Never Again Education Reauthorization Act of 2023

Floor Speech

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Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 3448) to reauthorize the Director of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum to support Holocaust education programs, and for other purposes.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

The text of the bill is as follows: S. 3448

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Never Again Education Reauthorization Act of 2023''. SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION.

Section 4(a) of the Never Again Education Act (Public Law 116-141; 134 Stat. 638) is amended by striking ``each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years'' and inserting ``each succeeding fiscal year through fiscal year 2030''.

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Ms. FOXX. 3448.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 3448, the Never Again Education Reauthorization Act of 2023.

October 7 was the worst day in Jewish history since the Holocaust. S. 3448 will ensure that the lessons of history are not forgotten in these troubling times.

The bipartisan bill promotes tolerance by extending the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's mission to disseminate Holocaust education resources through fiscal year 2030.

In May 2020, Congress passed with overwhelming bipartisan support and President Trump signed into law the Never Again Education Act. This law authorizes $2 million for the Holocaust museum to create and disseminate educational resources on how and why the Holocaust happened.

This year, the world celebrated the Allied victory of Normandy 80 years ago. We were reminded of what our heroes fought for and against. Unfortunately, we have seen an increase in anti-Semitic and other bias- based offenses on college campuses, demonstrating that the hate and bigotry that motivated the Nazis is still present in our society.

Mr. Speaker, expanding the presence of Holocaust education programs in schools will increase the knowledge of basic facts related to the Holocaust, and that is important.

More importantly, it will give schools optional resources to help provide students a greater understanding of the ancient scourge of anti-Semitism and provide them intellectual and moral tools to fight against it and to prevent genocide, hate, and bigotry against any group of people. I thank Representative Buddy Carter for authoring this bill in the House.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, anti-Semitism exploded on college campuses across the country following October 7, 2023, increasing 700 percent over the same period in the prior year. Swastikas were spread across campus as graffiti. Jewish students were segregated in classrooms by their professors. Jewish students at New York City's Cooper Union were forced to lock themselves in the college library and later were escorted out a back door.

I recognize that anti-Semitism is not a new problem. It has taken on various forms throughout history. The most noted prior to October 7 were the horrors of the Nazi Holocaust. Both will forever remain a stain in the annals of human history.

The modern form of anti-Semitism is often disguised by progressive political ideologies. Evidence shows that campus DEI bureaucracies play a major role in propagating the spread of anti-Semitism. DEI divides the world into oppressors and the oppressed, ascribing collective guilt to the oppressors and collective innocence to the oppressed.

What does this mean for Jewish students? The DEI hierarchy places the Jewish people at the bottom of the oppression spectrum. DEI programs are ideologically anti-Semitic because they ascribe collective guilt to the entire State of Israel for its mere existence.

The core principles of the Marxist ideologue are not diversity, equity, or inclusion. They are, instead, discrimination, intolerance, and bigotry toward individuals thought to belong to the wrong group.

This modern manifestation of one of history's greatest evils, anti- Semitism, is repugnant. By passing S. 3448, the Never Again Education Reauthorization Act of 2023, Congress takes a step toward ensuring a safer and more secure future for Jewish Americans. More importantly, it ensures that we will always remember the victims of the Holocaust, who were murdered simply for being Jewish.

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