[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 201 (Wednesday, December 6, 2023)]
[House]
[Page H6151]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        COMBATING ANTI-SEMITISM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
New Jersey (Mrs. Watson Coleman) for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN. Mr. Speaker, first and foremost, I want peace. I 
want a decisive victory over Hamas and an end to its hateful and 
destructive reign. I want Israel and Palestine to coexist safely, 
securely, and with prosperity for generations to come.
  It is difficult to talk about peace during wartime, but that is 
exactly what we must do. We cannot be distracted by disingenuous 
messaging bills that do nothing but grab headlines with no plan 
forward.
  As a person of faith, I have been taught not to hate, but I must 
admit that I have hated what I have seen in this Chamber recently. For 
as I hate anti-Semitism and Islamophobia and racism, as I despise 
homophobia and transphobia, as I reject and revile hatred and bigotry 
of any kind, I am also disgusted by the way those prejudices have been 
weaponized in our Chamber.
  We voted yesterday on yet another nonbinding messaging resolution 
denouncing anti-Semitism, H. Res. 894.
  To be clear, I have supported efforts to push back against anti-
Semitism. That is why I am supporting Mr. Nadler's plan to combat anti-
Semitism. It is why I am supporting Mr. Green's two-state solution 
resolution. It is why I signed on to Ms. Wasserman Schultz' letter 
regarding the safety of students on college campuses.

  Let's face facts. That was not what this resolution was about. This 
resolution offers no solutions. It does not seek to bring people 
together. This resolution was a cynical attempt to weaponize the very 
real fears of some of our Jewish friends and our neighbors to push a 
specific political agenda, one that is strikingly disrespectful to the 
Palestinian state, the State of Israel, and others who support the 
cause of free and sovereign Palestinian and Israeli states.
  On Monday, my colleague, Mr. Nadler, laid out how reckless and 
uninformed clause 4 of this resolution is. By making it the official 
position of this Congress that ``anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism,'' we 
are labeling the thousands of Jews in this country who don't believe 
their deeply held faith is intrinsically tied to the modern State of 
Israel as anti-Semitic.
  There are very real steps that we as the United States Congress can 
and should take to combat anti-Semitism in a productive and bipartisan 
manner. Condemning anti-Semitism wherever it rears its ugly head is 
critical, but continuing to vote on nonbinding resolutions week after 
week after week to score political, partisan points does not get us 
closer to a solution. It is disrespectful to the seriousness of this 
situation.
  Until Republicans are willing to address rising hate and fascism, we 
will be sitting here waiting without being able to accomplish anything. 
It is no better than moments of silence or thoughts and prayers with no 
substantive action to back it up, which were offered during the mass 
shootings in our schools, malls, and places of worship.
  We have work to do for the American people. The rise of anti-
Semitism, Islamophobia, racism, homophobia, and xenophobia are a threat 
to the American experiment in multicultural democracy, and there are 
Members of this body who are putting in the work to defend the more 
perfect Union that we built over the last 250 years.
  When Republicans who have been obsessed with these messaging bills 
are ready to join us, we will welcome them with open arms.

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