[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 71 (Wednesday, May 1, 2019)]
[House]
[Page H3344]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           STOP ANTI-SEMITISM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Schneider) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SCHNEIDER. Mr. Speaker, on Saturday, our Nation was again stunned 
by yet another horrific attack on Americans gathered at worship. 
Saturday's shooting at the Chabad of Poway synagogue in California came 
as Jews around the world celebrated the last day of Passover.
  One woman, Lori Gilbert Kaye, was murdered in the attack and three 
others were wounded. I continue to pray for the recovery of those 
injured in the shooting and offer my deepest condolences to the family 
and friends of the victims.
  The latest attack happened exactly 6 months to the day after the 
assault on worshipers at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, 
which claimed the lives of 11 people, the deadliest attack on the 
American Jewish community in our history.
  These shootings were committed against a backdrop of rising anti-
Semitism both here at home and around the world.
  According to the Anti-Defamation League, in 2017, anti-Semitic 
incidents surged in the United States by 57 percent. This represented 
the largest single-year increase on record and the second highest 
number of incidents since the ADL started tracking such data in 1979. 
In 2018, we saw nearly the same number of reported incidents as in 
2017.
  In recent weeks, there have been other chilling displays of anti-
Semitism beyond our borders as well. In February, a Belgian carnival 
float featured grotesque caricatures of Orthodox Jews standing on large 
piles of money. On Easter Sunday in a small Polish village, adults and 
children beat and burned an effigy of Judas, but the effigy did not 
look like a character from Biblical times. Rather, it was a 
stereotypical Orthodox Jew dressed in ninth century Hasidic garb.
  Feeding into these dangerous incidents, just last week, the 
international edition of The New York Times published a disgusting 
anti-Semitic cartoon. The paper subsequently apologized, but the damage 
was already done. It was an astonishing editorial failure by one of the 
Nation's most important papers of record. I was pleased today to see 
the editorial board of the Times directly address this issue.
  Especially at these times of growing anti-Semitism, we must all be 
extra vigilant, lest we add fuel to the flames of hate and intolerance.
  Whenever and wherever we see anti-Semitism, we must speak out to 
stanch it, for what begins as stereotypes and cartoons far too often 
leads to violence that has claimed so many lives throughout our 
history.
  Our Nation was founded on the idea that every American of every 
religion has the fundamental right to practice their faith without fear 
of persecution or violence. This was established in the very first 
amendment to our Constitution and enshrined in our Bill of Rights. But 
this right has been shattered far too many times at the synagogues in 
Poway and Pittsburgh; at an African American church in Charleston, 
South Carolina; and at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin.
  I will not repeat the Poway shooter's name or give him the notoriety 
he sought, but it is clear that he was motivated by white supremacism 
and anti-Semitism, citing the shootings at the mosque in Christchurch, 
New Zealand, and the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh in his 
manifesto.
  The sad truth is, far-right white supremacists have been responsible 
for more terror attacks and deaths in the United States in the past two 
decades than any other domestic extremist movement. We need to update 
our laws to reflect the growing threat of domestic terrorism.
  That is why I introduced, with Senator Richard Durbin, the Domestic 
Terrorism Prevention Act, legislation that would strengthen 
coordination among the Federal agencies in monitoring radicalized 
groups and individuals and, hopefully, preventing hateful acts of 
violence.
  This is a necessary first step to help our law enforcement agencies 
contain the threat, and I urge my colleagues to join me on this 
legislation.
  We also have a duty to responsibly update our gun laws. I am proud 
that this House voted earlier this year to pass universal background 
checks and close the Charleston loophole, a loophole that allowed the 
Emanuel AME shooter to acquire a firearm before the results of his FBI 
background check were complete.
  We need the Senate to stop stonewalling and bring these bills up for 
a vote.
  Mr. Speaker, I cannot help but reflect that, this week, the United 
States is observing Holocaust Remembrance Week and honoring the 6 
million Jews and millions of others murdered by the Nazi regime.
  In the memory of all of those lost to anti-Semitism and other forms 
of hate, we have a moral responsibility to stamp out intolerance and 
prejudice in our time. Otherwise, as the late Elie Wiesel famously 
said: ``To forget the victims means to kill them a second time.''

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