Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism Act

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 221) to amend the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 to monitor and combat anti-Semitism globally, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 221, currently under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 221. I am a proud original cosponsor of this bill, and I am pleased we are considering it today. We passed it with bipartisan, unanimous support in the last Congress, and I am looking forward to seeing us show that broad support again. In this Congress, we must continue to stand against anti-Semitism.

I thank my colleagues for their hard work on this effort: Congressman Chris Smith, the author of this legislation, and my fellow co-chairs of the Bipartisan Taskforce for Combating Anti-Semitism. I am proud to stand with a group of legislators committed to fighting intolerance and hatred.

Mr. Speaker, we have seen a sickening increase in anti-Semitism over the past few years. Just a few months ago, a gunman stormed a synagogue in Pittsburgh, attacking peaceful congregants and killing 11 people. We have seen people who embrace hatred and bigotry given a new, loud megaphone to spread their poison. Across the United States, we have seen an uptick in anti-Semitic language and an increase in threats of violence against Jewish communities. In my home State of New York, NYPD officials have reported an alarming surge of anti-Semitic hate crimes.

Every day, more and more alarming anti-Semitic incidents are happening across the world: Holocaust survivors recently assaulted, rallies and parades glorifying Nazi leaders, and swastikas graffitied to incite fear and terror. The list goes on and on.

This is appalling, and it demands immediate action.

As a country, we need to come together to say enough is enough. We need to confront evil, call it by its name, and say there is no place for it anywhere in the United States or around the world. We need to do it as citizens. We need to do so in our laws and in our policies. We need to make sure that we fill the positions that are supposed to be dealing with this issue. The Special Envoy to Combat Anti-Semitism position at the State Department is still vacant, and that is simply unacceptable.

We must have a senior official push back against intolerance and hatred of anti-Semitism. American leadership is desperately needed in the fight against this ancient form of hatred. I am sick and tired of foot-dragging on filling this critical position.

That is why I am glad we are moving this bill forward. This legislation would elevate the Special Envoy position and require the President to put forward a nominee no more than 120 days after a vacancy. This is essential for making sure that a prolonged vacancy like we have right now never happens again. We must have a senior State Department official dedicated to coordinating U.S. Government efforts to combat anti-Semitism abroad.

Mr. Speaker, I strongly support this measure. I ask my colleagues to join me in doing so, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Schneider), who is the Democratic lead on this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Deutch), one of my fellow co-chairs of a bipartisan task force to combat anti-Semitism.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Lowey), my good friend. She and I have districts that border each other.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings).

(Mr. HASTINGS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

In closing, let me say that I strongly support this bipartisan bill. As all of my colleagues have said, we can never become complacent when we see anti-Semitism rear its ugly head. We need to reject it. We need to fight it. We need to shine a light in all the dark corners so it has no place to hide and fester.

What does that look like when it comes to foreign policy?

It starts by appointing a senior diplomat, someone we can point to with confidence and say, ``You are leading America's effort to grapple with this problem around the world.''

This bill would make sure that that seat will not remain vacant the way it has for the last 2 years. I am proud to be an original cosponsor of this legislation. I am proud that we have such bipartisan support for this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Madam Speaker, due to a scheduled medical procedure, I was physically absent from the House of Representatives from January 10, 2019 to February 5, 2019. During that time, I missed 44 recorded votes. Had I been present for those votes, I would have voted: on Roll Call No. 22 on the Republican Motion to Recommit on H.R. 267, I would have voted ``Yea;'' on Roll Call No. 23 on the Passage of H.R. 267, I would have voted ``Nay;'' on Roll Call No. 24 on the Republican Motion to Recommit on H.R. 265, I would have voted ``Yea;'' on Roll Call No. 25 on the Passage of H.R. 265, I would have voted ``Nay;'' on Roll Call No. 26 on the Republican Motion to Recommit on H.R. 266, I would have voted ``Yea;'' on Roll Call No. 27 on the Passage of H.R. 266, I would have voted ``Nay;'' on Roll Call No. 28 on the Passage of S. 24, I would have voted ``Yea;'' on Roll Call No. 29 on the Passage of H.R. 221, I would have voted ``Yea;'' on Roll Call No. 30 on the Passage of H.R. 116, I would have voted ``Yea;'' on Roll Call No. 31 on the Passage of H.J. Res. 27, I would have voted ``Nay;'' on Roll Call No. 32 on the Passage of H. Res. 41, I would have voted ``Yea;'' on Roll Call No. 33 on the Passage of H.R. 135, I would have voted ``Yea;'' on Roll Call No. 34 on Ordering the Previous Question on H. Res. 43, I would have voted ``Nay;'' on Roll Call No. 35 on the Adoption of H. Res. 43, I would have voted ``Nay;'' on Roll Call No. 36 on the Passage of H.R. 190, I would have voted ``Yea;'' on Roll Call No. 37 on the Passage of Amendment No. 2 offered by Mr. McGovern (D- MA), I would have voted ``Nay;'' on Roll Call No. 38 on Ordering the Republican Motion to Recommit, I would have voted ``Yea;'' on Roll Call No. 39 on the Passage of H.R. 268, I would have voted ``Nay;'' on Roll Call No. 40 on the Adoption of H. Res. 52, I would have voted ``Nay;'' on Roll Call No. 41 on the Passage of H.R. 150, I would have voted ``Yea;'' on Roll Call No. 42 on the Passage of H.J. Res. 30, I would have voted ``Yea;'' on Roll Call No. 43 on Republican Motion to Recommit, I would have voted ``Yea;'' on Roll Call No. 44 on the Passage of H.R. 676, I would have voted ``Yea;'' on Roll Call No. 45 on the Passage of H.R. 328, I would have voted ``Yea;'' on Roll Call No. 46 on the Passage of H.J. Res 28, I would have voted ``Nay;'' on Roll Call No. 47 on the Passage of H. Res. 61, I would have voted ``Nay;'' on Roll Call No. 48 on the Republican Motion to Recommit, I would have voted ``Yea;'' on Roll Call No. 49 on the Passage of H.R. 648, I would have voted ``Nay;'' on Roll Call No. 50 on the Republican Motion to Recommit, I would have voted ``Yea;'' on Roll Call No. 51 on the Passage of H.J. Res. 31, I would have voted ``Nay;'' on Roll Call No. 52 on the Passage of H.R. 624, I would have voted ``Yea;'' on Roll Call No. 53 on the Passage of H.R. 502, I would have voted ``Yea;'' on Roll Call No. 54 on Approving of the Speaker's Journal, I would have voted ``Yea;'' on Roll Call No. 55 on the Motion to Adjourn, I would have voted ``Nay;'' on Roll Call No. 56 on the Passage of H.R. 428, I would have voted ``Yea;'' on Roll Call No. 57 on the Passage of H.R. 449, I would have voted ``Yea;'' on Roll Call No. 58 on the Passage of H.R. 769, I would have voted ``Yea;'' on Roll Call No. 59 on the Motion to Table the Motion to Reconsider H. Res. 77, I would have voted ``Nay;'' on Roll Call No. 60 on Ordering the Previous Question on H. Res. 87, I would have voted ``Nay;'' on Roll Call No. 61 on the Passage of H. Res. 87, I would have voted ``Yea;'' on Roll Call No. 62 on the Passage of Amendment No. 3 offered by Mrs. Trahan (D-MA), I would have voted ``Nay;'' on Roll Call No. 63 on the Republican Motion to Recommit, I would have voted ``Yea;'' on Roll Call No. 64 on the Passage of H.R. 790, I would have voted ``Nay;'' and on Roll Call No. 65 on the Passage of H. Res. 79, I would have voted ``Nay.''

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this bill to ensure that American efforts to fight the scourge of anti-Semitism are as strong as possible.

In December, the European Union released the results of a survey of over 16,500 European Jews. The results of this survey are, frankly, disturbing.

In its report, the EU wrote that anti-Semitism pervades everyday life. It also stated that anti-Semitism undermines Jews' feelings of safety and security and that anti-Semitic harassment is so common that it becomes normalized.

Europe is not alone in seeing a resurgence of anti-Semitism. Textbooks across the Middle East teach children to hate Jews. Malaysia's Prime Minister has repeated offensive, anti-Semitic statements. Here in the United States, we were devastated by the attack on a Pittsburgh synagogue in October. No region or country is immune from this hatred.

In 2004, the Global Anti-Semitism Review Act was passed into law, establishing a Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism. This position was created to combat this threat worldwide through bilateral relationships and international organizations such as the European Union and the United Nations. Fifteen years later, we need to modernize the way our government is set up to fight this hatred.

This bipartisan bill, which has been previously introduced in the House and passed in the House, requires the President to appoint a Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism. The bill also elevates the Special Envoy position to the rank of Ambassador and ensures direct access to the Secretary of State. It is finally time for the stature of this position to reflect the level of work that must be done.

Unfortunately, a Special Envoy has yet to be nominated under this administration, and I strongly urge the President to appoint a qualified candidate as soon as possible.

Mr. Speaker, I would also like to thank Congressman Chris Smith for introducing this important bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), who is the author of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis), the cosponsor of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

In closing, I thank the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) for his hard work to ensure that anti-Semitism remains at the top of our country's foreign policy agenda. I, too, echo my colleagues' on the other side of the aisle plea to this administration in a bipartisan way to appoint a Special Envoy.

If I can just conclude by saying that I am the son of a World War II veteran. My father was a bombardier on a B-17. He was part of the D-day air campaign. He bombed the Nazis. We saw the horrors of Nazi Germany. I have been to Auschwitz to see the horrors of the gas chambers and what the Nazis perpetrated against the Jewish people. We thought it was stamped out then. We thought it was over. And yet it is not. It is hard to believe that so many years later, anti-Semitism and neo-Nazis still exist in this world.

It is my sincere hope, with this Special Envoy we can truly make a difference--the Greatest Generation fought against it--and that this scourge will be eliminated entirely from the planet.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. McCaul for yielding and for his very strong support of this legislation. And Eliot Engel, the new chairman, I thank him as well. I thank Brad Schneider for being the original Democratic cosponsor.

This is a bipartisan bill. In the last Congress, we had 86 cosponsors. Even in this Congress, we already have gotten up to 80 cosponsors. It shows that we can reach across the aisle and fight this pernicious evil called anti-Semitism.

In 2004, Mr. Speaker, I authored the provisions of law that created and required this position and the office it leads at the State Department. H.R. 221 upgrades and strengthens the position to better anticipate, prevent, mitigate, and respond to threats against Jewish communities worldwide.

H.R. 221 elevates the Special Envoy to the rank of Ambassador, reporting directly to the Secretary of State. This would enable sufficient seniority and access inside the U.S. Government and when engaging foreign governments.

The bill requires the President to nominate a candidate no later than 90 days--and all the Presidents from Bush to Obama, and now, sadly, under President Trump, have been very late in coming forward with that nominee. There was a nominee for the Special Envoy, but because of illness or a health crisis, that person was not named. But we--all of us--have asked the President to name that person and to do so immediately.

This bill requires, as I said, to do it no later than 90 days after the bill becomes law and no later than 120 days thereafter whenever that position is empty.

H.R. 221 prohibits double-hatting of the Special Envoy with duties irrelevant to combating anti-Semitism. The legislation also mandates the Special Envoy to be the primary adviser to the U.S. Government on monitoring and combating anti-Semitism.

Far too often, Mr. Speaker, over the decades, the U.S. Government has put combating anti-Semitism, human trafficking, and religious freedom violations in the back seat of our foreign policy. That is why Congress has created offices and positions to ensure the United States was focused on fighting these evils.

Over the past decades, there has been an unprecedented rise in anti- Semitic acts and rhetoric all over the world: Jews harassed, assaulted, and even murdered; synagogues attacked; graves and cemeteries desecrated; anti-Semitic slurs; plus targeting the State of Israel itself with the three Ds--demonization, double-standard, and delegitimization, as my good friend, the great Soviet Jewish refusenik and religious prisoner Natan Sharansky named them. The so-called BDS movement to boycott, divest from, and sanction Israel is one of the most pernicious examples of what Sharansky called the new anti- Semitism.

Anti-Semitic hatred is hardwired into the ideology of violent Islamist

and White supremacist groups, but the evil goes beyond those perpetrators.

Politicians, entertainers, and public intellectuals across the philosophical spectrum have exhibited anti-Semitism. Strong American leadership, therefore, is essential to battle this bigotry.

Combating anti-Semitism, as I said earlier, has always been a bipartisan effort. This bill did pass the last Congress 393-2. The text before us in the legislation is identical. I hope we have very strong support for it and the Senate, hopefully, will take it up, consider it, pass it, and get it to the President.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 221, the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism Act of 2019, important and bipartisan legislation that will ensure we continue addressing anti-Semitism across the globe. I was proud to cosponsor this bill last Congress, and I am proud to cosponsor it again this year, in the hope that the Senate will this time act to send it to the President for signature.

The Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism Act would elevate the position of Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti- Semitism to the rank of Ambassador, reporting directly to the Secretary of State; as the primary advisor and coordinator for U.S. government efforts to monitor and combat Anti-Semitism and Anti-Semitic incitement in foreign countries. In short, it will ensure that the United States continues to play a leading role in combatting Anti-Semitism across the globe.

We have seen a dramatic increase in anti-Semitism in recent years. It is ugly. It is tragic. It must be addressed. High attacks like the one at the Hyper Cacher kosher supermarket in Paris and the horrific shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh captured the world's attention and forced the issue into the international spotlight. Other incidents, including the stabbing of Holocaust survivor Mireille Knoll in Paris, the shattering of windows at the HaCarmel kosher restaurant in Amsterdam, and countless other daily occurrences of harassment or physical assaults against Jews do not garner as much attention. Europe is facing a growing number of right- wing, nationalist, extremist political movements, and across the globe, the growing trend of anti-Semitism masked as anti-Zionism threatens Jewish communities and delegitimizes the existence of Israel.

Those of us who have served on the U.S. Helsinki Commission have taken efforts to combat anti-Semitism at the international level. As the incoming Chairman of the Commission, I intend to continue prioritizing this work with representatives of governments throughout Europe to highlight the resurgence of Anti-Semitism and elevate efforts to push back against this despicable resurgence through education, outreach, and improved security. Mr. Smith, Mr. Hoyer, Senator Cardin and I have all chaired the Helsinki Commission, and together, we have worked with several other Members of both the House and Senate, as well as with parliamentarians particularly from Germany and Canada, to have the Parliamentary Assembly of the 57-country OSCE condemn the escalation of anti-Semitic violence in Europe. We first did this at the Assembly's 2002 annual session in Berlin, Germany, and have kept it on the agenda there ever since, suggesting measures to counter anti- Semitic statements and acts of violence alike. I pushed it strongly while serving as President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly from 2004 to 2006, and then as chairman of the Commission from 2007 to 2008. We succeeded in getting OSCE institutions, officials and diplomatic representatives to incorporate efforts to combat anti-Semitism and other forms of intolerance into their ongoing work.

Ensuring that our country continues to lead in the fight against Anti-Semitism is a priority that we should all embrace. I fully support this measure and urge my colleagues to do the same.