Calling on Elected Officials and Civil Society Leaders to Counter Antisemitism and Educate the Public on the Contributions of the Jewish- American Community

Floor Speech

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Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Knott for those thoughtful remarks.

Wasserman Schultz), the author of the resolution.

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, I will start by thanking the gentleman from Maryland for yielding and for his support of this resolution, along with his decades of leadership in support of the Jewish-American community and as a member of it.

I also thank Chairman Jordan for facilitating consideration of this measure on the floor. I appreciate our work together on issues where we agree.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of my resolution, H. Res. 1251, to recognize Jewish American Heritage Month and honor the role of Jewish Americans throughout our country's 250-year history.

I thank Representatives Troy Carter, Miller-Meeks, and Fitzpatrick for joining me to co-lead this resolution.

Jewish American Heritage Month, or JAHM, is an annual opportunity each May to come together and honor the generations of Jewish Americans who help make up an integral part of the rich mosaic of the United States.

While JAHM is a celebratory and educational month, this commemoration takes place amid rising anti-Semitism. As the resolution notes, anti- Jewish bias was identified in two-thirds of 2024 FBI hate crime reports, and American Jews, who are just 2 percent of the population, were targeted in 15 percent of all hate crimes.

Mr. Speaker, 91 percent of Jews feel less safe in America after violent attacks in Colorado, Pennsylvania, New York, and here in Washington, D.C., some of which were deadly.

As these threats surge, more than half of Jewish institutions, like synagogues, preschools, and community centers, lack the resources to protect themselves. The status quo is unacceptable.

That is why this resolution expresses moral clarity. The House must unite to denounce anti-Semitism and protect Jewish Americans from attacks on their religious freedom, dignity, and safety.

The best tool in the toolbox to counter baseless conspiracy theories, ignorance, and bigotry is education. When 38 percent of Americans don't know someone Jewish and 30 percent aren't familiar with the term ``anti-Semitism,'' it is essential to take this opportunity in the month of May to build awareness of the role Jewish Americans have played in our country's success.

This year, as we mark 250 years since the Declaration of Independence, I am proud that our resolution highlights the more than 1 million Jewish-American men and women who have defended our freedom in the U.S. military.

Jewish Americans have served in every branch of the United States Armed Forces, in every major war and conflict. At least 18 Jewish servicemembers have earned the Medal of Honor, our Nation's highest military decoration, for risking their lives above and beyond the call of duty.

Their stories, embedded in this resolution, are the best illustration of how Jewish Americans have contributed to protecting our liberty and our way of life. They are the clearest refutation of false, bigoted accusations that Jewish Americans lack loyalty for this country.

Honoring the sacrifice of these heroes means ensuring their identity isn't erased when they are gone. I am proud to have worked across the aisle to protect their legacy.

My bipartisan Fallen Servicemembers Religious Heritage Restoration Act, which passed the House last year, would ensure that hundreds of Jewish servicemembers who were wrongfully buried under Latin crosses have their graves marked with the Star of David.

This is just one of countless areas of American life where Jewish Americans made bountiful contributions, and we in Congress have a critical role to play in educating Americans about the Jewish community and preserving our history.

This resolution makes clear that the United States Government stands firmly against anti-Semitism in any form and commits to protecting every American's right to express their religion without interference or persecution.

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, as we mark Jewish American Heritage Month, I urge my colleagues not only to support this measure, but to take this opportunity to engage with their Jewish and non-Jewish constituents during the month of May to educate them about Jewish contributions to the success of the United States of America.

Mr. Speaker, I urge support of this resolution.

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Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Florida.

President Washington, in the summer of 1790, penned a letter to the Touro Synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island. In it, he explained the key advantage that would set our new Republic apart from all prior nations.

Here in the United States, he assured the Jewish community: ``All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship.'' Not liberty for some, but liberty for all.

To secure equal liberty, the President explained, we would establish and maintain a government that ``gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance.'' We would require ``only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens, in giving it on all occasions their effectual support.''

That commitment to reciprocal basic decency and responsibility for everyone who lives here is sewn into the fabric of the American political culture.

The United States doesn't always live up to that promise, Mr. Speaker. All too often, there have been efforts to privilege some Americans over others, to create a hierarchy, to bully particular American communities because of their religion, their ethnicity, their skin color, or their national origin, for cynical and political gain.

Certainly, in the Jewish community, we know what it means to be treated sometimes as a scapegoat. We see that incidents of anti- Semitism across America remain at record highs today. We see an alarming rise in physical assaults motivated by anti-Semitism, 203 last year alone.

We know that three people were killed in anti-Semitic attacks last year, including two right here at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C.

We know from the struggles of our history that we all must work together to counter racism and anti-Semitism which form the gateway to destruction of liberal democracy. We cannot pretend that systematic hatred and discrimination leaves anybody unaffected in the country.

In Congress, we have an obligation to confront bias and discrimination head-on, to foster what President Washington called ``an enlarged and liberal policy,'' one that moves our country from the intolerance of white supremacy to the tolerance and universal liberties that he described in that letter to the congregation in Newport.

That is why, Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution which observes ``one of the most effective ways to combat anti-Semitism and hate is through education and awareness of the contributions Jewish Americans have made to the United States through the arts, entertainment, science and technology, military, government, business, culinary traditions, and other fields.''

I thank the gentlewoman from Florida, again, for her leadership on this project. I urge my colleagues to support this resolution, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, President Washington closed that letter to the congregation in Newport, Rhode Island, this way. He said: ``May the Children of the Stock of Abraham, who dwell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other inhabits; while everyone shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree, and there shall be none to make him afraid.''

I thank the gentlewoman from Florida for her resolution. I thank the gentleman from North Carolina for his thoughtful remarks, and I encourage all my colleagues to vote for this resolution.

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