[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 69 (Monday, April 29, 2019)]
[House]
[Page H3288]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           SYNAGOGUE SHOOTING

  (Mr. HOYER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, the shooting that targeted the Jewish 
community in the San Diego area this weekend was a heartbreaking 
reminder of the new challenges facing our country and the world in the 
21st century.
  In centuries past, purveyors of anti-Semitism, xenophobia, 
Islamophobia, racism, and other vile forms of hatred employed the 
ancient tools of whisper and rumor and incitement in the village 
squares to intoxicate mobs with fear, and fuel violence against those 
of a different race, a different religion, a different origin, and a 
different color.
  Today, the internet and social media have provided haters with modern 
tools to do the same incitement. We have seen it in Pittsburgh and in 
San Diego. We have seen it in Charlottesville; in Christchurch, New 
Zealand; and in Sri Lanka. We have seen it in the viral images online 
using anti-Semitic tropes, or painting Muslims as terrorists, or 
vilifying migrant families.
  As a nation, we need to take action to counter these new forms of 
incitement. We are observing a lesson in how hatred has adapted to the 
21st century.
  What we learn from that lesson and how we adapt to combat new tools 
of hatred will determine whether our democracy and commitment to 
tolerance and pluralism will survive this century.
  Mr. Speaker, I pray for the victims of this weekend's shooting, and I 
say to them and all the others who have been targeted by hate in our 
day: this House stands against hate and will continue to do its part to 
promote the vision of our Founders, of a nation where all are created 
equal, and endowed not by the government or the Constitution, but by 
their creator with certain unalienable rights, and among these are: 
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
  Let us all stand for tolerance, for inclusion, and reject hate. One 
nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

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