[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 74 (Tuesday, April 30, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3070-S3071]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                Protests

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, for months, the most elite corners of 
American higher education have made headlines for all the wrong 
reasons. Unfortunately, they are still finding new ways to embarrass 
themselves with vile, anti-Semitic radicalism, beginning, of course, 
with yet more alarming declarations like ``Burn Tel Aviv to the 
ground,'' ``Freedom for Palestine means death to America,'' ``The 7th 
of October is going to be every day for you.''
  The student radicals behind hateful chants like ``from the river to 
the sea'' have proven to be incoherently ecumenical. They have chanted 
``Long Live Hamas''--a Sunni terrorist group--and waved flags 
supporting the Shia terrorist group, Hezbollah, and the secular 
Marxist-Leninist terrorist group, the Popular Front for the Liberation 
of Palestine.
  They have been joined on the picket lines by faculty members for whom 
radical anti-Semitism is merely an extension of their day jobs in post-
modern indoctrination.
  Last week, Columbia's encampment was even visited by a Member of 
Congress who accused some Jewish students of being ``pro-genocide.''
  It is unclear whether the student radicals or the shadowy groups 
organizing these disruptions are actual ``fifth columns'' for 
adversaries trying to corrode American society from within or just 
unwitting pawns. What is clear is that basic comprehension of history, 
theology, and geography is in very short supply in the Ivy League.
  But so-called elite universities aren't just in the news for a well-
documented decline in academic rigor. They are not drawing the Nation's 
attention just because another generation of students has decided to 
test the limits of the First Amendment with grotesque hate. No, no, 
they are in the news because weakness and inaction from campus leaders 
has allowed universities to become cauldrons of criminal chaos.
  In recent days, an Orthodox Jewish student at Yale was assaulted by 
organized hate-mongers. At MIT, there is a so-called ``liberated zone'' 
of radicals occupying the very center of campus. At UCLA, aspiring 
commissars have blocked Jewish students from walking to class or even 
entering the library. Another California school is reporting millions 
of dollars in damages after radicals vandalized campus buildings.
  And last night brought yet more evidence that administrators at 
Columbia have utterly--utterly--failed to bring order to their 
Manhattan campus. In the wee hours of the morning, the mob that has 
disrupted daily life from a tent encampment on the quad broke into a 
campus building with hammers and has barricaded itself inside.
  Not long ago, Columbia's president was sensibly calling in the New 
York Police Department to disperse and arrest these disrupters. This 
was a responsible thing to do because the vast majority of students at 
Columbia want to go to class, study for exams, and lead productive 
lives. But, then, her resolve appeared to give out. A minority of 
radicals and their faculty allies have used continued threats and 
intimidation to maximize the disruption and extend the reach of an 
odious ideology. The administration caved. The campus is now closed. 
But law enforcement remain outside the gates, and it remains to be seen 
whether administrators' latest threats of expulsion will actually be 
carried out.
  The situation at Columbia is so bad that a prominent rabbi urged 
Jewish students to leave campus out of fear for their physical safety. 
This is particularly discouraging at a university that for decades has 
been known as a welcoming home for Jewish students, even when the rest 
of the Ivy League systematically discriminated against them.
  Yesterday, a member of Columbia's Jewish community filed a class 
action lawsuit against the university, alleging sustained harassment 
and incitement of violence against Jewish students. In the absence of 
leadership from administrators, the community has had to take 
protection of their basic rights on campus literally into their own 
hands.
  Of course, today's campus radicals did not invent this brand of 
aggressive lawlessness. Here in the United States, they trace their 
roots back to the 1960s. Other countries, too, have had their own 
infamous histories of student intimidation and violence--most 
notoriously, the student Nazis of Weimar Germany.
  Education never has anything to do with it. It is about dangerous, 
radical politics. But just as the roots of this hate are not a mystery, 
neither is the way forward for college administrators.
  Leaders at Columbia might do well to note the approach of the 
administration over at Princeton, which has upheld clear prohibitions 
on activity like forming encampments and responded swiftly and severely 
to an attempt last night to occupy a campus building.
  They might also take a cue from our former colleague Ben Sasse. Thus 
far, radicals at the University of Florida have largely heeded his 
prohibition against unlawful disruptions because they know he means it. 
And, last night, those who failed to obey repeated warnings from campus 
police were promptly arrested. As an official statement put it, ``The 
University of Florida is not a daycare, and we do not treat protesters 
like children--they knew the rules, they broke the rules, and they'll 
face the consequences.''

  It is not enough for administrators to lament campus disorder. 
Strongly worded warnings only carry weight when they are backed up by 
action. The hateful ideas pouring out of campus encampments are not new 
to America's universities. The world's oldest form of hate has been 
alive and well in higher education for quite some time now. From the 
vile ``boycott, divest, and sanction'' movement that began over a 
decade ago to the establishment of outfits like the Rutgers Center for 
Security, Race and Rights, the forces of bigotry have been on the move.
  And those forces have powerful friends. President Biden's nominee for 
the Third Circuit, Adeel Mangi, has long been a patron of the Rutgers 
center. In fact, as new evidence indicates, he has played a much more 
active and enthusiastic role than he described to our colleagues on the 
Judiciary Committee.
  Apparently, every progressive organization in the country is 
furious--furious--that my colleagues and I have

[[Page S3071]]

dared to call attention to these disqualifying facts. So let's get it 
straight: Radicalism has no place in higher education or on the Federal 
bench.
  Unfortunately, the President doesn't seem to agree. While he defends 
Mr. Mangi and his radical associations, he refuses to render an 
unqualified rejection of campus anti-Semitism. In fact, when asked 
about it, he seemed to say: Well, there are good people on both sides.
  It is hard not to see this mealymouthed equivocation for what it is: 
a President prioritizing the feelings of his political supporters over 
moral clarity.
  Anti-Semitism is not a nuanced academic theory. It is not just one of 
many ``difficult viewpoints,'' as the White House Press Secretary 
seemed to suggest yesterday in reference to campus disruptions. It is 
not justified by political disagreements with Israel and its 
government. It is not entitled to take over campuses and make life 
miserable for Jewish students.
  Luckily, some reasonable observers are getting mugged by reality. 
Just as a growing number of Democrats are rejecting Mr. Mangi's 
nomination, a growing number of prominent Ivy League alumni are 
rejecting the surging radicalism of their alma maters.
  But that will only go so far. Leaders must lead. Administrators must 
take charge of their institutions. The basic objectives here couldn't 
be clearer: On campus, protect Jewish community members. Clear the 
encampments. Let students go to class and take their exams. And allow 
graduations to proceed.
  Here in Washington, withdraw radical nominees and force the 
Departments of Justice and Education to investigate civil rights 
violations.
  If moral clarity does not prevail--in the ivory tower and in the 
Biden administration--this could go down as a particularly shameful 
moment in our history.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. ERNST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.