[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 148 (Thursday, September 29, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1423]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





              COMBATING ANTI-SEMITISM AND THE BDS MOVEMENT

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                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 28, 2016

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to highlight the 
troubling rise of anti-Semitism and to call for action against the 
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement--a hateful weapon 
intended to delegitimize Israel and the Jewish community.
  According to Pew Research Center, instances of anti-Semitism are at a 
7-year high. It is getting worse everywhere, particularly in the Middle 
East, but also in Europe and even in the United States.
  That's why I've cosponsored the Combating BDS Act of 2016 (H.R. 
4514). This legislation clarifies that state and local governments have 
the authority to pass and enforce laws that prohibit public funding to 
institutions that engage in the odious BDS campaign, the purpose of 
which is to apply double standards that delegitimize and demonize 
Israel.
  Thankfully, many states have responded to the BDS campaign by 
enacting legislation that denies public support to any organization 
engaged in the campaign--just last month my home state of New Jersey 
became the 11th state to enact such a law.
  The boycott campaign against Israel is a complete discredit to its 
organizers--the government of Israel has by far the best record for 
human rights, democracy, rule of law, and general humanity toward both 
its own citizens and its neighbors' citizens, including the 
Palestinians--of any country in the Middle East. This despite the fact 
that some of its neighboring governments support or harbor terrorists 
whose goal is the genocidal annihilation of Israel.
  Congress must not only commend Israel's record, and applaud those 
state and local governments that seek to withdraw public funding from 
the BDS campaign, we must also support and sustain the state and local 
initiatives.
  Combating BDS Act does exactly that. I encourage my colleagues to 
support it and also encourage my colleagues to read the Simon 
Wiesenthal Center's report, ``Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions Against 
Israel: An Anti-Semitic, Anti-Peace Poison Pill,'' which details the 
disgusting anti-Semitic record of the BDS movement, particularly making 
use of Natan Sharansky's ``3Ds test for anti-Semitism.

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