[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 178 (Monday, October 30, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S5228]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              S. RES. 437

  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. President, I commend the Senate for its passage 
of our bipartisan resolution, S. Res. 437, condemning anti-Semitism, 
including any anti-Semitic acts committed on university or college 
campuses. No one deserves to feel unsafe in their community or school 
or threatened because of their religion or ethnicity. On October 16, 
the FBI released their annual statistics on hate crimes, which stated 
that anti-Semitic hate crimes rose 25 percent from 2021 to 2022 and 
accounted for over half of all reported religiously based hate crimes. 
The onset of war between Israel and Hamas has further exacerbated these 
anti-Semitic threats and incidents targeting Jewish Americans and 
Jewish organizations here in the United States. As a member of the 
Senate Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism, I have an 
enduring and ongoing commitment to confront anti-Semitism wherever it 
rears its ugly head and to ensure we take all steps necessary to 
protect the Jewish community.
  As we consider the best ways to counter anti-Semitism, it is 
important that we consult a range of definitions and tools to 
understand this problem. The White House's National Strategy to Counter 
Antisemitism notes several of these tools, including the International 
Holocaust Remembrance Alliance--IHRA--definition of anti-Semitism, as 
well as the Nexus Document and other efforts. Moreover, as Special 
Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt 
made crystal clear during her confirmation hearing, ``Criticism of 
Israeli policy is not antisemitism.'' Unfortunately, there are some who 
are attempting to politically weaponize anti-Semitism by equating 
criticism of Israeli Government actions with anti-Semitism. These 
politically motivated charges only weaken good faith efforts to 
confront the very real danger of anti-Semitism. That is why our 
bipartisan resolution is so important during these troubling times; it 
sends a clear, united message that anti-Semitism cannot be tolerated 
and the fight against it should not become politicized.

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