[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 85 (Wednesday, May 18, 2022)]
[House]
[Pages H5119-H5120]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CONDEMNING RISING ANTISEMITISM
Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the
resolution (H. Res. 1125), condemning rising antisemitism, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
The text of the resolution is as follows:
H. Res. 1125
Whereas the Jewish-American experience is a story of faith,
fortitude, and progress and is connected to key tenets of
American identity;
Whereas generations of Jewish people have come to this
Nation fleeing oppression, discrimination, and persecution in
search of a better life for themselves and their children;
Whereas these Jewish Americans have created lives for
themselves and their families and played indispensable roles
in our Nation's civic and community life, making invaluable
contributions to our Nation through their leadership and
achievements;
Whereas, on August 21, 1790, President George Washington
sent a letter to the Hebrew Congregation of Newport, Rhode
Island, expressing that the newly formed United States would
be a Nation that ``gives to bigotry no sanction, to
persecution no assistance'' and that the Jewish people should
``dwell in this land [and] continue to merit and enjoy the
good will of the other inhabitants . . . and there shall be
none to make him afraid.'';
Whereas we should acknowledge and celebrate the crucial
contributions that Jewish Americans have made to our
collective struggle for a more just and fair society, leading
movements for justice and equality, and working to ensure
opportunities for all;
Whereas alongside this narrative of achievement and
opportunity, there is also a history, far older than the
Nation itself, of racism, bigotry, and other forms of
prejudice manifesting in the scourge of antisemitism;
Whereas antisemitism is an insidious form of prejudice
stretching back millennia that attacks the humanity of the
Jewish people and has led to violence, destruction of lives
and communities, and genocide;
Whereas conspiracy theories that Jews are uniquely evil and
influential has led to mass killings of Jews throughout time,
including the poisonous Nazi ideology that resulted in the
murder of 6,000,000 Jews, including 1,500,000 Jewish
children, and millions of other victims of the Nazis in
Europe;
Whereas over the course of the past decade, Holocaust
distortion and denial has grown in intensity;
Whereas a 2020 survey of all 50 States in the United States
on Holocaust knowledge among Millennials and Gen Z conducted
by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany
(Claims Conference), found a clear lack of awareness of key
historical facts; 63 percent of respondents did not know that
6,000,000 Jews were murdered during the Holocaust and 36
percent thought that ``two million or fewer Jews'' were
killed;
Whereas there is a documented and dangerous rise of
antisemitism globally and in the United States, where Jews
are increasingly affected by the grotesque spread of
misinformation and lies including blame for the spread of
COVID-19, false claims including the control of the media and
the financial system, accusations of dual loyalty, and a
multitude of negative stereotypes;
Whereas the American Jewish Committee (AJC)'s 2021 State of
Antisemitism in America report, a survey of American Jews and
the general public's perceptions of antisemitism, revealed 24
percent of American Jews have been personally targeted by
antisemitism in the past 12 months, 4 in 10 American Jews
changed their behavior at least once out of fear of
antisemitism, 90 percent believe antisemitism is a problem in
the United States, and 82 percent feel it has increased in
the past 5 years;
Whereas, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation,
Jews were the target of 55 percent of all religiously
motivated hate crimes in 2020, despite accounting for no more
than 2 percent of the United States population;
Whereas the Anti-Defamation League (ADL)'s 2021 Audit of
Antisemitic Incidents in the United States recorded 2,717
acts of assault, vandalism, and harassment this past year
alone, an average of more than 7 incidents per day; a 34-
percent increase from 2020 and the highest year on record
since ADL began tracking antisemitic incidents in 1979;
Whereas 525 antisemitic incidents took place at Jewish
institutions, an increase of 61 percent from data collected
in 2020;
Whereas antisemitic assaults increased by 167 percent in
2021 compared to the previous year and assaults in 2021 were
138 percent higher than the rolling 5-year average of
antisemitic assaults;
Whereas there was a substantial surge of antisemitic
incidents in the United States in May 2021, 387 incidents
were reported, a 141 percent increase in reports of
antisemitic incidents compared to May 2020; Jewish
individuals were violently attacked in major cities including
New York and Los Angeles;
Whereas the use of antisemitic language, conspiracy
theories, and hatred has increased on multiple social media
platforms--from Facebook and Instagram to Twitter and TikTok,
among others--including tropes about Jewish control and
messages praising Hitler and demonizing all Jews;
Whereas a recent example of the violent antisemitism took
place on Saturday, January 15, 2022, when, during religious
services at Congregation Beth Israel, a terrorist held
[[Page H5120]]
4 people, including a rabbi, hostage at gunpoint for 11
hours;
Whereas police departments in a number of American cities,
including New York and Los Angeles, have said that they are
stepping up patrols at synagogues and other locations
associated with the Jewish community following the hostage
situation;
Whereas there are regular acts of antisemitic vandalism
against synagogues and Jewish schools in the United States
and numerous nonlethal attacks on American Jews, leaving many
Jews feeling increasingly unsafe in public spaces and houses
of worship;
Whereas AJC's 2021 State of Antisemitism in America report
revealed 56 percent of respondents' religious institutions
increased security since the Tree of Life synagogue shooting;
and
Whereas the rise in antisemitism is part of the larger
trend of the rise of hate-filled movements that are targeting
marginalized communities here in the United States: Now,
therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) calls on elected officials, faith leaders, and civil
society leaders to use their bully pulpit to condemn and
combat any and all manifestations of antisemitism;
(2) calls on elected officials to condemn and combat any
and all denials and distortions of the Holocaust and to
promote Holocaust and antisemitism education;
(3) calls for amplifying and ensuring United States
leadership to fight global antisemitism, working with the
Department of State's Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat
Antisemitism and intensifying cooperation with international
governments and parliaments around the world;
(4) works in tandem with the cross-party Inter-
Parliamentary Task Force to Combat Online Antisemitism to
help craft thoughtful global initiatives designed to address
online antisemitism;
(5) calls on social media platforms to institute stronger
and more significant efforts to measure and address online
antisemitism while protecting free speech concerns;
(6) takes all possible steps to improve the physical
security of Jewish institutions and organizations, including
by using existing tools such as increasing funding for the
Nonprofit Security Grant Program of the Department of
Homeland Security to keep at-risk houses of worship, schools,
and community centers safe from terrorist attacks and other
forms of antisemitic violence;
(7) ensures the safety, security, and dignity of American
Jews in all aspects of their lives, including the workplace,
college and university campuses, synagogues, and at home; the
development of these measures must reflect the full diversity
of the Jewish community in its entirety; and
(8) supports the right of Americans to freely exercise
their religious beliefs and rejects all forms of terror and
hate.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Tennessee (Mr. Cohen) and the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Bentz) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Tennessee.
General Leave
Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have
5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and
include extraneous material H. Res. 1125.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Tennessee?
There was no objection.
Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, throughout the month of May, we recognize the struggles
and triumphs of Jewish Americans, and we honor the indispensable
contributions that the Jewish community has made to our Nation's civic
life. Sadly, we also know that anti-Semitism continues to be a menace
here at home and around the world. That is why I am pleased to support
this important resolution condemning rising anti-Semitism.
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, Representative Debbie Wasserman
Schultz, for being so vigilant over the years to recognize a particular
month where we have particular appreciation of Jewish residents'
contributions to our country, and for bringing this resolution to the
floor to recognize this horrific rise in anti-Semitism.
Since our Nation's founding, Jewish Americans have served in elected
office, from local school boards to this building's hallowed halls, the
Supreme Court, and other prestigious positions. They have done so in
magnificent manners. They have made crucial contributions to the arts,
the sciences, and to our collective struggle for a more just America.
They even had a baseball pitcher, Sandy Koufax, who was better than
any.
Indeed, this resolution calls upon us to recognize the Jewish-
American story, like the story of America itself, which is also marked
by bigotry and hatred. Informed by this experience of prejudice, by the
scourge of anti-Semitism, the Jewish Americans have worked so that the
opportunities they have secured are extended to others. That is part of
the Jewish religion. Part of what you do to have a good life is to help
others have that good life, too. They have led movements for social
justice, demanding civil rights, women's rights, and workers' rights.
This work is far from over. Anti-Semitism violence is on the rise.
This past weekend, we saw a deranged individual in Buffalo kill 10
African Americans and injure others. He had a hate for African
Americans, but he also said he was anti-Semitic. He learned all this
over the internet, and he learned a lot of that from rhetoric that has
sprung up in different places and political circles around this
country. It has spread, and it has influenced people to commit acts of
violence.
Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, for collegiality purposes, I ask to withdraw
the motion.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The motion is withdrawn.
=========================== NOTE ===========================
May 18, 2022, on page H5120, in the second column, the following
appeared: Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, for collegiality purposes, I ask
to withdraw the motion. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without
objection, the motion is withdrawn.
The online version has been corrected to read: Mr. COHEN. Mr.
Speaker, for collegiality purposes, I ask to withdraw the motion.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The motion is withdrawn.
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