A resolution strongly condemning the rise of antisemitism on campuses of institutions of higher education across the United States.

Reserving the right to object.

Mr. President, I rise in opposition to S. Res. 670, which, in my view, does, in fact, not go far enough to address the very serious crisis of bigotry taking place all over this country.

Let me be very clear. Anti-Semitism is a vile and disgusting form of bigotry that has existed for hundreds, if not thousands, of years and in the last century resulted in the deaths of at least 6 million people, including some in my own family. I strongly and unequivocally condemn all forms of anti-Semitism.

In addition, it is imperative that Congress, representing the American people, make clear our strong opposition to all forms of bigotry in this country, whether on college campuses or elsewhere, including Islamophobia, homophobia, racism, and the growing attacks against the Asian-American community.

Our goal must be to bring people together as one Nation regardless of our religion, regardless of where we were born, regardless of the color of our skin.

And the resolution that I am offering, which I hope will be accepted, makes that abundantly clear: no to anti-Semitism, no to Islamophobia, no to all forms of racism and bigotry.

And as we do our best to combat racism and all of its ugly manifestations, we must also hold our heads high and with pride as we honor the First Amendments to our Constitution, brilliantly developed by the Founders of this country.

And let me simply read, because some may have forgotten what the First Amendment says:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of

religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or

abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the

right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition

the Government for a redress of grievances.

That is what a free country is about--the right to disagree with government and the right to protest. And those are rights that every Member of Congress should respect, no matter what one's political point of view may be.

I happen to believe that protesting injustice is part of the American tradition, going back to the very Founders of this country, and has played a fundamental role in recent decades in the fight to overcome racism, sexism, homophobia, and other forms of discrimination.

I would remind my colleagues, for example, that the success of the civil rights movement was due in large part to sit-ins and occupations where young Black and White Americans bravely took up space in private businesses demanding an end to the racial discrimination of segregation that existed at that time.

I would also remind my colleagues that during the Vietnam war, students and millions of other Americans, including myself, joined peaceful demonstrations demanding an end to that war. Maybe--just maybe--tens of thousands of American lives and countless of Vietnamese lives might have been saved if the government had listened to those demonstrators.

And further, let us not forget those who demonstrated against the failed wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Maybe those protesters should have been listened to as well.

You know, despite what some people think here, government policy regarding war is not always right. In fact, in recent history, it has mostly been wrong.

I do find it extraordinary, both tonight, in listening to my colleagues,

and what I have heard for many months now, that this body is very quick to bring forth bills and resolutions condemning student protesters, but there has been minimal discussion about what these young people are protesting. And that is rather extraordinary. I didn't hear one word of it tonight.

What are they out demonstrating about? What have millions of people gone to the streets and are talking about?

So let me take this opportunity to do just that.

We all know, as has been stated correctly this evening, that on October 7, 2023, Hamas, a terrorist organization, began this war with an attack on Israel that killed 1,200 innocent men, women, and children, and took over 200 people captive, many of whom are still in captivity tonight. I think all of us believe--and I know that all of us believe--that this horrific attack must be unequivocally condemned, and I believe that all of us understand that Israel had the right to defend itself against Hamas. But I certainly do not believe, nor do a strong majority of the American people believe, that the rightwing, extremist Netanyahu government has the right to wage an unprecedented, all-out war against the Palestinian people.

And what these protests are largely about and what public opinion is showing is outrage that, since October 7, the Netanyahu government has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians and injured more than 78,000, 70 percent of whom are women and children. That is over 5 percent of the 2.2 million people living in Gaza.

And that is what the vast majority of people in this country who are protesting are talking about. Protesters and the majority of the American people are outraged that 1.8 million people, 80 percent of the population of Gaza, have been forced out of their homes--80 percent forced out of their homes and sent to overcrowded and dangerous locations.

Protesters, and the American people in general, are deeply concerned about the destruction of over 200,000 housing units--destroyed, leaving more than a million people in Gaza homeless. The American people and protesters are deeply worried, concerned about what happens to these people in the future. They have got no home. Where do they go? How do they live?

The American people and protesters are outraged that the civilian infrastructure of Gaza has been devastated, with approximately 60 percent of water and sanitation facilities damaged or destroyed and electricity almost entirely shut off. Raw waste is now seeping into the streets throughout Gaza because their wastewater systems have been destroyed.

The American people and the American doctors I have talked to who were in Gaza are shocked that the healthcare system of Gaza has been systematically destroyed, with 26 hospitals knocked out of service and more than 400 healthcare workers killed.

When we talk about college campuses--and I understand that is the discussion here tonight--I want everyone to know that there are no protests on the college campuses in Gaza. Nobody is feeling discomfort. Do you know why? Because every one of the 12 universities in Gaza has been bombed and destroyed.

And as we speak against explicit and repeated warnings of President Biden, Israel is attacking Rafah, where over a million Palestinians have sought refuge. And that situation will only accelerate the crisis that Mrs. McCain and others in the humanitarian world have talked about; and that is that famine is imminent in Gaza, and God knows how many children are already dying of malnutrition.

The fact of the matter is that some 67 percent of Americans, according to recent polls, support the United States' calling for a cease-fire, and 60 percent oppose sending more weapons to Israel. And that is what the protesters are talking about. They are asking why it is that we are complicit in the humanitarian disaster taking place in Gaza; and why, when we have got hundreds of thousands of people homeless throughout this country, we are giving $20 billion more to the rightwing, extremist Netanyahu government.

So, no, it is not just protesters on college campuses who are upset about U.S. policy with regard to Israel and Gaza. Increasingly, American people want an end to U.S. complicity in the humanitarian disaster that is unfolding there.

Mr. President, I will therefore be offering an alternative resolution to the one that Senator Scott offered which does the following--and I hope it would gain unanimous support: No. 1, it strongly condemns the rise of anti-Semitic, anti-Muslim, anti-Arab, anti- Asian, and any other form of discrimination on the campuses of schools and institutions of higher education across the United States.

So it does what Senator Scott proposes, but it does more.

No. 2, it strongly affirms Congress's support for the First Amendment of the Constitution and freedom of speech and dissent.

No. 3, it strongly supports the right of students and all Americans to peacefully protest.

No. 4, it urges the Department of Education to take necessary actions to ensure that schools and institutions of higher education are complying with title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to provide all students--including students who are or perceived to be Jewish, Israeli, Muslim, Arab, or Palestinian--a school environment free from discrimination based on race, religion, color, or national origin.

And lastly, it strongly urges school leaders, college administrators, and local, State, and Federal leaders to take all necessary steps to protect students' safety and civil rights, including their right to peacefully assemble and protest.

Therefore, I object to this resolution.

Mr. President, well, I would agree with the Senator from South Carolina on one point: People are disgusted with politics. And maybe the reason they are disgusted with politics is, despite what the vast majority of the American people want, the U.S. Government is continuing to provide billions of dollars in military aid to the rightwing, extremist Netanyahu government. The Senator from South Carolina said it is a coalition government. It is. It is rightwing extremists in coalition with out-and-out racists. That is the coalition. And people are disgusted because they don't want to see their money going to kill more women and children in Gaza.

Now, the Senator from South Carolina says that I am muddying the waters. Really? Well, I would suggest that the Senator from South Carolina remember what happened a number of months ago in November, I believe, of 2023. Three young Palestinian college students were shot at close range in my city. Islamophobia in this country is on the rise. If you are a Palestinian walking the streets, you better be careful.

So the idea that we should not, as a nation and as a Congress, come together to address anti-Semitism--absolutely. But Islamophobia? We have, as you know, some people out there talking about the Chinese flu and ``kung flu.'' If you think that does not provoke anti-Asian behavior on the part of some, you would be mistaken.

So I think what is appropriate is for us to condemn anti-Semitism, which is exactly what my resolution does, but make it clear that all forms of bigotry in this country are unacceptable.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of my resolution, which is at the desk; further, that the resolution be agreed to; that the preamble be agreed to; and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, in the first 48 hours following the October 7 Hamas terror attack on Israel, violent language and threats against the Jewish community and Israel increased by over 488 percent. This hatred is spreading like wildfire on college campuses around the Nation, turning our so-called elite academic institutions into cesspools of harassment and violence pointed toward Jewish students. There are violent mobs storming buildings, smashing windows, defacing property, tearing down the American flag and replacing it with the flag of radical extremist groups. We are witnessing anti-Semitic hate and extremism that threaten the very safety of our Jewish students on college campuses around the greatest Nation on God's green Earth. It is so shocking and outrageous that so many of the administrators on these campuses sit back and watch as their campuses descend into chaos and criminality.

There can be--and I mean this--there can be no equivocating when it comes to the issue of anti-Semitic violence or hatred, and I and every single one of us should just call it out for what it is.

So let me be clear. Any student who advocates for murder and sympathizes with terrorists should be expelled. Any university that allows itself to become a megaphone for hatred should lose every single dime of their Federal funding. Any college administrator who refuses to stamp out violent bigotry should lose their job.

The American people and especially our Jewish brothers and sisters deserve our moral clarity on this issue. That is why I introduced a resolution that forcefully condemns the explosion of anti-Semitism on college campuses, calls out administrators who have failed to do their jobs and stamp out hatred, and urges the Department of Education to do their job and ensure that universities are protecting the rights of Jewish students.

I am asking every single Senator in this Chamber to support this resolution, to support common sense, and to push back against the hatred on these college campuses pointed directly at our Jewish students. Let us all send a very clear message to our Jewish students and to those who oppose them.

It is vital that this body, the so-called most deliberative body on the planet, stand united and speak with moral clarity on this issue.

Mr. President, I would like to turn over some time to Senator Hoeven and then Senator Ernst.

But let me be clear. Without any question, it is time for the U.S. Senate to stand unanimously not behind our Jewish students but in front of them. Let us be the wall that protects them.

I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions be discharged from further consideration and that the Senate now proceed to S. Res. 670; further, that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. President, let me just respond to my good friend on the other side of the ocean and this aisle.

I wonder, in the 1960s, when there were Black students, what did they want then? It wasn't a resolution condemning all hate, when they were the only target of the hate. It was support for those who were being victimized in the moment, not a resolution that muddies the water.

Every single challenge facing the folks in the Middle East as a result of Hamas attacking Israel, every drop of blood, is on the hands of the terrorists in Hamas, period. Every challenge facing folks in Gaza that is a result of Hamas's terrorizing the nation of Israel is on the shoulders of Hamas. When you start the war, every innocent life, every unnecessary death is on you, plain and simple.

Well, let me just say that it is a coalition government in Israel--a unanimous coalition government in Israel--supporting the efforts of Israel to eliminate Hamas from the planet, and I do too, 100 percent.

It is frustrating. It is frustrating to see the level of violence in our country. It is frustrating for me to see the level of violence on our college campuses.

I started working on the definition of anti-Semitism not October 7 but in 2018. President Trump made my language into an Executive order 5 years ago. Why? Because there were signs, even then, of hate, disgusting violence, and intimidation on college campuses in America.

And so I just find the language and the comments from my colleague from Vermont deeply disturbing and insulting and misleading.

My resolution is quite simple. It condemns the rampant anti-Semitism on college campuses.

The 2,000-plus arrests on college campuses weren't because of violence against Blacks or violence against Muslims or violence against Hispanics or violence against Asians. It was violence against Jewish students. It was intimidation of Jewish students. It was vandalism on college campuses because of these folks who were trying to intimidate and get to our Jewish students.

It was our Jewish students who couldn't walk to class in peace. It was our Jewish students who couldn't study in libraries without intimidation.

An objection to my resolution is an objection to the reality that today our Jewish students are facing disgusting environments on college campuses, and the administrators sit back with their hands under their butts.

My colleague's resolution clouds the issue of anti-Semitism and equates

Hamas's unprovoked terrorist attack on innocent Israelis and Israel's measures of self-defense. It is ridiculous. What can we say? What can we say to our young students in elementary schools and middle schools and high schools as they look at these so-called elite campuses where they are taking down American flags? What do we say to our young students watching anti-Semitism rage on college campuses? What do we say when they ask the questions that they ask me: Why do they hate the Jews so much? And who will stand in the gap--not just with them, before them?

I say there is not a single Republican in the U.S. Senate who is blocking this resolution. I say not I will but I must stand.

Why can't we just say anti-Semitism on college campuses is wrong? Why can't we have a full stop right there? Perhaps it is because the politics of it is so entangled in the quagmire pit, we must have everything thrown into the bucket, as opposed to just speaking the truth as it is right now on college campuses. Why can't we just condemn anti-Semitism on its face? Why is it so hard for my Democratic colleagues to condemn what Senator Sanders says--and I agree--is the oldest form of hate in the world? Why can't we just do that right now? We can. But politics suggests that to be politically correct, we must include everybody. Well, everybody is not being impacted like our Jewish students today. Why is it so hard to speak without a forked tongue on such a powerful issue that deserves our moral clarity?

It is Jewish students being forced out of the classrooms and out of the dorms. It is Jewish students facing violence today. I get frustrated by the fact that so often we just feel sorry for those poor kids. I get tired of hearing people say: Well, you know, there is this larger group of folks who need to be protected. Mr. President, 2,000 arrests for violence specifically focused on and targeting Jewish students.

Every single child--I don't care what race you are, what religion-- has a right to go to campus safely, but in today's America, it is the Jewish student--the Jewish student--who can't prepare for a midterm in a library. It is the Jewish student who can't walk to class without hoping and praying that law enforcement is there.

We deserve--we deserve--better. America deserves leadership that is unequivocal when it matters the most. We deserve leadership that speaks to the issue of the day, today and every day. That is why people are so disgusted with politics.

Mr. President, reserving the right to object, I think the Senator and I could do this all night long. I would be happy to, frankly. I don't think we will get to the place where we just have a clear statement condemning anti-Semitism. So for all the reasons I have already noted and made, I object.

I would like to thank my colleagues for joining me here on the floor again this evening--the Senator from South Carolina and the Senator from North Dakota. Thank you for raising this issue and showing leadership for our friends across the Nation.

Mr. President, I rise in support of this resolution and to condemn the rise of anti-Semitic hate speech and violence we are seeing at colleges and universities throughout our country.

Like so many parents and grandparents, I want our children to be allowed to freely express their thoughts and their views, but what we are seeing right now goes way beyond that. This is not free speech; it is violent, abusive discrimination, and it has to stop.

Six months ago, I sent a letter, alongside my colleague and ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, Senator Cassidy, urging the Biden administration to protect college students from targeted attacks on campuses. I spoke to anti-Semitic incidents, including vandalism of fraternity homes and club meeting spaces, dorm room doors being set on fire, professors making examples of Jewish students by placing them in a corner of their classroom to emulate the Palestinian experience.

Today, exactly 214 days since Iran-backed Hamas attacked Israel, the Biden administration has finally released guidance clarifying that fostering a hostile environment on campus is, in fact, a violation of the Civil Rights Act--something I have been saying all along.

In the past month alone, we have seen Jewish students physically blocked from entering their academic buildings, with protesters surrounding them chanting ``death to America.'' We have seen protesters holding the Nazi salute as Jewish students walk through campus. We watched protesters take hammers to the windows of academic buildings, all the while claiming to be ``peaceful.'' To date, we have seen 80 different schools play host to these protests, and more than 50 of those schools have required law enforcement presence, resulting in arrests.

Folks, the fact that we needed 20 pages of examples, modeled on students' real experiences, to tell us that these actions are unacceptable is absolutely ridiculous.

Secretary Cardona needs to take a hard look at the number of title VI complaints his team has received in the past 6 months. He claims schools are ``mitigating'' the violence and discrimination, but I have yet to see real solutions for the students, too scared to even walk across the quad to the cafeteria.

This anti-Semitism is un-American, wholly unacceptable, and we should be unified in our intolerance to it. I call on President Biden and Secretary Cardona to remove Federal funding from these schools that are allowing Jewish hate on their campuses, and I call on the Senate to stand united in the face of this abhorrent behavior and to say with one voice, wholeheartedly: We condemn anti-Semitism.

``Never again'' is right now.

I yield my time to the gentleman from North Dakota.

I would like to thank the esteemed Senator from South Carolina, but I will defer to my colleague first, the Senator from Iowa.

I would like to thank the esteemed Senator from Iowa, and also I am very proud to rise this evening to join with my esteemed Senate colleague, Senator Scott of South Carolina. I want to thank him for his very, very strong leadership on this important issue and for condemning the rising tide of anti-Semitism we are seeing around the country.

As you know, less than a year ago, on October 7, Israel was victim to a horrific--a horrific--attack by Hamas. Since then, the United States has stood firm with our strong ally as Israel asserts its right to defend itself and hold Hamas accountable for its heinous actions.

In November, I traveled with a bipartisan group of Senators and Congressmen to Tel Aviv and met with Prime Minister Netanyahu, where I reiterated America's absolute commitment to Israel. Since then, we passed the national security supplemental funding legislation with broad bipartisan support--broad bipartisan support--to provide aid to our close ally Israel.

What is new, however, and is deeply troubling is the rise of anti- Semitism in our society and particularly what we are seeing on our college campuses. I have to say I never thought that we would see this in my lifetime in our country. I just can't believe that we are seeing anti-Semitism like this in America, and it is absolutely unacceptable-- absolutely unacceptable.

To be clear, colleges and universities ought to be spaces that encourage free thinking and free speech, where students can learn about the world and their place in it. There can be no space, however, for anti-Semitism on our college campuses or anywhere else in our country. The examples we are seeing at universities of anti-Zionist encampments, individuals prohibiting Jewish students from entering the university buildings, and other anti-Semitic acts must be met with a speedy and strong response and not only from the universities but from our Department of Education as well.

As we recognized Holocaust Remembrance Day earlier this week, I am reminded of remarks given by late Supreme Court Justice Scalia to mark the occasion over 20 years ago, when he said that the most frightening aspect of the Holocaust was that it happened in one of the most educated, most progressive, and most cultured countries in the world.

For these reasons and many more, I am proud to join Senator Scott from South Carolina in supporting this resolution and our other colleagues as well. The resolution condemns anti-Semitism and resolves that the administrators of colleges, as well as the Department of Education, must take the necessary actions to ensure compliance with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and defend Jewish and Israeli students against discrimination.

I move to table the pending motion to commit with amendment.

I move to table pending substitute amendment No. 1292.

I call up substitute amendment No. 1911, as modified.

I ask to dispense with further reading of the amendment.

I ask for the yeas and nays.

I have an amendment at the desk.

I move to commit H.R. 3935 to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation with instructions to report back forthwith with an amendment.

I ask to dispense with further reading.

I have an amendment to the instructions at the desk.

I have a second-degree amendment at the desk.

I send a cloture motion to the substitute to the desk.

I send a cloture motion to H.R. 3935 to the desk.