[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Page 12550]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          HELSINKI COMMISSION

  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I have the honor to chair the U.S. 
Helsinki Commission, which is well known for its commitment to human 
rights. It is also our participating arm in the Organization for 
Security and Cooperation in Europe, the OSCE.
  Starting when I first joined the Helsinki Commission almost 20 years 
ago, I worked on the issues of antisemitism and trying to deal with 
combating antisemitism. This is overt actions against Jews and Jewish 
institutions, which were on the rise. We tried to do something about 
it. In the early 2000s, working with Congressman Hoyer and Congressman 
Hastings and Congressman Smith and others, we made a commitment in the 
Helsinki Commission to bring up the increasing episodes of antisemitism 
and what we needed to do about it.
  We saw increased episodes of violence against Jews and Jewish 
institutions. We saw that world events were used to try to justify 
antisemitic activities. As a result of the work of the U.S. Helsinki 
Commission, the OSCE determined that it was important enough to do a 
special conference on antisemitism. In 2004, we had the Berlin 
conference on antisemitism under the leadership of the United States 
and Germany.
  I was proud to be a member of the U.S. delegation to the Berlin 
conference. Good work was done in that conference. We developed best 
practices, from dealing with Holocaust education, to police training to 
deal with identifying hate crimes. We had the first uniform collection 
of hate crimes statistics in the OSCE region, the responsibility of 
leaders to speak up against antisemitic activities. We provided 
technical assistance to countries to deal with antisemitism and to 
share their best practices. We also recommended a special 
representative to the chair in office, to put a spotlight on 
antisemitism and ways to combat it.
  Today Rabbi Andrew Baker is that special representative to the chair 
in office. The chair in office this year is the Swiss chair in office.
  Tomorrow, I will chair a Helsinki Commission hearing that deals with 
antisemitism, racism, and discrimination in the OSCE region. There are 
now three special representatives, one to combat antisemitism, one to 
deal with discrimination against Muslims, and one to deal with racism, 
xenophobia, and other forms of religious intolerance. They are all 
related. We find that hate crimes are hate crimes; that if a community 
is susceptible to antisemitic activities, it is also susceptible to 
anti-Muslim activities or activities against a person because of their 
race.
  There is reason to be concerned. There is reason to be concerned 
about the rise of antisemitism today. This is 10 years after the Berlin 
conference. Last year the EU's Fundamental Rights Agency surveyed all 
of the EU countries. The results were alarming. Forty to forty-eight 
percent of the Jewish respondents felt it was not safe for them to 
remain in their country. We are talking about in Hungary, France, and 
Belgium. In those three countries, ranging between 40 and 48 percent, 
they were considering emigrating to Israel because they did not feel 
safe in their own country.
  These fears are not without justification. The Anti-Defamation League 
surveyed over 100 countries and documented persistent antisemitic 
prejudice. In the EU elections extremist parties espousing antisemitic 
activities made remarkable progress. In Hungary and Greece extremist 
parliamentary parties associated with street militias were successful 
in elections.
  In Hungary the extremist party Jobbik is the second most significant 
party and had erected a monument to a wartime leader and a self-
declared antisemite. We also found laws passed in Europe that make it 
more difficult for Jews to practice their religion because of 
restrictions on being able to make kosher foods and making it difficult 
to wear head coverings.
  We have seen, unfortunately, violent acts. In Kansas, in the United 
States, three people were murdered outside of a JCC. In May, in 
Brussels, three people were murdered at a Jewish museum. I mention this 
because even as we visit Europe today, we see signs of antisemitism. It 
is troubling to all of us.
  This is the 10th anniversary of the Berlin conference coming up this 
year. We will be reconvening the OSCE states in order to evaluate the 
progress we have made over the last 10 years and additional progress 
that needs to be made. The Helsinki hearing tomorrow will give us an 
opportunity to concentrate on how the United States can continue to be 
a leader on this very important issue.
  I wanted to share those comments with my colleagues.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Georgia.
  Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak in 
morning business for up to 5 minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

                          ____________________