Shooting At Brown University and Shooting in Sydney, Australia
Floor Speech
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Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, we convene after a weekend of both horror and grief. Saturday afternoon, as students were studying for finals, a masked gunman opened fire inside a classroom at Brown University. Nine students were injured, and two were killed. The victims were not even 20 years old. This is every father's and every mother's worst nightmare. For now, the shooter remains at large, and we urge residents in the area to listen to guidance from local law enforcement.
Then, just a few hours later, on the first night of Hanukkah, on a popular beach in Sydney, Australia, two terrorists opened fire on Jewish Australians who gathered in celebration. At least 15 were killed, another 29 injured. Among the murdered was a 10-year-old girl and an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor. Also among the murdered was Rabbi Eli Schlanger--a pillar of Brooklyn's Crown Heights community-- who welcomed a son into the world just 2 months ago.
May the memories of all those killed and injured this weekend be a blessing.
I have warned repeatedly that anti-Semitism is a scourge around the world that must be condemned loudly and fought vigorously at every turn. The Jewish people have been collectively demonized, increasingly so in the last few years. This tragedy in Sydney shows the danger--the abject danger--of letting anti-Semitic rhetoric and action go unchecked.
So those of us in elected office have a responsibility to speak out against anti-Semitic rhetoric and conduct wherever it arises and whenever it arises.
Separately, Congress must also take action against another poison of our age, that of rampant gun violence.
Australia is no stranger to gun safety legislation. They famously took strong action in the 1990s, so gun violence plummeted. Yesterday, Australia's Prime Minister said the country will take another look at their gun safety laws and see where they can make improvements. If Australia can find the courage to act after a tragedy like the one at Bondi Beach, Congress should certainly find the will to act after a tragedy like the one at Brown University.
For the sake of those who were killed this weekend and for the sake of so many lives we can save moving forward, Congress must again act against gun violence and act against all forms of violent hate.
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