[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 3]
[House]
[Page 3554]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     FLOOR SPEECH ON ANTI-SEMITISM

  (Mr. GOTTHEIMER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. GOTTHEIMER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak out against the 
rising wave of desecration, threats, and harassment targeting Jewish 
cemeteries, Jewish community centers, and religious institutions in 
northern New Jersey and across our country.
  JCCs and synagogues are bedrocks of religious and civic life for 
Jewish communities, housing preschools for children and a range of 
religious, educational, and social programs for families and seniors. 
Yet the safety and well-being of these communal spaces are the scope of 
extremism and anti-Semitism.
  Recently, there have been eight bomb threats targeting six Jewish 
community centers in New Jersey and more than 100 across our country. 
Parents are pulling their children from religious schools. Others are 
afraid to attend religious services. It is unacceptable.
  In the last 24 hours alone, officials in my district have uncovered 
multiple swastikas defacing our public spaces. These are not cases of 
random hatred. They are part of a deeply disturbing national trend that 
requires immediate and decisive action from law enforcement and 
community leaders at all levels.
  As Elie Wiesel said: ``Indifference, after all, is more dangerous 
than anger or hatred.'' Leaders must stand up now against the rising 
trend of hate-driven terrorism against any ethnic or religious group, 
including Jews, Christians, Muslims, and others.
  Hate and intolerance have no place in the greatest democracy in the 
world.

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