[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 209 (Tuesday, December 19, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1251]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      CONDEMNING ANTISEMITISM ON UNIVERSITY CAMPUSES, H. RES. 927

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. VAL T. HOYLE

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 19, 2023

  Ms. HOYLE of Oregon. Mr. Speaker, last week I voted No on H. Res. 
927, a resolution that purports to condemn antisemitism on college 
campuses. Several of my Jewish colleagues voted against this resolution 
as well.
  I strongly agree that Congress must condemn all forms of 
antisemitism, including on college campuses. Since Hamas's horrific 
October 7th attacks on Israel, the U.S. House of Representatives has 
voted in favor of several resolutions condemning antisemitism on 
college campuses and throughout the world, multiple of which I've 
supported and cosponsored. However, this latest resolution, H. Res. 
927, is yet another disingenuous resolution that weaponizes the real 
scourge of antisemitism, uses Jewish people as pawns to play partisan 
political games, and represents another attack in the extreme right-
wing's war on higher education. For this reason, I could not support 
the resolution.
  Among other items, H. Res. 927 calls on specific college presidents 
to resign, referencing a made-for-TV congressional hearing orchestrated 
by congressional Republicans last week. I believe it is inappropriate 
for Congress to inject itself into leadership and personnel decisions 
at colleges and universities. Doing so creates a slippery slope of 
Congress meddling in local decisions that the federal government should 
not be involved in.
  H. Res. 927 also appears to be another attempt to police and silence 
the free speech of Americans on college campuses. Again, while some 
demonstrators on college campuses have disturbingly engaged in 
antisemitic actions that should rightfully be condemned. H. Res. 927 is 
too broad.
  H. Res. 927 also fails to condemn antisemitic acts from those on the 
far right, including white nationalists who have increasingly promoted 
antisemitic conspiracy theories and have threatened the lives and 
livelihoods of Jewish Americans. The lead sponsor of H. Res. 927 has 
also publicly engaged in antisemitic tropes in the past, including the 
disgusting ``great replacement theory.'' This resolution appears to be 
an attempt to cover up extremist right-wing Republicans' flirtation 
with antisemitic ideology, as well as their support for antisemitic 
public figures.
  Let me be clear: I unequivocally condemn all forms of antisemitism, 
and I am appalled by the significant rise in antisemitism we've seen on 
college campuses in recent weeks. Many Jewish college students and 
faculty do not feel safe on campus, and many Jewish Americans feel 
unsafe in public. This is absolutely unacceptable. The university 
presidents who participated in last week's congressional hearing gave 
insufficient and appalling answers relating to campus speech calling 
for the genocide of Jewish people. I'm glad that they've since 
apologized for their statements, and I encourage other colleges not to 
make the same mistake these presidents did.
  However, if the House Republican majority were serious about tackling 
antisemitism, they would support President Biden's National Strategy to 
Counter Antisemitism, would quit trying to defund the Office of Civil 
Rights for Title VI enforcement which protects Jewish students and 
would increase funding for the High-Risk Nonprofit Grant Program to 
secure Jewish institutions as a start.
  That's why I've cosponsored H. Res. 927, introduced by 
Representatives Nadler, Raskin, and Goldman. H. Res. 927 thoughtfully 
and powerfully condemns the rise of antisemitism in the United States--
including on college campuses--and calls on Congress to support the 
above substantive actions to tackle antisemitism, which congressional 
Republicans have so far refused to do. I call on my congressional 
Republican colleagues to put politics aside and work in a bipartisan 
way to substantively tackle antisemitism.

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