read, ``Whereas, on October 22d, 2023, the Brandeis
University Student Government voted down a simple resolution
condemning Hamas and calling on the immediate release of all
hostages back to their families unharmed.''
Now this could have done potential harm to the students at
Brandeis University who were mischaracterized as having failed
to condemn Hamas. Inaccurate reporting misconstrued the
dynamics of a student Senate vote that concerned process and
procedure. The Brandeis Student Union had not issued any
statement that support Hamas.
They actually vigorously condemned the attack. This
resolution should not have been included in a congressional
resolution. Misreporting prompted the Brandeis University
President to set the record straight, and he released a formal
statement entitled setting the record straight, and the
statement expressed what the university unequivocally--that the
university unequivocally stands with Israel, and Mr. Chairman,
I ask unanimous consent for this letter to be entered into the
record.
Chairman Owens. Without objection.
[The information of Mr. Takano follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Takano. Now, the pro-Israel organization J Street,
further recommended to members to object to the Owen's
resolution, citing concerns with the implication that
universities were not acting to address instances of
antisemitism. Some of my colleagues have attempted to seize an
opportunity to divide the democratic caucus with got you
resolutions, and bad faith attempts to condemn antisemitism,
which is what the resolution in my view ended up being.
Competing resolutions have been introduced, which support
Jewish students without perpetuating any falsehoods, and such
as the Kustoff, Wasserman Shultz resolution. I was proud to be
an early signer of this resolution to condemn antisemitism on
college campuses and encourage higher education leaders to
respond to incitements of violence.
If we could only have passed that resolution instead. This
hearing presents a unique opportunity to discuss the balance
between first amendment protections, and Title VI of the Civil
Rights Act. I am running out of time, but I am convinced as
from the testimony from Ms. Burdett, that we can strike that
balance, and we can meet the challenge of the moment for Jewish
students on campus, and all students.
That is our duty as representatives, and that is the duty
of our government, and I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Owens. Thank you. Now I would like to recognize
Ms. Chavez-DeRemer.
Mrs. Chaves-DeRemer. Thank you, Mr. Chairman for holding
this important hearing, and thank you to the witnesses for
being here today. Over the course of my life, I cannot think of
a more terrifying time for the Jewish community. Hamas, the
terrorist organization which violently oppresses and sacrifices
Palestinians in Gaza, carried out the worst massacre of Jews
since the Holocaust.
Immediately, university students and administrations
proudly took up the banner of Hamas. The sole interest of Hamas
in using Palestinians as collateral damage in their extremist
aim to kill every last Jew remaining in the world. Many
students and universities did not hesitate to make it clear
that being Jewish is justified cause for harassment, assault,
death threats, and murder.
The question has to be asked, why is antisemitism such a
shared sickness in American universities? For many elite
institutions Jewish students were prohibited from attending for
a significant period of their existence, and if American
history has taught us anything, it is that engrained racism is
something you have to force out of institutions.
It does not disappear on its own. Mr. Marcus, are you able
to further provide the Committee the historical context of
antisemitism in American universities?
Mr. Marcus. Thank you, Congresswoman, I agree entirely with
your remarks. Speaking as a practitioner, as opposed to a
historian, I can tell you that 20 years ago when I first dealt
with this issue we had faced a half century of progress, ending
roughly with the onset of the second intifada, but over these
last two decades the situation has turned around, getting worse
over 20 years, but with accelerating deterioration during the
last several years with a particular spike since October 7,
with college campuses, places where you would expect
toleration, providing exactly the opposite of that.
Mrs. Chavez-DeRemer. Ms. Tartak, thank you for being here.
Being so brave. In your view at Yale, and other universities,
how has the systemic antisemitism been able to maintain itself
in this modern era?
Ms. Tartak. Thank you for the question. The sense that I
have gotten from university administrations, and the reason why
they seem to really be failing to handle this issue is because
somehow it has been successfully politicized. To be more
specific, so that administrations and I would say pro-Hamas
students and faculty view any condemnation as antisemitism,
somehow as a form--as another form of bigotry against Muslims
or Palestinians.
Which is why we wind up with statement after statement of
both sides when a Jewish student is harassed or assaulted. This
happened at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. A student
was beaten up. A Jewish student was beaten up while holding an
Israeli flag. They then came back and like took a knife and
destroyed the flag, and then the university statement said we
condemn antisemitism, Islamophobia, and maybe they also said
all other forms of bigotry. Like this is just it is pure
evidence they cannot condemn antisemitism by itself, and so
that is a really good way of erasing antisemitism when it
happens.
Mrs. Chavez-Deremer. Thank you. You being here gives me,
and I imagine everyone here, a lot of hope. The past dictates
the present, and it seems clear that universities have not
seriously reckoned with how historic antisemitism has arguably
gotten stronger in the modern era of academia.
As an American, I pray that there can be a resolution to
this hatred. As a Member of Congress, I remain determined to
continue working to ensure the existence of Jewish people is
protected. No person should ever fear for their safety on
account of their race, color or creed, and with that Mr.
Chairman, I yield back.
Chairman Owens. Thank you. I now recognize Mr. Courtney.
Mr. Courtney. Thank you. Excuse me, thank you Mr. Chairman.
Thank you to witnesses for your testimony today, again I want
to first of all acknowledge the resident of New Haven,
Connecticut, Ms. Tartak, for your testimony today and your work
at Yale Daily News, where you know I think combined along with
many other voices, the external pressure to really eradicate
antisemitism is going to again, have a lot of strength in the
coming days.
That is certainly hopefully what we are going to achieve
with this hearing today. In New London, Connecticut, a little
further up the coastline we have a situation where a family has
a relative Liat Beinin Atzili and her husband Aviv Atzili, who
were in a kibbutz near Oz on the day of the October 7th. Liat,
who was a dual citizen and thus, the family in New London, she
is still a hostage in Gaza.
My office has been working with the family and the U.S.
Embassy in Israel, as well as the State Department tracking the
situation. Again, even though in the U.S. events may seem like
they are far away, but they are all very local. As I said, your
presence here today as someone living in Connecticut, again it
is much appreciated.
Ms. Burdett, your work with the Anti-Defamation League,
which I think has really been the absolute bedrock institution
that has been--whose mission is to identify antisemitism for
decades and decades, as well as to address it. I would like to
talk to you a little bit about your comments regarding the
civil rights division, both in the Department of Education as
well as the Department of Justice, and the role they play in
terms of providing a real legal remedy, in terms of trying to
advance the cause of antisemitism.
Ms. Burdett. Both in the Department of Justice and
Education, it is been very important that those offices have
restated, reupped the truth and the message that antisemitism
is a violation of civil rights. It is something that needed
reiterating, we need to be translating resources for victims
into Hebrew and Yiddish. All of those things that those offices
do make a difference in someone's life.
I think, I hope Congress will fully fund the DOJ's
prevention programs because if we prevent bias motivated
violence against targeted victims, we will protect Jews, so let
us do that. I think those offices--it is not only their
enforcement role that is important, it is the difference they
can make in the lives of someone who needs support because
something has happened to them.
How they respond, how they communicate with communities.
Like I said, you know, all I hear from Jewish students is where
are our allies? Where are people in other communities standing
up for me? Well, we cannot hear that cry and then think that
building solidarity when our local officials do work that
brings community together, they are building a social fabric
that protects people. It is not an add on.
Mr. Courtney. Right. On page 8 of your testimony, again,
one of the headings is, ``When Students Call, Make Sure There's
Enough Investigators to Answer.'' Again, that really at this
particular moment is an issue that is right in play. We were
about to vote on the budgets of the Department of Justice, and
the Department of Education with the spending bills, which my
colleagues on the other sides, Appropriations Committee
reported out.
The civil rights division in the Department of Justice is
looking at a 41 million dollar cut from their budget, and the
civil rights division in the Department of Education is looking
at a 35 million dollar cut. I have been around Congress for a
while. Talk is cheap. Budgets matter in terms of whether or
not, again there is someone to answer the phone, and actually
put pressure on institutions, whether it is higher education,
employers, you name it, where antisemitism is rearing its head,
then we actually have the resources in play to provide a real
remedy.
I mean it is a basic first year law student maxim that when
there is no remedy, there is no right. That is Marshall vs.
Madison one of the bedrock cases out of the U.S. Supreme Court,
and these budgets really raise a question whether or not there
is going to be a remedy.
Again, with 15 seconds left, maybe you would like to sort
of comment on that.
Ms. Burdett. Republicans and democrats have complained to
the Department of Education about their backlog, about their
alacrity and I do not understand how we could complain about a
group of people not getting through 19,000 cases when they were
not set up. They are not equipped to handle that deluge.
I can tell you from my experience the complaints that are
going to be coming in are going to be real, they are going to
be hard, and they are going to need investigative capacity, so
let us get busy and let us put people in those chairs. I agree
with you.
Mr. Courtney. Thank you, and I yield back.
Chairman Owens. Thank you. I would like to now recognize
Mr. Grothman.
Mr. Grothman. Yes. I guess we will start on with this
question. Right now, there is been a lot of concern, a lot
written about the--from Mr. Marcus, a lot written about the
lack of diversity on college campuses, very strong to the left.
There has been an increasing role of DEI sort of programs in
which left-wingers are hired by colleges and universities.
Do you feel that these people are contributing at all to
anti-Israel sentiment, or is there a correlation between the
increase in antisemitism and an increase in these sort of
employees in college campuses?
Mr. Marcus. Congressman, there are some people in the DEI
field who are doing good work, and even helping Jewish
students, but there are three fundamental problems. First, DEI
programs often do not even mention antisemitism or Jewish
identity in their training programs.
Second, studies from the University of Arkansas show that
often DEI professionals, especially in higher education, have
strong anti-Israel views, that cross the line into
antisemitism, so they would not be the appropriate people to go
to at any rate.
Third, oftentimes DEI programs are built on an ideology,
which creates a dichotomy between oppressor and oppressed,
between white supremacist and BIPOC, and too often Jews are
viewed as being ultra white oppressors, which means that
regardless of whether Jews were mentioned or not as a discrete
minority, the entire process, the entire ideology is structured
too often against the Jewish people.
Mr. Grothman. We were told, and then I talked to some
people whose children are mistreated on college campuses. They
noticed a lot of BLM signs, or that sort of thing sometimes
connected with this sort of thing. Is there a correlation
between BLM or are they weighing in one way or other on these
incidents?
Mr. Marcus. Mr. Chairman, was that for me?
Mr. Grothman. Yes.
Mr. Marcus. You are asking about correlation with Black
Lives Matter and the problem we see on campus. What I would say
is that the Black Lives Matter movement stands for a lot of
different things for different people, but the movement has in
various places, including for a significant period on its
website, had strongly anti-Zionist messaging, and sometimes
also has that perspective in the work it does.
The Jewish community tends to support efforts to make sure
that all minorities are supported, but the particular group
that you mentioned unfortunately, does have an anti-Zionist
background that can be hurtful.
Mr. Grothman. Okay. As far as social media is concerned,
there have been reports that TikTok has been prioritizing say a
more anti-Israel message. Is that true?
Mr. Marcus. My expertise is more the campus than social
media, but what I can tell you is anecdotally talking to
students, they are deluged with anti-Zionist messaging, coming
both generally from the discourse, and also oftentimes from
their campus itself.
Mr. Grothman. Could one of you just comment in general. I
am going to come back to the lack of intellectual diverse on
college campus. The lack of diversity is usually strong--what
they have is an overwhelming tilt toward the left wing
progressivism on campuses. Do you believe that is part of the
problem on campuses?
Mr. Marcus. Sure. Certainly, Congressman, it cannot be
coincidental that we have on so many campuses an environment
that has become so hostile to Jews and Israelis at the same
time that anti-Zionist attitudes are so prevalent within the
faculty themselves, and those anti-Zionist attitudes are
sometimes coupled with left wing ideology.
Mr. Grothman. Do you see any correlation between anti-
Israel views and anti-American views? Does it attract the same
breed, the same type of person?
Mr. Marcus. Some of the same extremists who attack Israel,
and its positions are also attacking the United States.
Mr. Grothman. Is not it almost always true in so far as you
identified people.
Mr. Marcus. All I can say is we see it all the time.
Mr. Grothman. Okay. Okay. Final question. I think we are
having a lot of people from other countries come here, and we
have had a lot of horrible incidents at MIT, and the percentage
of students at MIT coming from other parts of the globe is
very, very high. Is there a correlation between new people
coming here, either as foreign students, or just people coming
from other countries?
Is there a correlation between these and the anti-Israel
extremists? You see some of these people causing trouble.
Mr. Marcus. I do not have data, but I can say that we see
trouble both from people who were born here and people who come
here from other countries, both.
Mr. Grothman. You do not think that when you see the high
number of people coming from MIT and a higher number of
protests, there is no correlation between the foreign students
and the people demonstrating?
Mr. Marcus. I do not have data, but anecdotally we are
seeing foreign students as well as native born among the
perpetrators.
Mr. Grothman. Thank you.
Ms. Burdett. May I respond, Mr. Chairman since he had
thrown his question to anyone who wants to comment?
Chairman Owens. I am sorry, the time has expired.
Ms. Burdett. Okay.
Chairman Owens. I turn to Ms. Bonamici, thank you.
Ms. Bonamici. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just want to start
by responding to my colleague and expressing extreme concern
about the notion of placing everybody in the same category, and
assuming that anyone that comes from a particular country, or
has a particular color of skin shares certain beliefs. I just--
I think that it is hugely problematic, and Mr. Chairman, thank
you for holding this important hearing.
Thank you to our witnesses. We know antisemitism has been a
threat for centuries. Ms. Burdett, you talked about prevention.
I want to note that in my home State of Oregon, in 2019 the
legislature required education about the Holocaust. They just
updated that legislation earlier this year to include a
required curriculum about Jewish history and culture.
Those are obviously steps in the right direction, but now
post October 7th is undeniable that we are experiencing an
enormous and concerning rise in antisemitism, and other hateful
and discriminatory rhetoric, especially on college campuses.
Not limited to college campuses, I might add.
Sadly, and too often in these situations, it has become
violent and threatening way beyond constitutional free speech
protections. I understand this is a hearing about antisemitism,
but it is important to recognize that there has also been
unprecedented surge in anti-Muslim and anti-Arab bias and hate.
There was a significant dangerous threat to mosques in the some
of the districts I represent.
That is wrong too. I hope we can all agree that every
student has the right to be on a campus where they not only
feel safe, but are safe, especially when discussing and
debating important and controversial topics. That is not
happening today. We heard from a student about that. We know
antisemitism has repeated reared its ugly head in the form of
hateful rhetoric, and disgusting images and symbols, and now it
is back in levels we have not seen in our lifetime.
We need a unified, empathetic and appropriately nuanced
approach from this Committee in Congress, Title VI gives us the
opportunity to do that. I want to note that after 911 our
Federal Government did not do enough to protect Muslims amid an
alarming rise in Islamophobia, and violence toward and hate
crimes toward Muslim Americans.
We can learn from that and realize that we have to take
action. I am grateful for the rapid response by the Department
of Education's Office for Civil Rights, OCR to remind
colleagues colleges of their obligations to protect Jewish
students, Muslim students, students of all faiths against
discrimination. I am also very grateful that OCR has expedited
an update to its discrimination complaint forms, so hopefully
campuses get access the resources and support they need as soon
as a discriminatory act occurs.
I am following up on Mr. Courtney's question. Ms. Burdett,
there is a push among my Senate colleagues, led by Help
Committee Chairman Sanders to include a 27 percent funding
increase for the Department Office of Civil Rights in a
supplemental appropriation bill.
I support this and hope that a similar bipartisan effort
takes shape in the House because of the bipartisan consensus
that we are hearing about addressing what is happening on
college campuses. Ms. Burdett how could OCR use these
additional resources from Congress to fulfill its
responsibility and protect civil rights of students and combat
any faith, race, or ethnicity-based discrimination, and would
you please also, I know you wanted to respond to Mr. Grothman's
questions.
Ms. Burdett. Well, I will start with the Department of
Education. I mean I am an advisor to professionals on campuses,
and complaints are going to go up. Congresswoman, if tomorrow
you were a Senator, and you got to only bring your House staff,
it would limit how effective you could be.
This is just common sense that we need to capacitate this
organization because later Members of Congress will criticize
that office for not moving quickly enough, and for having a
backlog.
I just--as I cannot be a Jewish person and not remember
that we were viewed as foreigners who were dangerous. Two
thirds of the American public in 1938 believed that Jews in
Germany were responsible for the persecution that the Nazis
were bringing on them. We were not allowed to come here because
people believed that we would be German spies, and we would be
a fifth column in this country.
Hate comes from everywhere, and so do acts of good people.
That kind of profiling, it is not backed up the data. You are
Members of Congress. You can access information about people
who come to this country. My understanding is that they commit
crime at lower rates than our own kids, so thank you for that
opportunity, Congresswoman.
Ms. Bonamici. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, as I yield back, I
request unanimous consent to enter into the record statements
from the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR)
condemning Islamophobic actions on college campuses in Maryland
and Texas, and importantly, an article from the Washington Post
titled, ``Colleges Braced for Antisemitism and Violence It's
Happening.'' Thank you, and I yield back.
Chairman Owens. No objection.
[The information of Ms. Bonamici follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Chairman Owens. I would now like to recognize Mr. Good.
Mr. Good. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you to our
witnesses. Ms. Tartak, we are all sorry I think to hear. I
would hope everyone--how you have been silenced and threatened
on the Yale University campus. What do you think college
administrators who are committed to combatting antisemitism,
what should they do to protect Jewish students on campus?
Ms. Tartak. Sure. First of all, I think that they have
options. I think what they say matters, and when they make
condemnations of antisemitism that are just full of what I will
call all sidesism, it cannot simply focus on anti-Jewish
hatred, and have to bring in ``all forms of bigotry'', they are
making a huge mistake.
I think that they can also de-recognize and defund student
groups that promote violence, and that supports terrorist
organizations recognized by the U.S. Government. I will give
you an example. I also gave one in my testimony, but another
because there are so many.
National Students for Justice in Palestine, on their
Instagram commemorates somebody who planned multiple suicide
bombings in one of the intifadas in Israel. There is a
commemoratory post to mourn this person's death. Maybe SJP
chapters that repost something like that, of course within the
boundaries of the First Amendment nitty gritty, of which I am
not an expert, but maybe they could experience some sort of
scrutiny, if not consequences.
Mr. Good. Well said. This equivalency where you have to
belong to everyone and together, instead of speaking
specifically to the issue at hand of antisemitism. Even this
White House, as soon as you mention antisemitism moves to
Islamophobia, and then specifically that colleges do not have
to sanction or subsidize or condone these groups that are
obviously hate groups and antisemitic groups.
What would you estimate the ratio to be of students on
campus that would be pro-Israel versus pro-Hamas?
Ms. Tartak. Ooh, well it depends on the college campus,
which is relevant.
Mr. Good. How about at Yale?
Ms. Tartak. Sure. At Yale I would say pro-Hamas as in would
show up to a rally shouting something along the lines of, or
verbatim, ``Resistance is justified.'' 20 percent of the
student body.
Mr. Good. 20 percent.
Ms. Tartak. Sure.
Mr. Good. Wow.
Ms. Tartak. Because----
Mr. Good. How about the professors?
Ms. Tartak. Ooh, also a good question. It also depends on
the department, but a good example was this event that I went
to called Gaza Under Siege, where the panelists presented Hamas
as a resistance movement, and that was cosponsored by five or
so university departments, as in majors. It was a studies
department, the women's gender and sexuality department,
ethnicity student race immigration, our center for middle east
studies, so I think administrative backing says a lot, and
maybe answers your question.
Mr. Good. That is incredible that you would estimate that
perhaps 20 percent of Yale students might show up to a pro-
Hamas rally, a true pro-Hamas rally. One has to wonder what
happens on our college campuses, and in light of, and I keep
bringing it back to this, and I will do it once again.
In light of the border invasion facilitated by this
administration, individuals who are in our country now aided by
this administration, when this happens here what we saw play
out on October 7th in Israel. When this happens here, it will
be interesting how on our own college campuses, the responses
and these professors that are in many cases subsidized by tax
dollars, not specifically at Yale in terms of it being a
private university.
Mr. Marcus, to you if I may just pivot. Should universities
like Yale be able to hide behind the First Amendment, or should
there be consequences when we see this kind of antisemitism
play out, or this expression played out in college campuses?
Mr. Marcus. Congressman Good, the problem is not just that
there are students who are saying the wrong thing, but
universities that are doing the wrong thing.
Mr. Good. Right.
Mr. Marcus. We need to start with the grownups. They need
to begin by saying we will do no harm. They need to look at
their DEI programs, they need to look at their curriculum, they
need to look at programs like middle east studies programs,
with a one-sided anti-Israel propaganda that is simply fueling
the problem on campus.
Mr. Good. Yes. Are you concerned about--you know we know
there are billions of dollars flowing to college campuses from
countries such as Qatar, China, Saudi Arabia, United Arab
Emirates, countries that do not hold the same values that we
do, and there was a study by the Anti-Defamation League
released a report that showed how money from Iran is actually
being funneled to universities just for antisemitism.
Are you concerned about the impact that these foreign
influences on our college campuses might be having on the
spread of antisemitism?
Mr. Marcus. I am, sir, but I want to say respectfully that
a lot of the money going to it is our own money from the U.S.
taxpayers.
Mr. Good. Okay.
Mr. Marcus. A lot of it is either Federal money, or it is
State money, or it is student activities fees, but yes, it is
also true that foreign money is coming in and having
questionable influence.
Mr. Good. Thank you, and I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Owens. Thank you. I would like to now recognize
Dr. Adams.
Ms. Adams. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you to our
Ranking Member, and thank you to the witnesses for being here
today and for your testimony. As a 40-year retired college
professor, I am appalled at the recent reports of antisemitism
that we have seen in this country, and the demonstrations of
hate overall.
Antisemitism has been a serious issue in this country. It
has been ongoing, and it has existed for a number of decades.
We have seen hate unfortunately trickle down to many parts of
our society, and today we are looking at our colleges and
universities. It is horrible to me that students are being
attacked simply for who they are, and every student, regardless
of race or religion, deserves a right to study and to learn
safely on a campus.
They deserve the right to walk on the campus and just be
there and feeling safe about it. Ms. Burdett, in your work at
the Anti-Defamation League, you develop policies and
strategies, and programs to prevent and counter antisemitism,
so can you discuss briefly some of the strategies that you use
to help schools combat antisemitism?
In your experience, how have the institutions responded to
these strategies?
Ms. Burdett. Institutions in general in this country want
to do better, and working as a lobbyist for the Anti-Defamation
League was like most of the time was like falling through an
open door. I think institutions need outside partners,
expertise, and validators and supporters.
But one of the most important strategies and things that we
have learned as a country is that where there is data, action
follows. Where campuses have programs that incentivize and
promote reporting, and make it even more comfortable for
students to make a report, they can look at their problem and
quantify it.
The fact that, you know, everyone on this Committee could
actually ask their own policy department to start reporting to
the FBI. I just cannot emphasize enough that if you have a
diverse city in your district that is reporting zero or one
hate crime, it is not credible, and we all know it.
Reporting even schools that have a policy against bullying,
and bullying by the way, hurts Jewish people, and our brothers
and sisters in other communities. Where policy is posted online
and promoted, children are safer. There are less suicide
threats among kids, and so these kinds of spotlights that we
can put, and then I have talked a lot about prevention.
Prevention really matters, because once a hate crime has
happened in a family, some families will actually never recover
from that trauma, and I think we have all seen cases like that.
Ms. Adams. Thank you. We have seen so many traumatic
experiences throughout our college campuses, I have worked
particularly with our HBCUs and others. Hate anywhere is a
terrible thing. You talked a little bit about the Office of
Civil Rights, and the fact that we need to fund this department
because when we look at the fact that we've had an uptake in
Title VI complaints, and years that the republicans have been
in the majority, the Office of Civil Rights that has either
been underfunded, or not funded at all.
I want to ask you about--since you mentioned diversity.
Diversity, equity and inclusion programs on college campuses
were designed to address potential issues among the different
demographics. There has been a recent surge in attacks against
DEI programs.
I have heard many of my colleagues use this argument. What
role can diversity, equity and inclusion programs play in
responding to antisemitic and racially hostile acts on
campuses? You have got about 30 seconds.
Ms. Burdett. I do not know a single Jewish person who is
not very scared right now. I do not know a single Jewish
organization or Jewish school principal, or rabbi that wants
the civil rights infrastructure of this country to be
decimated. Now. diversity, equity and inclusion work maybe
wasn't set up to anticipate a group of mostly white people
scared of hate crimes, but it can be enhanced, and the people
that I work with have adapted, and are protecting Jews now.
Do not bring it down on account of us. We need it.
Ms. Adams. Thank you very much. Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
Chairman Owens. Thank you. I would like to recognize Mr.
Moran.
Mr. Moran. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, acts of
hate emanate from hearts filled with hate. Our colleges and
universities have an obligation to ensure that they do not
cultivate an environment of hate or racism by their action or
by their inaction. The heinous acts of hate evidenced by the
terrorism undertaken by Hamas on October 7th may be the most
prominent recent example of hate filled antisemitism, but the
hearts that undertook this terror are not isolated just to
Hamas terrorists.
Unfortunately, antisemitism has found a prominent and a
safe refuge on our college campuses, and this is simply
unacceptable. Let me be clear, there is a distinction between
free speech involving honest debate on college campuses on the
one hand, and support for groups that call for the annihilation
of another race on the other hand. Surely, that difference is
clear to the reasonable observer.
One of the ways that I think colleges and universities have
promoted antisemitic speech and behavior is through their DEI
offices, and we were just talking about that a second ago.
Staff and diversity equity and inclusion departments on many
college campuses are noticeably antisemitic. They go about
their work in a manner contrary to the stated intent of
treating all with equity.
In 2021, Mr. Chairman, you referenced a study that Heritage
did, a report on antisemitism of DEI staff at universities.
They conducted a search of Twitter feeds of 741 DEI personnel
at 65 universities to find comments regarding Israel, and for
comparison, China.
Those DEI staff tweeted, retweeted, or liked almost three
times as many tweets about Israel as tweets about China, and
notably of those tweets about Israel, 96 were critical of the
Jewish State, while 62 percent of the tweets about China were
favorable. Consider that for a moment.
The DEI staff favored China and opposed Israel. In my view,
this explains in large part the lack of response toward
antisemitic instances by DEI staff on college campuses, and
seems clear to me that there are a number of higher education
institutions whose DEI staff are disconnected with the values
and strategic objectives of the U.S.
Once more, they are clearly antisemitic. Ms. Tartak, I want
to talk to you because you are at Yale University presently,
and I noticed just doing a little Google search of Yale back in
April, Yale brought in on the second night of Passover, they
hosted a speaker their DEI office, hosted a speaker known to
promote antisemitic views, including justifying the murders of
Jews and Israelis.
I want to talk to you about your experience, and whether or
not the DEI office at Yale has offered you any support. Have
they, in fact offered you any support?
Ms. Tartak. Again, no. Assuming you are referring to Houria
Bouteldja. There is a photo of her holding a sign that says
again verbatim, ``Zionists to Gulags''. The DEI office did not
do anything to prevent the event. It was as a matter of fact,
as you stated, supported it. It was hosted during a Jewish
holiday where Jews could not show up. Similarly, my friends and
I were unable to get into a recent pro-Hamas event, cosponsored
by so many departments at Yale, they do not help.
Mr. Moran. I presume that in the past 5 weeks since the
Hamas attacks in Israel, that the DEI department at Yale has
not provided you any support, or frankly, provided you
insurance that you are going to be safe and secure in your own
college campus as a result of the antisemitic speech and
actions on that campus.
Ms. Tartak. No. They have not. Again, for the most part, my
Jewish peers and I have receded exclusively into Jewish Centers
of life on campus, and what is upsetting about this uniquely,
is that DEI at least a lot of what I have been seeing, fails to
recognize that Jews can be oppressed, but only recognizes Jews
at some kind of white oppressor, which to me does not really
make sense.
As a Persian Jew on one side, my mom escaped revolutionary
Iran in 1979, and on the other side, my grandfather was a
Holocaust survivor. His mother, brother and sister were shot by
a Nazi firing squad, and so to have an institution look at me
and say you are the oppressor, really should frighten us all.
Mr. Moran. Yes. I agree. Completely agree with you, and Ms.
Burdett, you mentioned earlier, I think you used the phrase
that some DEI offices were not ``set up'' to look at certain
white individuals as those folks being oppressed, and I think
that is one of the big problems with DEI offices, is frankly,
we start categorizing people by how they look, or what their
race is, instead of looking at the heart of folks, and
understanding what true hate is, and what true hate is not.
It works against the values of American democracy, and
frankly, it works against the morality that undergirds the
freedom that should be evident and should be there for all
members of the human race. With that, I yield back.
Chairman Owens. Thank you. I would like now to recognize
Ms. Manning.
Ms. Manning. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Ranking
Member Scott. I am glad we are having this hearing. Frankly, it
is about time. We have seen antisemitism on the rise across the
United States and around the world, including a 40 percent
increase in antisemitic incidents at colleges and universities,
and that was before the October 7th Hamas attack.
Sadly, since October 7th, the ADL has found an almost 400
percent increase of antisemitic incidents on college campuses,
including so many of the incidents we have heard about today.
As the Co-Chair of the House bipartisan Task Force for
Combatting Antisemitism, I strongly condemn all of this
antisemitic activity.
Sadly, and inexplicably, far too many college and
university leaders have totally failed to fulfill their moral
responsibility to clearly reject hatred, violence and
antisemitism. There is much more we can do to counter
antisemitism and protect Jewish students. I am very eager to
work with any of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to
work on this issue.
In fact, in August I helped lead 87 Members of Congress on
a bipartisan and bicameral letter to Secretary Cardona, urging
the Department to take concrete steps to clear the backlog of
pending complaints, to prioritize the pending proposed
regulations, and to implement key commitments in the U.S.
national strategy to counter antisemitism.
Mr. Chairman, I would like to request unanimous consent to
enter this letter into the record.
Chairman Owens. No objection.
[The information of Ms. Manning follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Ms. Manning. Thank you. Mr. Marcus, I am so grateful to you
and your colleagues at Brandeis for your work. In April, the
Biden administration reached a milestone settlement with the
University of Vermont on antisemitism, and would you view that
as a success?
Mr. Marcus. Thank you, Congresswoman. Yes. The Louis D.
Brandeis Center filed that complaint jointly with Jewish on
Campus, and we view it as a success, and it is our
understanding that there has been a dramatic difference on that
campus since the resolution.,
Ms. Manning. Would funding the OCR fully, pushing forward
on issuing regulations and implementing the U.S. national
strategy to counter antisemitism, would all of those things
help lead to a greater number of similar, successful
resolutions to instances of campus antisemitism?
Mr. Marcus. Respectfully I do not think I can say I am
convinced of that. You know, I headed OCR during two
administrations. There have been arguments for and against
increases or decreases, often on party lines. My sense has been
that if--think about antisemitism as an issue that seldom
occupies even one-tenth of 1 percent of intake, maybe it will
be--so to me, fluctuations in the budget of OCR are not what
impacts the ability of OCR to address antisemitism.
Ms. Manning. Let me ask you this question because we know
that there are a record number of 19,000 complaints that OCR
received last year, and yet a tiny number of those, I think
only five, are related to antisemitism. I think since October
7th, only 8 or 9 complaints have been about antisemitism. This
is shocking in light of what we hear from students when we talk
with them on campuses, what we hear in the press.
Why is it that we have seen such a significant increase in
antisemitic incidents as reported by students, by others on
college campuses, and yet what we are seeing filed at OCR is
only a tiny percentage of those claims. What is getting in the
way of students filing complaints?
Mr. Marcus. Students are often reluctant to file complaints
against a university for reasons that vary from loyalty to
their institution, to ignorance of the availability of the
process, to fear that it is not going to be successful. We are
now seeing more complaints coming in, and the Brandeis Center
will have more to come, but I really think that it is incumbent
on OCR to proactively investigate cases and not just wait for
complaints to come in, for exactly the sorts of reasons that
you have just mentioned.
Ms. Manning. College is a time when young people find
themselves and decide what they want to be, and I am deeply
concerned that what young Jews are facing today on college
campuses, the shocking antisemitism is going to force them to
decide that they are simply safer if they hide what is Jewish
about them, if they do not take part in Jewish life, if they
abandon that part of their identity.
I just want to urge my colleagues, we need to do more to
address this issue, my time is expiring, and I thank all the
witnesses today.
Chairman Owens. Thank you. I would now like to recognize
Mr. Smucker.
Mr. Smucker. Thank you, Mr. Chairman for yielding time, and
for holding this important hearing today, and I would like to
thank each of the witnesses for being here, and particularly,
Ms. Tartak for being here to share your story.
It is shocking to see what is happening in our society,
what is happening on our campuses. There is something wrong
with the moral fabric of our society when you have antisemitism
rising in the way that we are seeing today. It is hard to
believe that we are here, particularly, when we have seen the
atrocities that Hamas have committed against the State of
Israel on--in October.
These were barbaric, inhumane, and deserving of strong
retaliation. 1,400 innocent individuals brutally murdered,
hundreds more still held hostage by Hamas, and 30 Americans
killed in these attacks as well. On these college campuses, in
many cases, no mention made of any of that in these protests.
No mention made of Hamas as a terrorist group. Instead, we
are seeing as you said, Ms. Tartak, Jewish students retreating
to their Jewish Centers in our college campuses. It is totally
unacceptable, and should be called out for what it is. It is a
hate crime.
Unfortunately, far too many institutions of higher
education are failing to do their duty, to protect Jewish
students and faculty from this aggression. I think you have
heard today that members of this Committee are resolute in
condemning antisemitism, and I am hearing that on a bipartisan
basis. We continue to stand firmly behind Israel, behind Jews
here in American, and behind Jewish students on college
campuses.
I think about where do we get here, and Rabbi Hauer, you
mentioned in your testimony that antisemitism has been
cultivated in our K through 12 system, and then that spreads to
institutions of higher education. I would like to hear a little
bit more about that.
I am from Pennsylvania, and I just want to give this
background as well. There is an effort in Pennsylvania to teach
about the Holocaust in our K through 12 system, led by a
professor at Penn State. I visited some of the schools that
have implemented you know, teaching about the holocaust at a
young age, and how to do this. It is a difficult subject, and
how to do it with very young students.
What is going wrong beginning in our K through 12 system
that we are at the point where we are today?
Rabbi Hauer. Thank you for the question. I am not sure if I
would use the word myself, cultivated. I think what we have
seen very clearly is that the kinds of behaviors, and the kinds
of environments that have been created in university campuses,
which until very recently we only found in university campuses,
we are now finding in K through 12, or specifically middle
school through 12th environments.
From our perspective, we have something called Jewish
student unions, which are clubs, which are held in public
schools, and hundreds of public schools across the country for
Jewish students who want to attend the club in school hours. It
is constitutional to be able to do so.
We have had, especially since October 7th, but proceeding
it as well, but incredibly spike since October 7th,
descriptions of exactly the kinds of things that have been
described here as occurring on university campuses. Rallies in
middle--in high schools, our clubs. Students coming into a club
of Jewish students sitting in the back and disrupting and
making it impossible for the Jewish students to carry on, and
then in fact, chasing the students back toward their
classrooms.
We have had teachers in high schools who have been doing
art projects, so showing for example, a fist emblazoned with
Palestinian colors going through the Israeli. Kinds of things
which are making students deeply uncomfortable. It did not
happen before, and in a certain sense I think that is
especially compelling, for us to consider in Title VI
discussions because universities, it has been there for a
while.
It is going to be a big project to dial it back. In K
through 12 schools, it is just beginning, it is just beginning,
and we have to address it very, very fully.
Mr. Smucker. I know I am out of time, but I would be very
interested in hearing your thoughts on how can we change that
in K through 12's? How important is education about the
Holocaust, what can we do differently, but I do not have time.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Owens. Thank you, thank you very much. I would
like to recognize Ms. Leger Fernandez.
Ms. Leger Fernandez. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you
witnesses for coming and sharing the stories about the eruption
of antisemitism on our college campuses. I almost feel like I
want to apologize on behalf of people who really recognize that
that is simply wrong, it is horrendous.
Antisemitism has no place in American society, and like my
colleagues on both sides, I am appalled by the eruption and
what's happened since October 7th because of that. Rabbi Hauer,
you correctly note that antisemitism on campuses has persisted
for generations.
I often tell the story of how when my father attended
college on the GI Bill, both Jews and Hispanos were barred from
fraternities on his campus, and this was just after the world
had witnessed the horrors of the Holocaust. The importance of
allies, the importance of allies is really key, and I think my
small, teeny, tiny little northern New Mexico story of allies
and historic antisemitism is sort of a little piece of that.
We also most recently remembered the antisemitic hate
spewed by the white nationalists as they marched through the
University of Virginia in 2017 at the Unite the Right Rally.
Most of this antisemitism on college campuses and in the rest
of the Nation has deep ties to white supremacy.
Ms. Burdett, can you please speak to the link between white
supremacy and antisemitism in America?
Ms. Burdett. Thank you for that question. One of the
reasons it is so important to make sure that antisemitism
awareness is incorporated into our civil rights work, our
diversity work, our inclusion work is because a lot of experts
believe you cannot adequately understand hate in America
without knowing about antisemitism.
It is such a strong, animating ideology for hate in
America. We should remember that Jews are not targeted because
we worship differently. Remember that the shooter of the Tree
of Life Synagogue, (Spoken in Hebrew) that is Hebrew for may
his name be erased--he did not shoot those people because they
were praying on Saturday, or because they were praying in
Hebrew.
He subscribed to an ideology whereby Jews were responsible
for so called, the browning of America. We are part of the
movement for diversity in this country, and antisemitic
conspiracy theories in our homegrown hate groups are very
pernicious and really drive a vast, vast majority of
ideologically motivated, biased murders of Jews in this
country.
Ms. Leger Fernandez. Right. This idea of hate, and
promoting, promoting power, and acquiring power by using hate
to get it in all of its forms, I think is really pernicious as
you point out. You pointed out also in your opening testimony
about the Biden administration's national strategy for counter
antisemitism earlier this year, and about the importance of
Congress acting, and making sure we provide the resources.
Mr. Courtney raised the issue earlier, but what does a 25
percent budget cut to the Department of Ed's Office of Civil
Rights, as proposed by the House republicans appropriations
bill, affect? How would that affect the ability of that office
to investigate, and if necessary, as pointed out, take strong
action when universities fail to counter the antisemitism, when
they fail to protect the students as we heard from the
witnesses as well?
Ms. Burdett.
Ms. Burdett. You know, I have heard my friend, Mr. Marcus,
talk, speak eloquently about what the Office of Civil Rights
could still do more of with less, but that is not how any of us
run organizations and programs. I know that a 12 percent
decrease in capacity has not helped them tackle rising cases.
I just do not understand. We know the cost of communities
that are ripped apart, campuses that are ripped apart. It is
just pennywise and pound foolish not to do things that we know
deter and prevent these crimes.
Ms. Leger Fernandez. Thank you very much, and my time has
expired. I had wanted to have time, and I might submit a
question in writing because you also talked about the
importance of using antisemitism, and that piece is important,
within DEI. Your community is part of it. My community is part
of it too, so I will submit a question in writing to address
how that is important to the witnesses, and with that I yield
back.
Chairman Owens. Thank you. I would like now to recognize
Mr. Williams.
Mr. Williams. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yes. I believe that
actions speak louder than words, and I want to put colleges and
universities on notice that if you permit or harbor
antisemitism on your campus, you are my enemy. Say that
emphatically. I want to draw attention to the shocking
hypocrisy that I see on display on our college campuses.
If you rewind just five or more weeks ago, our academic
institutions have gone from rightly denouncing Holocaust
deniers, not permitting them to speak, and even in many cases
firing them from their positions. Now, just in the last 5
weeks, universities are defending and protecting supporters and
perpetuators of Holocaust 2.0.
That is Hamas. The atrocities on October 7th can only be
understood as a new Holocaust, and the pro-Hamas protests on
universities not only celebrate the massacre of Jews, but call
for the massacre to continue until all Jews and Israel are
murdered, or evicted.
What we see is university presidents, faculty and board
members and donors shockingly silent, or deliberately reserved
in their actions to identify, rein in and remove these
intimidating protesters from our academic institutions. The
contrast of protecting supporters of a new Holocaust, while
only a few weeks ago rightfully canceling deniers of the Nazi
Holocaust is troubling and baffling.
Mr. Marcus, do you mind, can you help me understand this
shocking incongruity in values and integrity that has taken
place in just the last 5 weeks?
Mr. Marcus. The masks have really come down, and we are
understanding that the problems on campuses are much worse than
what we ever saw before. I do think that the issue might even
be worse than what you are suggesting because these Holocaust
2.0 deniers in some cases are not only celebrating the murders,
the rape, the torture, the desecration of corpses, but they are
saying we are part of this resistance, part of the Hamas
murder, rape and torture.
Now to the extent that they are part of and supporting it,
there are questions under the Terrorism Act. We cannot have a
situation in which there are registered student organizations
using facilities at federally funded institutions that are
saying that they are a part of a movement which is State
department designated as terrorist.
I would say that this is a problem for which we need to
have very specific attention from the Federal Government.
Mr. Williams. I certainly agree with you, and back to my
statement of actions speak louder than words. Can you provide
any direction on whether Federal funds could be removed from
universities that continue to be these hot beds of
antisemitism, or even taking it another step to remove
accreditation from universities that fail to adequately address
antisemitism on their campus?
Mr. Marcus. That sort of action requires a number of
different steps, as it should. There is a lot of process that
is required under Federal law, but you need to take the first
step first. The first step means taking action, which can mean
beginning with self-directed investigations.
It can mean establishing the compliance review. You cannot
even get to the point that you are discussing, Congressman
Williams, unless you proactively take those initiatives, and
that is what we would want to see the Education Department do.
Mr. Williams. I appreciate your thoughts on that. Ms.
Burdett, my alma mater, University of Pennsylvania, they have
students that are chanting--these are pro-Hamas protests,
chanting, ``There's Only One Solution.''
Earlier you mentioned that there were standards on
bullying, would you call that bullying? Just a yes or no answer
would be helpful. Thank you.
Ms. Burdett. Yes.
Mr. Williams. Would you call that hate speech?
Ms. Burdett. The entire statement that is around what you
have quoted is hate speech, I believe.
Mr. Williams. What I hear from students in my district,
Jewish students in my district, is that they are afraid to go
to classes, and that is unacceptable. For these Hamas protests,
would you call them inclusive?
Ms. Burdett. I am sorry. I do not understand the question.
Mr. Williams. The protestors that line up to espouse pro-
Hamas sentiments, would you--you are an expert in DEIs, would
you call that inclusive?
Ms. Burdett. Well, I am an expert in antisemitism, but the
defense of terror and massacres, and hate violence is
unacceptable.
Mr. Williams. Thank you. I yield back.
Chairman Owens. Thank you. I would now like to recognize
Ms. McBath.
Mrs. McBath. Well thank you so much Chairman Owens, and
Ranking Member Scott, and also thank you to your staff and to
our witnesses for being here with us today and making this
hearing possible, and Ms. Burdett, once again thank you so much
for your witness and testimony.
I heard your testimony last week in another Committee. Acts
or expression of hatred, racism and antisemitism have no
legitimate place in our society or on a college campus. I am
glad to see that the Higher Education Subcommittee today coming
together for this important discussion.
Students will tell you that they are feeling unsafe as we
have heard today, and in volumes we have heard this. We have a
responsibility to them to do everything that we can to foster
communities of understanding, safety and respect for each other
on our college campuses.
While the brutal terrorist attacks by Hamas on Israeli
civilians on October 7th have incited a recent, larger wave of
antisemitism on campus and elsewhere around the country, this
is not an entirely new development. This rise in hate is well
documented by groups such as the AntiDefamation League and is
unfortunately becoming more and more normalized.
In 2022, ADL documents almost 3,700 separate antisemitic
incidents throughout the United States in just their yearly
audit. This translates to over 10 antisemitic incidents a day
in 2022, a 36 percent increase in the amount from the year
before, and the highest number recorded since ADL began
tracking antisemitic incidents in the late 1970's.
Something is seriously wrong when in the last five annual
reports by ADL, three of them have reported the highest number
of antisemitic incidents recorded in the 50 plus years that
this data has been collected. My community, in metro Atlanta, I
represent Georgia, is no stranger to these incidents. It should
never be considered normal, but it occurs far too often.
A few years ago, I myself participated in a joint press
conference with interfaith leaders in my community. Local law
enforcement, the ADL and the Council General of Israel, to the
southeast to condemn antisemitic vandalism that was happening
in our neighborhoods. Just over 2 weeks ago, antisemitic
messages were displayed on an overpass above I-75 in my county,
Cobb County, a home to one of the largest Jewish communities in
the deep south.
I am pleased that the Biden administration is responding
with their release of the national strategy to counter
antisemitism earlier this year. As you stated in your
testimony, and I quote, ``The strategies launched in May 2023
was the most ambitious far-reaching action in U.S. history.
Also historic, is the coming together, both from within and
outside of the Jewish community, a kind of civil unity and
resolve to tackle antisemitism through concrete, coordinated
action to stop the spread and the normalization of
antisemitism,'' and that is your quote, Ms. Burdett.
Ms. Burdett, I wholeheartedly agree with you that this was
an important step, and you have been talking about that today
over and over again about the importance of us supporting the
Biden administrations action's and strategic action and work
that they have done on antisemitism.
Can you also discuss further because I apologize. I have
had to run in and out to other committees as well. Can you
discuss further, some of the other actions that the Federal
Government can and should be taking in response to these very
disturbing rises in antisemitism on campuses specifically?
Ms. Burdett. Congresswoman, the kind of action you
described, standing with other faith leaders, that matters.
When President George W. Bush called on America not to take out
their anger about the tragedy of 911 on their Muslim neighbors,
people listened.
The Department of Education officials, the President, the
Vice President, and officials across all of the agencies are
talking more to Jewish people. They are listening. They are
elevating their stories, and they are standing next to them.
Your microphone is, aside from your checkbook, which I have
already said is very important, your microphone is an
incredible tool.
When people fight about Israel in the public debate Jews
get hurt. When, as we have heard today, we talk about
immigrants as potential invaders who would come here and act
like Hamas, hate incidents against people who look like
immigrants are going to go up, and that is no comfort to the
Jewish community.
Words matter, and your microphone matters, and thank you
for your work.
Mrs. McBath. Thank you so much. I am out of time, thank
you, all of your for your witness and testimony.
Chairman Owens. Thank you. I would like to now recognize
Mr. Banks.
Mr. Banks. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Marcus, you helped
draft President Trumps 2019 executive order extending civil
rights protections to Jewish students on college campuses. That
was 4 years ago. President Biden has since expanded the order
combatting antisemitism. Do you feel that your efforts have
been vindicated given what we've seen over the last 6 weeks?
Mr. Marcus. Thank you, Congressman Banks. Yes. What was
expanded was the notion that Title VI includes Jewish students
and should always include Jewish students. That was something
that I first announced during the George W. Bush administration
in guidance. It was expanded during the Obama administration,
and then President Trump further, and now Biden. Yes, that is
important.
There was another half, there is another half of that
approach which is to use a definition that will give clarity to
what is antisemitism. This was also part of the Trump executive
order. I would like to see that get equal support from this
administration. They say they are following it, but the
regulation that is due next month we have not been hearing
about, and I think I would like to hear about it from them.
Mr. Banks. I appreciate that explanation. Specifically, the
order and power of the Federal Government to withhold funding
from any college or university that enabled antisemitism. At
the time many democrats attacked it, right? When President
Trump released this important executive order.
In fact, my colleague from Washington State, Ms. Jayapal
said, ``It will do nothing to protect Jewish students. Instead,
it will usher in a climate of fear for campus activists.''
Richard Blumenthal, a Senator went even further. He said this,
``It smacks not only of what happened in the Soviet Union, but
also Nazi Germany.''
Mr. Marcus, do you think President Trump's executive order
served to, ``Usher in a climate of fear for student activists
on campuses?''
Mr. Marcus. Just the opposite. It is the most important
tool we have, and that is why the Biden administration is
saying that it is still active policy.
Mr. Banks. Would you say that these kind of comments
comparing civil rights protections for Jewish students and Nazi
Germany, have aged very well for these two democrats?
Mr. Marcus. Without commenting on Members of Congress, what
I would say is this. Support for measures like the executive
order on combatting antisemitism should be bipartisan. It is
based on ideas that have been accepted by the Obama
administration. I do not see why it cannot be more broadly
accepted among people of good will of all persuasions.
Mr. Banks. I hope back to my initial question that you do
feel vindicated that these outrageous, outlandish, offensive
comments from these two, and there are so many more that I will
not spend time reading today, are ridiculous, and we appreciate
the important work that you did, that President Trump led in
his administration. I just think it is really important. Rabbi,
why has the American left abandoned the Jewish people? I mean
this seems to be a change in democrat versus republican, right
versus left politics over the past several years.
Historically, powerful political constituency of the left,
the Jewish voters in America, they largely feel abandoned by
the American left. Why is that?
Rabbi Hauer. I am not sure I am the most qualified person
to theorize why. I think it has already been said by some of my
colleagues. The themes of the oppressed and so on and so forth,
which have dominated, and somehow we have been lumped in. Not
with the oppressed, but with the oppressors, very
unfortunately.
I can tell you that it has been incredibly disorienting to
the Jewish community to be in this specific place. Thou shall
love the stranger. (Speaking in Hebrew.) It is a biblical
mandate. It is a Jewish value of eminent value. I speak to you
as ``a stranger''. My father was a Holocaust survivor who came
to this country. My mother was a Holocaust refugee who came to
this country.
If we did not love the stranger in this country, we would
not be here. This Jewish community would not be here. None of
us from one end of the table to the other would be here. We
deeply value inclusion. We deeply value caring that nobody in
this country, nobody in a university of any specific or any
particular identity should feel estranged.
We have been champions of this, and today we feel excluded
by it.
Mr. Banks. Like all of you, I wish these issues were
bipartisan, but it does not feel like it anymore. Combatting
antisemitism, supporting Israel, supporting the Jewish people,
it does not feel bipartisan like it used to. With that, I yield
back.
Chairman Owens. Thank you. I would like to recognize the
Chair of the Committee, Chairperson Dr. Foxx.
Mrs. Foxx. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I want to thank our
witnesses for being here today to discuss this very, very
important issue. Rabbi Hauer, I have struggled since the
explosion of antisemitism on college campuses began after
October 7th, to understand why campus leaders have been so
timid in their response.
As you testified, the Orthodox Union supports Jewish
students of many campuses around the country. Your organization
and the students you support interact with thousands of campus
faculty and leaders. In your opinion, why have we not seen a
robust response from the universities, and I will do some
qualifiers.
Is it cowardice? Is it that they actually support Hamas? Is
it that they do not want to offend foreign donors? All of the
above. What is it that is causing such a tepid response?
Rabbi Hauer. To me it seems that it is a combination. It is
a combination of ignorance, and the lack of courage and the
lack of courage. Ignorance, I do not know that people have
taken the time to look at the hard evidence of what the Jewish
people are facing, what the State of Israel faced on October
7th, what it has faced since really the beginning of its
existence when it was announced, and when its creation was
announced.
They have not looked at a State, which if you look at a
picture of the Supreme Court of Israel, or you look at the
picture of the faculty of any hospital in Israel, you will see
a mixture of leadership of Arabs and Jews, and they don't
understand. They do not understand that on another side there
is literally an assumption of a State that would be
[speaking in Hebrew] empty of Jews.
That ignorance is huge, and at the same time cowardice.
Cowardice because as we have seen there is a movement. There is
a movement which is very, very strong in the academic, and in
the student community that for some reason has chosen to not be
sympathetic to the Jewish community, and it would require
strength on the part of administrators to do this.
We believe, firmly, that institutions of higher learning
are not excluded from teaching basic values, and we need to
stretch them, and they need to stand strong. I think it is that
combination.
Mrs. Foxx. Thank you very much. Your testimony is very
powerful. By the way, all of the testimoneys will be on our
website, and I would encourage people to read them. Mr. Marcus,
I do not have too much time left, and I have a question for you
and a question for Ms. Tartak.
You talked about the work that the Biden administration is
doing, or not doing, to address these issues. You mentioned the
Department put out a couple of dear colleague letters,
reminding institutions of their obligations under Title VI, but
you also pointed out that the Department has the authority to
open self-directed investigations and compliance reviews of
institution's compliance with Title IV.
You mentioned that earlier. Could you just briefly talk
about that.
Mr. Marcus. Sure. I have also praised the national
strategy. The administration has been pushing out links so that
people can file complaints, and putting additional language on
their complaint form, but they do not have to wait for
complaints to come in. They have the power to begin the
investigations tomorrow. They can do it on a case-by-case
basis, ad hoc, or in the national initiative. Either way, and
it seems to me they should be doing both.
Mrs. Foxx. Thank you. Ms. Tartak. Thank you very much for
your bravery. Thank you for standing up to the hate, ignorance,
threats, intimidation and everything else you're experiencing.
I cannot imagine being an undergraduate student and displaying
the courage you are showing. As you know we care a great deal
about free speech on this Committee.
We have actively pushed back on efforts to stifle
legitimate speech on grounds it might offend someone. Why is
the speech that you have been subjected to different? In other
words, what is meant by phrases like, ``Resistance is
justified?''
Ms. Tartak. I will of course again, leave it to experts to
interpret the First Amendment, which I am not one. What I do
know is that speech that is harassment, intimidation, or can
lead to violence simply should not be allowed on college
campuses, and it has been--I think it has quite clear that that
is what a lot of this is.
Students who cannot get from one side of campus to the
other, such as a Jewish student at Harvard, who was on his way
to class and was assaulted by a group of other students
yelling, ``Shame''. That cannot be allowed. We need to get from
one side of campus to the other.
Mrs. Foxx. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back.
Chairman Owens. Thank you. I would like to recognize Ms.
Stefanik.
Ms. Stefanik. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you to
each of our witnesses for joining us today for this very
important hearing on the abhorrent drives of antisemitism on
our college campuses. Hamas's barbaric terrorist attacks
against innocent Israeli civilians on October 7th shocked the
conscious of the free world.
In fact, this morning we began with a viewing working with
the Israeli Embassy, of the horrific, heinous atrocities,
committed by Hamas terrorists against Jewish civilians, babies,
the elderly, young people at a festival. Innocent civilians,
these were atrocities.
These were met unfortunately with callous cruelty at
universities across America, including at my alma mater,
Harvard University. Instead of leading with moral clarity and
condemning Hamas's terrorist attacks, university administrators
at Harvard and other institutions failed their students through
enabling their promulgation of horrific antisemitism, which has
now evolved into violent attacks against Israeli and Jewish
students.
As the world watched in horror after October 7th, over 30
radical student organizations at Harvard released a joint
statement outrageously claiming that Israel was entirely
responsible for the Hamas terrorist attacks carried out against
innocent Israeli civilians.
Unfortunately, following this statement Harvard leadership
remained silent for 2 days, allowing our silence to create a
vacuum that was filled by the voices of repugnant actions of
the antisemitic student organizations.
My question, and I will begin with Mr. Marcus, what role
should university leaders play in condemning clearly and
explicitly antisemitic statements like the one that the Harvard
student organizations posted after October 7th, and what
actions should administrators take to route out antisemitism on
campuses across America?
Mr. Marcus. At a minimum, they should condemn anti-Jewish
harassment with the same vigor as they do other forms of
discrimination, and we are not seeing that at Harvard, or in
other places. Beyond that, when you see 30 student groups who
are celebrating atrocities like that, you need to have tough
conversations throughout your university about what you are
doing to harbor this.
At Harvard University, we on behalf of three clients, have
found discriminatory conduct, which the university agreed was a
violation of their own policies. We are not seeing significant
responses to that. When administrators fail to address
acknowledged antisemitic activity, they should not be surprised
when it gets even worse.
Ms. Stefanik. My followup, Mr. Marcus, is how have you seen
the curriculum at American institutions of higher education
shaped to foster these environments where hatred has been
cultivated among the student body, and specifically curriculum
that calls for the eradication of the State of Israel, and the
genocide of the Jewish people?
Mr. Marcus. Let me give you just one example, and that is
Middle East studies programs that are funded under Title VI of
the Higher Education Act, by the Congress of the United States.
There is now legislation on the books that requires Middle East
studies programs to certify that there will be a balance of
perspectives, and a diversity of views.
What, if anything, is done to ensure that is happening. I
would certainly like to see the scoring of the applications. I
would like to see some followup. I would like to see action
when institutions fail to honor the commitments that they are
making in writing to the U.S. Government.
Ms. Stefanik. I want to submit for the record, Mr. Chair,
the letter dated October 13th of republican members of the
House and Senate who are also graduates of Harvard University.
I was proud to lead this letter condemning the failure of the
administration to speak out explicitly and clearly.
I have called for the resignation of President Claudine
Gay, and we will continue standing up with morale clarity that
is so very much needed on college campuses in this country and
around the world, and I yield back.
Chairman Owens. No objections. Thank you.
[The information of Ms. Stefanik follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Chairman Owens. I would like to now recognize Mr. Scott.
Mr. Scott. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Ms. Burnett, has there
been a rise in antisemitic racist and Islamophobic activity in
the last 10 years or so?
Ms. Burnett. Yes, there has.
Mr. Scott. Do you know, can you attribute it to anything?
Ms. Burnett. It is very hard as many members have tried to
do here to prove a causality, but I already mentioned that when
President George W. Bush called on Americans not to be violent
and hateful with their Arab and Muslim neighbors after 911, it
did--it does make a difference when leaders use their
microphone to say that there were good people screaming, ``Jews
will not replace us'' in Charlottsville.
That is terrifying, and it still is. The way that some
leaders have turned a blind eye to antisemitism, when it is not
coming from someone that they disagree with, has been
heartbreaking.
Mr. Scott. You are contrasting how George W. Bush reacted,
and President Trump reacted to those events?
Ms. Burnett. Would not want to, but I do not have a choice.
Mr. Scott. No. Mr. Marcus, you mentioned the Antisemitism
Awareness Act. How would that be helpful if it were enacted?
Mr. Marcus. Ranking Member Scott, that statute would
implement the Executive Order 13899 on combatting antisemitism
and would do two things. First, it would give durability to the
notion that Jews are protected under Title VI. That principle
is a creature of dear colleague letters and an executive order.
I would certainly like to see it have greater strength, and
that's important. Second----
Mr. Scott. That is because religion is not covered under
Title VI, but we have from an operational point of view
included antisemitism under Title VI. Is that true?
Mr. Marcus. Exactly right. The second part is that it would
direct agencies, including the Office for Civil Rights under
appropriate circumstances to consider the International
Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition of
antisemitism, which indicates that not all criticism of Israel
is antisemitic but some of it is, and providing relevant
context gives examples to guide decisionmakers.
Mr. Scott. Have the activities that we have been discussing
violate--do they violate Title VI in your opinion? That
enforcement of Title VI could address many of the problems we
have?
Mr. Marcus. The failure of universities to provide prompt
and effective response after many of the incidents that we have
discussed would be a violation of Title VI in my opinion.
Mr. Scott. You have heard that the pending budget for the
Department of Education includes significant cuts in the Office
of Civil Rights, and you have mentioned the backlog of cases.
What would the ability of the Office of Civil Rights, how would
the ability of the Office of Civil Rights be affected if those
cuts actually took place?
Mr. Marcus. In my opinion, it is not the budget that drives
performance on antisemitism for a couple of reasons within OCR.
One is that antisemitism cases are such a tiny percentage of
the overall intake that fluctuations, even if they are
significant, do not necessarily affect that.
The second is, that with a small number of significant high
profile matters it is really a combination of political will
and management that is made the difference on those periods
where it is been dealt with effectively in those nods.
Mr. Scott. That would require you, however, to ignore the
thousands of cases that are pending for other kinds of
discrimination under Title VI. Is that right?
Mr. Marcus. No. I do not think that those should be
ignored. I think that they can all be handled. The Assistant
Secretary for Civil Rights can really address any issues that
are high on the priority list, while also addressing the bulk
of them as well. Change in the budget might have other source
of affects on the agency, but not necessarily in my opinion, on
antisemitism matters.
Mr. Scott. Well, sure you could take that, but you would
have to ignore. I mean you only got, if you cut the budget, you
are not able to do as much, and there are many problems with
civil rights that the Office of Civil Rights has to address. If
you cut the budget, you are not going to be able to address
them as well. That is just simple arithmetic, and if you are
not going to criticize the cut in the enforcement agency, that
is going to enforce the problem--that is going to deal with the
problem that you have complained about, that is not helpful. I
yield back.
Chairman Owens. Thank you. I would like to now recognize
Ms. Miller.
Mrs. Miller. Thank you, Chairman Owens, for hosting this
important hearing. American citizens are horrified to watch
foreign nationals who have been allowed into our country on
student visas threaten American students based on their
religion.
No foreign national should ever be allowed to threaten an
American citizen on American soil period. I am leading a letter
to the Department of Justice to ask for an investigation into
the funding sources for the organizations coordinating these
violent protests.
If foreign terrorist organizations or sanction foreign
nationals are funding and coordinating these violent threats to
Jewish students on American campuses, the DOJ must act. If
foreign students who are here on student visas threaten
American students, their visas need to be revoked immediately.
Colleges and universities must suspend foreign nationals
who are threatening Jewish students based on their religion,
and the DOJ must uphold their responsibility to defend the
religious liberty rights of American citizens. Then Rabbi
Hauer, I have a question. This hearing is honestly focused on
antisemitism on college campuses, however, in your testimony
you do note that antisemitism has spread from postsecondary
education to middle and high schools.
What are you hearing from middle and high school Jewish
students around the country?
Rabbi Hauer. We are hearing just that, that it has spread.
They have begun to experience the general environmental
antisemitism which comes from vocal rallies, speaking strongly
and sharply, pro-Hamas, celebrating those who will destroy
their own people. They have experienced as well, issues in the
classrooms and they have experienced a whole lot of
interpersonal one on one bullying via social media and
otherwise.
There is a difference that happens in those spaces between
when the administration reacts promptly and effectively, and
when it does not. That is all the difference. We who again have
many, many such students in these environments, when the
administration reacts firmly, clearly and addresses it, it is a
whole different story.
There is going to be hate expressed in this country, but it
festers when we let it.
Mrs. Miller. Absolutely. When the students report the
bullying, are the school administrators taking action to
protect them?
Rabbi Hauer. Sometimes, excuse me, sometimes they are, and
sometimes they are not. We unfortunately, I received from one
of our clubs where there was a very, very clear situation of
antisemitism, and the forms were filed, and the school did not
even classify it as a hate crime. You have ugly instances like
that of blatant failure.
At the same time, you also have wonderful school
administrators who are doing the right thing. I think we are in
a place and a time when those who are doing the right thing
have to be lifted up, and those who are doing the wrong thing
need to have consequences. One of the things which we note all
the time is that the only people who are not experiencing fear
right now, are those who are making others fearful.
There is no fear of consequences. A discussion about Title
VI is a discussion about creating that fear of consequences.
Mrs. Miller. Well, absolutely. We need strong leadership
from our President taking a--making decisive statements against
this and thank you. Chairman, I yield my time back to you.
Chairman Owens. Thank you so much. I would like to now
recognize Mr. Kiley.
Mr. Kiley. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Mr. Marcus, and
everyone else for your testimony. We had a discussion last week
about steps that the Department of Education Office of Civil
Rights could take, and we--myself and the Chair of this
Committee, Representative Owens had incorporated your
suggestions in a letter we have sent to the Assistant Secretary
as well as Secretary Cardona, and so we will certainly keep you
apprised on the response we get, and that any further
suggestions you have would be much appreciated.
Mr. Marcus. Thank you.
Mr. Kiley. I did want to take a moment to respond to a
member of this Committee who earlier tried to explain away his
vote against a resolution condemning antisemitism. Apparently,
he had quibbles with a couple factual details in two of the
numerous examples listed in the resolution, and the many
countless examples across the country.
How you could use that as a pretext not to take a strong
stand against antisemitism right now is really beyond
comprehension for me. I did want to just make clear that this
is a very small fringe minority view in this House of
Representatives. That resolution, which I worked on with Chair
Owens, passed overwhelmingly with over 99 percent of the
republican conference, and over 90 percent of the democrat
conference.
That fringe group of 20 or so people, they do not represent
their own party. They do not represent the House of
Representatives. They do not represent the U.S. Government,
which has been unified in a strong bipartisan basis in
supporting Israel and fighting against antisemitism.
Those 20 or so do in a meaningful way, seem to represent
much of American academia. When you look at what is going on at
universities in this country right now. As the testimony has
made clear, this has been going on for some time. I will give
you one very clear example of just how pervasive it is.
A few years ago, in California, there was a piece of
legislation passed in the legislature that asked a group to
come with the State Board of Education, to come up with a model
ethnic studies curriculum. The State Board of Education
appointed a Commission of faculty members form across the
State, and they went about their work and came up with a
curriculum that was universally condemned on both sides of the
aisle for being overtly antisemitic.
The California Legislative Jewish Caucus said it was
antisemitic Propst that it denigrated Jews, and that it
``echoed the propaganda of the Nazi regime.'' Even Gavin
Newsom, the Governor of our State, said it was offensive in so
many ways, and would never see the light of day.
Then, in the aftermath of October 7th, we have seen all too
many student groups and in some cases faculty, have used this
moment to push forward their agenda of hatred toward Israel and
of antisemitic rhetoric, and even the targeting of Jewish
students.
We watched a classified--we had a classified briefing this
morning, members of the House, watching raw footage of the
horror of that day, and I do not--I think we have to be very
careful anytime we draw historical parallels, but when you
study the events of the 20's and 30's, in Germany you know, it
is hard to understand how so many you know, even leading
intellectuals of the day, responded with indifference, or in
some places complicity.
I just have that same sense of deep puzzlement right now.
How is it that our leading academic institutions, these are
supposed to be the most forward-thinking places in our country,
have become these sites for fomenting antisemitism?
I just wanted to maybe, Mr. Marcus, and if any others have
any thought on that as to why it is. What is it about the
nature of the modern academy in the U.S. and in other places as
well, I would say, that has caused so much to go awry?
Mr. Marcus. I am glad you are mentioning ethnic studies
because that is an important part of the puzzle of how things
are getting so bad. It is driven by higher education, but is
having an impact on K-12. Studying ethnicities is not
inherently bad. It can be done well, but unfortunately the
contemporary field of ethnic studies, especially liberated
ethnic studies, has become both politically extreme, and also
anti-Zionist, and antisemitic.
We have had to file a case together with the American
Jewish Committee Anti-Defamation League and stand with us
against one school district in California that has extreme
problems, but there are problems in many districts throughout
California and now they're coming east as well.
To the extent that you have a curriculum that creates
stereotyped, antithetical views of the Jewish people, it should
not be surprising that students become miseducated, and that
the problems become worse.
Ms. Tartak. Could I add with the last 10 seconds that I
think part of the issue with academia is that it is super
partisan. There is of course, not just politically, but just
intellectually. There is this X, Y or Z belief that we have one
side, and there is another side.
Right now, because there is supposed to be this wholesale
embrace of so-called oppressed groups, that also includes an
embrace of Hamas, which is why it is easier for them to condemn
white supremacist attacks against Jews, and harder for them to
condemn Islamist attacks against Jews.
Ms. Burdett. I would like to just add that in the 1920's
and the 1930's, I do not know about academia, but the U.S.
House of Representatives stood by and did nothing and blocked
the rescue of Jews. I do think reconciling with our past is
very important. We should not do it selectively.
It is important, I do think the Holocaust is a very
instructive thing to look at. Comparisons are tricky, and they
are not really necessary unfortunately, because we have an
explosion of followers of Nazi, racist, white supremacist
ideology in our country today, and that ideology has at its
center antisemitism, racialized antisemitism, and conspiracy
theories.
This is a very serious subject and learning about the
apathy that left Jews to be slaughtered during the Holocaust is
very important, and we can also be looking within our own
shores, and in our own institutions, and it is important to do
so. Thank you for raising history.
Mr. Kiley. I yield back.
Chairman Owens. Okay. I would like to recognize Mr. Scott
for his closing statement.
Mr. Scott. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate
all of the witnesses' testimony. All students have a right to
attend colleges and universities and be free from
discrimination and harassment, and this right is enforced by
Title VI, the Office of Civil Rights. Witnesses have exposed
the reality, and many students in fact do not feel safe.
This is not new, and not just limited to one group of
students, so I look forward to working with you, Mr. Chairman,
as we address the problem, starting with avoiding cuts in the
Office of Civil Rights. Thank you.
Chairman Owens. Thank you, Mr. Scott. Without objections, I
enter into the record a statement from the MorseLife Holocaust
Learning Experience, highlighting the actions that the State of
Florida has taken to require the teaching of the Holocaust
within Florida schools.
[The information of Mr. Owens follows:]
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Chairman Owens. I am going to give my closing statements. I
want to first of all say that we asked a question how could
this happen? There is another deeper conversation, but it is
called the Marxification of Education. We have over the last
two decades have within our system Marxists, who divide us
versus bring us together, and we have to recognize that, and
teach our kids what that looks like.
That being said, I want to thank each and every one of you.
Really this is so timely, so informative, and particularly Ms.
Tartak, thank you. It is very exciting to see our young people
standing up and doing the right things. I watched this myself
as a 12-year-old in the 60's.
I grew up in the days of KKK Jim Crow segregation. It was
the college kids that came and sat at these counters. College
kids that actually demonstrated in front of movie theaters,
because they knew what the American dream was, and they were
willing to stand up and articulate that, so I appreciate that.
This is very personal to me because I have lived it. I grew
up in the 60's. I was the third black American to have a
football scholarship to the University of Miami, so I know what
it is to walk into a room and feel hate.
Try to walk into a movie theater or be characterized and
judged by intelligence or my character based on my skin color.
We have come so far from that point we should never, ever look
at turning back. At the age of 19, 18 years old, I saw
firsthand my first experience with antisemitism. It was
shocking for a young man who had never been around white
people.
I thought all white people accepted each other. It was just
amazing to see that. To see here 60 years later what is
happening across our country, the evil that happened on October
7th, and for us to not automatically, instinctively stand up
against it, says a lot about where we are.
Hate is taught. It is not in our DNA. I say that because I
again, I grew up in a time where even dating a different color
was not looked upon as being a positive thing. Where we are 60
years later, my family, six kids. We represent black, white,
Hispanic, American Indian, and Trinidadian.
We call each other family, and my grandkids call each other
cousins. That is the American way. That is what we are drifting
to until we found this nexus of hate within our college
campuses. This is where we are finding Black Lives Matter, who
hate not only whites, but Jews, and America.
That is where we find Antifa that hate black businesses.
That is where we find the pro-Hamas who hate Jews. Americans,
anything that stands against our American way, and this is
something we cannot allow to continue to happen. We have no
questions seen on our college campuses colleges or complacency
with our administrators, and we're going to have to do
something about that.
We are not in business of using taxpayer dollars to provide
and nourish hate. We just do not--that is not the American way.
Thankful for this moment. We are beginning to kind of take a
look at that. I just want to--I leave a quick message to my
friends in Utah. Utah is a remarkable State because we are very
embracive.
We have very entrepreneurial. We have a strong faith. We
could lose that overnight if we are not careful. I want to--
there now my college friends, my State representatives, they
are now dealing with a curriculum, they have to figure out if
they are going to accept or not.
I just want to read a little paragraph from what they are
now looking at. This is the K through 12 by the way, to the
point we just mentioned earlier. ``With the goal of equipping
students with the skills and knowledge they need to identify
and overcome oppression, voices provide a counter narrative to
U.S. history, and dives into stories of discrimination,
resistance and resilience.''
We do not need a counter narrative to America history. We
need to teach American history. If you do that, we find a
country that's unified, that believes in their autocracy, they
begin looking at each other inside out and not outside in. That
is American history, and that is what we have done to become a
more perfect union.
To see this kind of hate, by the way, one thing to say
about those who preach hate, age does not matter to them. The
earlier they can start the better, and you see that in the
colleges right now where young, innocent boys and girls are
taught to hate another person just because they are different.
We are going to get past this. Our country in a bipartisan
way. We now realize we do have an issue. It is not getting
better, it is getting worse. We need to hold the colleges
accountable. They give us a bad product. They do not deserve
our government dollars anymore.
I do not care how popular their name might be, they cannot
give us--kids to come out productive, proud of who they are,
proud of our country, proud of our history, and working
together as we the people. They cannot give us that, and we
need to have other options out on the table, and American
people will choose those better options every single day.
I want to thank you guys again for what you are doing for
your courage, and with that this hearing comes to an end. The
Committee is adjourned, thank you.
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[Whereupon at 1:09 p.m., the Subcommittee was adjourned.]