Sens. Cruz, Kaine Lead Bipartisan Resolution Condemning Antisemitism

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Tim Kaine (D-Va.) today introduced a resolution condemning all forms of antisemitism. The resolution is cosponsored by Sens. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Catherine Cortez-Masto (D-Nev.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), John Kennedy (R-La.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), James Risch (R-Idaho), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Martha McSally (R-Ariz.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), David Perdue (R-Ga.), Dan Sullivan (R-Ala.), and James Lankford (R-Okla.).

"Today was Holocaust Remembrance Day in Israel," Sen. Cruz said. "It is a stark reminder that ancient antisemitic hatreds going back centuries, and aimed at the extermination of the Jewish people, extended and extend to our time. Antisemitism is on the rise around the world and here in America. In just the last few weeks, we have seen it manifested as hateful cartoons in major news publications, antisemitic smears in the halls of Congress, and murders at houses of worship. I urge my Senate colleagues to put aside partisan politics so we can come together as an institution and unequivocally condemn antisemitism."

"This bipartisan effort is about making clear that we will do everything in our power to combat the rise in antisemitism. In my home state, we saw white supremacists terrorizing-and even murdering-people in Charlottesville while chanting antisemitic slogans lifted from Nazi rallies and a President unwilling to forcefully condemn such an atrocity," Sen. Kaine said. "The shooting last weekend at Chabad of Poway was another tragic reminder of this deep-rooted prejudice. We must stand together against hate in all its forms."

Read the full text of the resolution here and below:

Whereas antisemitism is a unique form of prejudice stretching back millennia that attacks the equal humanity of the Jewish people;

Whereas antisemitism has long perpetrated myths about Jews, including the Russian fabrication of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion and the wide circulation of libelous falsehoods about the Jewish murder of infants;

Whereas, in its most extreme form, antisemitism aims at the physical destruction of the Jewish people, as seen in pogroms, forced conversions and Nazi Germany's murder of over six million Jews;

Whereas antisemitism has included attacks on the livelihood of Jews including prohibitions on land ownership, campaigns to boycott, confiscate or destroy Jewish businesses, and denial of the ability of Jews to practice certain professions;

Whereas, in the United States, Jews have suffered from systematic discrimination in the form of exclusion from home ownership in certain neighborhoods, prohibition from staying in certain hotels, restrictions upon membership in private clubs and other associations, limitations upon admission to certain educational institutions and other barriers to equal justice under the law;

Whereas, in the United States, Jews have faced, and continue to face, false accusations of divided loyalty between the United States and Israel, false claims that they purchase political power with money, and false accusations about control of the financial system, along with other negative stereotypes; and

Whereas Jews are the targets of the majority of hate crimes committed in the United States against any religious group, including attacks on houses of worship and Jewish community centers: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the United States Senate condemns and commits to combating all forms of antisemitism.

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