Denouncing the antisemitic terrorist attack in Boulder, Colorado.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H. Res. 488) denouncing the antisemitic

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on H. Res. 488.

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

Mr. Speaker, it has been nearly 2 years since the October 7 attack on Israel, the deadliest terrorist attack against the Jewish people since the Holocaust. Yet, still today, we are in a moment in time where our Jewish neighbors are being increasingly threatened. Anti-Semitic protests are more and more often turning physically violent and deadly, and they are inspiring additional violent acts.

Jewish students around the country are fearful as they watch spineless college administrators fail time and again to stand up to anti-Semitic harassment taking place on all of our beautiful college campuses. Right here in Washington, D.C., just 2 weeks ago, we saw a coldblooded murder take the lives of a beautiful, young couple as they exited the Jewish museum.

The young Israeli Embassy staffers were set to be engaged just 1 week later and their lives were snuffed out. Their families will never get to experience that beautiful ceremony and other cherished milestones of their life with them. They are gone because of a terrorist's hateful action. There are no words that can ever be articulated that truly represent what has happened to that family.

Just 1 week ago, thousands of miles away in the community of Boulder, Colorado, an unhinged anti-Semite carried out yet another terrorist attack. Peaceful marches called for hostages held by Hamas to be set free. They were attacked by a terrorist who shouted ``free Palestine'' as he lobbed homemade Molotov cocktails at them. Worst still, the act of terrorism was entirely preventable.

Mohamed Soliman is not an American but an Egyptian national who traveled to the United States purporting to be a tourist.

Let's think about what I am going to say here.

Years before Mohamed Soliman ever tried to come to the United States, he had posted on his social media his support for the Muslim Brotherhood, a radical Islamist organization that has been deemed a terrorist group by governments across the world, including in Europe and in the Arab world.

Despite this, the last administration issued Mohamed Sabry Soliman a tourist visa, which admitted him into the United States of America. Once inside, Soliman took advantage of our immigration system, applying for asylum within 1 month of arriving in the country as a supposed tourist.

This action was in violation of the spirit of his tourist visa, which required that he not intend to stay in this country permanently. Indeed, the case of Mohamed Soliman reminds us

all that the integrity of our immigration system is vital to our very national security.

While we all should have learned this lesson after 9/11, it is clear that the last administration did not. Fortunately, this administration, the Trump administration, has taken a strong stance, once again prioritizing the integrity of our immigration system, and thus the security of all Americans, including Jewish communities.

This administration has shut down the open border, aggressively enforced the immigration laws, blocked the entry of aliens who are detrimental to the United States of America's interests, and taken a tough, tough stance against cowardly universities.

I am calling it as it is. They are cowardly universities that should represent what is right and good in America, and many of them are not. They fail to protect the Jewish students, vigorously vet aliens who wish to come to our country, and much more.

Legal immigrants who love America hate what was going on. We are so grateful that sanity is being restored to our America. At the same time, we do pray for the victims of these senseless acts.

Today, I call on my colleagues to support this resolution to honor the victims of the Boulder terrorist attack. We must all stand with our Jewish friends, colleagues, and neighbors. They are not alone. They are not alone, and we will not tolerate this scourge of anti-Semitic hatred in the United States of America.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this resolution, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, just a few words first. I want to speak a little bit about Mr. Evans because he may not say it himself. He has served in our military, served proudly in our Army, and he has served in Colorado as a police officer. He has done more, not only served in one or the other, but served both, and did so with honor, decency, and respect. I think the benefit of having him here, he brings a lot to the table about this issue because I know that he has served and worked in Mr. Neguse's actual district, in his territory, as well. I hope maybe he will speak about that, although I know he didn't necessarily plan to do so. He is my friend and a good man. I know he cares deeply about this issue.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Evans).

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

Mr. Speaker, let me just address a couple of things before we move on. Let me say that, first of all, as we all know, it was referenced over there something about Mr. Evans and what bills get to the floor. As a freshman Member of Congress, I can guarantee you that he is not determining what bills get to the floor in the United States House of Representatives.

Secondly, sometimes the simple truth is something, most especially in Washington, D.C., that we here in Congress just avoid or don't see with clarity. Here is the simple truth, and this is what Mr. Evans was trying to get at: His resolution, yes, it is different than mine. Mine focused purely on anti-Semitism here in the world, but he brings up a valid point, not only for Jews but for many innocent victims, whether it was Laken Riley or whether it was the women who were raped, the women and men who were killed, those who were beaten, or those who were hurt who were in law enforcement.

Illegal immigration is not a good thing. Yes, there are a few illegal immigrants who came to this country who are illegal but just trying to make their way but doing it the wrong way, but there are also real bad folks who got in.

The simple truth is--let's get back to what happened--the man, the individual human being, who did this atrocious act, who made these Molotov cocktails, and who fashioned a flamethrower was an illegal immigrant with a bad history.

There would be people who are good human beings in this country who would be alive if we didn't have an open-door border policy. That is the simple truth. It is not complicated.

That is not using Jews. It happened to be Jews that got hurt this time. It is not using women when it was women who got raped. It is not using children when children were beaten and raped by these illegals. It is not using them. It is stating the facts of how awful and terrible what it is that we have been doing in this country by allowing known murderers to exist and to stay in the country and not detaining them, giving them due process, and then, at the very least, deporting them.

That is Mr. Evans' point here. That is what he is trying to say. That is what he is trying to bring forth. It is a simple but important truth that somehow we are trying to avoid.

Finally, again, I will address it because my friend, and he is my friend, my friend from New York addressed what is going on in California. Here is the other rule in the United States of America. In the United States of America, you can rally, demonstrate, and express your viewpoint. You have freedom of speech. It doesn't mean you beat people. It doesn't mean you put cars on fire. It doesn't mean you destroy buildings. It doesn't mean that you are allowed to hurt other people.

We are a nation of the rule of law. There is a simple truth.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from the great State of Colorado (Mr. Crank).

Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentleman from Colorado.

Mr. Speaker, I would say that had the Biden administration adequately screened this individual, this murderer, if they had screened him the way they should have, if our borders had been operating correctly, if they looked at his social media, they would have known that he consistently posted anti-Semitic videos. He consistently posted violence. He would have been denied, and all this wouldn't have happened.

How simple is that? Is this too complex for us in Washington? Maybe it is just too much simple truth.

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

Mr. Speaker, I simply ask our Members on both sides of the aisle--I believe there will be Members on the other side of the aisle--to vote for both of these resolutions.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, as Mr. Goldman mentioned, I represent Boulder, Colorado, in the Congress. I live in Boulder County. My wife and I are incredibly blessed and lucky to be raising our family in this community.

Last week, I introduced a bipartisan resolution denouncing this heinous anti-Semitic terror attack in my community. H. Res. 476, a resolution that makes clear that we stand with the Jewish people, the Jewish community, and which explicitly calls for us to do more to address the scourge of anti-Semitism.

Mr. Speaker, that resolution is broadly supported by the members of Colorado's congressional delegation. Colorado has eight Federal lawmakers here in Washington. Six of the eight joined that resolution. I thank Republican Representatives Jeff Crank and Jeff Hurd for doing the right thing and joining that resolution so that we could speak in one voice in denouncing this attack.

There were two Members of Colorado's entire congressional delegation who refused to join this resolution. One of them, Mr. Gabe Evans of Colorado, instead decided to introduce the resolution that the House is going to consider today. This resolution is not bipartisan. It is not carried by the Member who represents this community. This a first, by the way, Mr. Speaker, in the precedence of this House, that the majority would not give the Representative who represents the victims the opportunity to speak on behalf of their community, but Mr. Evans decided to proceed anyway.

Mr. Speaker, of course, because Mr. Evans does not represent this community, the resolution that he has introduced is riddled with inaccuracies. That is not a surprise. It is why it is important for Members who represent communities that are besieged by tragedies like this one to have the opportunity to introduce a resolution and have that resolution considered on the floor.

Let me give you some examples, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Evans' resolution claims that there were 14 victims of this attack. He is wrong. There are 15 victims. Maybe he got that from Google or found it in a newspaper article, but had he been involved in the conversations with law enforcement, as I have, he would know that there were 15 victims of this terrible attack.

It is poor decorum to ask this body to vote on a resolution that lists the wrong number of victims. They are my constituents. They are real people who were burned half to death by a terrorist 7 days ago. The least you can do is list the right number.

Mr. Evans' resolution also says that ``reportedly one victim was a Holocaust survivor.'' She is not reportedly a survivor. She is a Holocaust survivor. There is no doubt to that. There is no allegation to that. I know because she is my constituent. The word ``reportedly'' should be struck from this resolution.

My colleague's resolution, Mr. Speaker--Mr. Evans' resolution, to be clear, because we are considering multiple resolutions today, so I am talking about the resolution from Mr. Gabe Evans of Colorado--does not mention once, not once, the Boulder Police Department, the officers who I represent who put their lives on the line to save members of the community 7 days ago.

The resolution that Mr. Evans has offered doesn't mention the FBI once, not once, whose swift response was so integral. The only law enforcement agency that Mr. Evans mentions is ICE, the one agency that was not in Boulder that day.

We should have the decency to recognize the Boulder Police Department and the officers who I represent who put their lives on the line 7 days ago. It is the least we can do. We have a resolution that does that in a bipartisan way. Had the House majority, the Republicans, done what Republicans and Democrats in this Chamber have done since time immemorial, since I have served in this body, which is allow a Member to put his resolution to the floor for a vote, mistakes like this wouldn't happen.

Now, I know that an earlier version of this resolution that Mr. Evans introduced, which he tweeted about, talked about the fact that this was because Colorado was a sanctuary State. He has removed that language from this resolution, so I am heartened that he now concedes that is an inaccurate claim, that that language is not in this resolution.

However, in times like these, I would have hoped that my colleagues would be willing to come together to properly honor the victims and to condemn anti-Semitism, as I have said, as our resolution does.

It is not hard to do the right thing, Mr. Speaker. The question that Mr. Evans should answer is: Why? Why not join his two other Republican colleagues in Colorado and join the bipartisan resolution that thanks the Boulder Police Department, that thanks the FBI?

The purpose of these resolutions is to unite the Congress, not divide it. The purpose is to unite us in condemning violent attacks like these, to make clear that we stand with the Jewish community today and always and that we will be there for them in the weeks and months ahead.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage you, read the resolution that Mr. Evans introduced. You will not find a single reference--not one--to the victims' families, the people I met with over the weekend, the people I marched with. There is nothing in Mr. Evans' resolution about standing with the Jewish people. Nothing. The word ``Jewish'' is mentioned once in this resolution. The terrorist's name is mentioned 13 times. There is no mention of this being a hate crime. There is nothing in the resolution about the anti-Semitism that is metastasizing across the country that Mr. Van Drew and I agree is a scourge.

So much of what Mr. Van Drew said is in the bipartisan resolution that I introduced. None of it is in the one that Mr. Evans introduced. There is not one mention, Mr. Speaker, in his resolution of Run for Their Lives, the organization that was targeted by this terrorist, the organization that has been pushing for the release of the hostages. They couldn't include one reference to the organization that was targeted? One?

I have served in this body, as I mentioned previously, Mr. Speaker, for 6\1/2\ years, and I have seen a lot of partisan debate unfold on this floor, but I think it is disgraceful to not give my community an opportunity to see our resolution considered on this floor.

I don't know how the Republican majority can force a vote on a resolution like this that gets so many of the basic facts wrong. I had hoped that my Republican colleagues would choose a different course, but they have yet to do so. There is still time.

The Speaker, the majority leader could put our bipartisan resolution on the floor for a vote. They could fix the defects in the resolution that Mr. Evans has introduced. I would implore them to do so.

Mr. Speaker, I have a parliamentary inquiry.

Mr. Speaker, very simply, can we amend Mr. Gabe Evans' resolution with the inaccurate information so that it reflects the accurate information about the number of victims? Can we just change the number from 14 to 15 and add the Boulder Police Department and the FBI? Then, the law enforcement agencies in my district, in particular, the Boulder Police Department, can be recognized by this House.

Mr. Speaker, there are three Republican Members in the Chamber: Mr. Van Drew, Mr. Crank, and Mr. Evans.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the House proceed to a vote on H. Res. 476, the bipartisan resolution condemning the anti-Semitic attack in Boulder.

Mr. Speaker, I again simply ask Republican leadership to do the right thing and to bring H. Res. 476, the resolution I have introduced to condemn this attack in my community and in my district, to the floor for a vote. I think what the Republicans have decided to do is shameful. I couldn't be more disappointed.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Neguse), the Representative from Boulder.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Colorado for such moving and important remarks, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman from Colorado would indulge a quick question before he leaves.

Yesterday, there was a rally with thousands of people in Boulder, Colorado, commemorating the victims and celebrating Jewish culture and people. The two Senators from Colorado were there. Mr. Neguse was there. I would just ask if the gentleman who is introducing this resolution to commemorate, ostensibly, the victims of Boulder was in his neighboring district to be with the victims and the community.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Evans) to respond to the question.

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for answering.

According to reporting this morning, the other previous obligation that the gentleman from Colorado had was to appear at a political campaign conference of the Speaker here in Washington, D.C., with three other Members who flipped districts.

Mr. Speaker, I am sure it was essential for the gentleman from Colorado to be the fourth Republican Member to have flipped a district last time to speak with donors in Washington, D.C., so that he could not return to Boulder, Colorado, to commemorate the victims who were the subject of this resolution that he so misguidedly introduced because this resolution is the exact opposite of Mr. Van Drew's resolution.

This resolution uses anti-Semitism, uses Jews, for a political objective. This was an anti-Semitic attack. The victims were Jewish. One victim was a Holocaust survivor. There is no question that the motivation of the perpetrator was anti-Semitism. It has nothing to do with how he got into this country.

If you want to have an immigration enforcement conversation, let's have an immigration enforcement conversation because this has nothing to do with that.

For the gentleman from Colorado to break precedent in the House of Representatives to prevent the Member representing the victims of this horrific attack from leading a resolution representing the families, I hope it is simply because he has been here for only 6 months and does not understand the traditions of this institution.

It would be a shame if this is where this institution has gone, if the partisanship has gotten so deep, so raw, and so uncontrollable that we can't follow the custom of having the victims' Representative introduce a resolution condemning such a horrific attack like this.

On top of that, to use this for some bogus immigration argument where he falsely characterizes Colorado as a sanctuary State and falsely represents that there were law enforcement contacts with the perpetrator when the only information we have is that there were some 911 hang-ups that traced back to an address where the perpetrator was living, to argue that somehow this is a reflection of our immigration system uses Jews as a partisan pawn.

It is the exact opposite of what we Jews in this country need. I get that we are in a political body. I get that they like to put these resolutions--Mr. Evans wasn't here last term, but there were about 10 anti-Semitism resolutions that effectively said the same thing, solely to score political points.

We Jews are sick and tired of being used as pawns. Anti-Semitism is rising to such a degree that people are now being murdered because they are Jewish. We are not just talking about protests on campus anymore. Every single Jewish institution has to significantly increase security. We all have to worry when we go into a synagogue whether we will be the next victim.

Here we are, dealing with this resolution, trying to convert anti- Semitism

and anti-Semitic violence into some immigration gotcha game.

What are we thanking ICE agents for in a resolution commemorating and condemning anti-Semitism and remembering and honoring the victims when there were no ICE agents there? ICE has nothing to do with it. It is because ICE is spending so much time pulling nonviolent, noncriminal immigrants out of court, where they are going through a lawful process to come in here, so that they can be removed in expedited removal; so that they can have their asylum claims, a lawful pathway, voided; and so they can be kicked out of the country with minimal due process just so Republicans and President Trump can meet their quota of mass deportations.

Mr. Speaker, we were promised they were going to go after convicted criminals. These people are not convicted criminals.

This resolution says that there is cooperation between State, local, and Federal law enforcement. Really? As far as I know, the President of the United States ordered the National Guard to go into California over the objection of the Governor of California, something that has not happened since 1965. In 1965, it happened because the Governor of the State was not following Federal law.

Is that the kind of cooperation that we are looking for here?

This resolution should be pulled immediately.

Mr. Van Drew and Mr. Neguse have offered resolutions that properly honor the victims, condemn anti-Semitism, and give the American people the sense of Congress that we, as a unified body, will not tolerate anti-Semitic violence. Instead, we are voting on an immigration gotcha resolution that uses anti-Semitism as a political pawn.

Mr. Speaker, I urge you and my colleagues on the other side to come to your senses. Stop using anti-Semitism as a partisan weapon. Pull this resolution. Allow Mr. Neguse's resolution to be introduced and voted on, as is the tradition of this body, in parallel along with Mr. Van Drew's, which accurately reflects the threat not just in Boulder, Colorado, but in Washington, D.C., in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and all around the country.

We still can do the right thing. It is still possible, and I am certain the American people would greatly appreciate seeing some bipartisanship out of this body on a topic that is so important to so many.

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

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

Parliamentary Inquiry

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Neguse) for a unanimous consent request.

Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time is remaining.

Mr. Speaker, I yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Neguse).

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

I am in an unusual position here. This attack occurred in my home State of Colorado, as well, and I am actually a cosponsor of the resolution from my friend Mr. Neguse, and I am a cosponsor of the resolution of my friend Mr. Evans.

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Neguse would tell you that I called him the night of this attack, and I offered my condolences to him and to his constituents and asked him if there was anything that I could do personally to help.

I offered to write a resolution, a bipartisan one. We didn't get that done, but I offered.

I will tell you where I was this weekend. I am not going to malign other Members of this Chamber and ask where they were, but I will tell you where I was. I flew back on Friday night so that I could spend 1 day, because I had to be back here on Sunday, but 1 day, and I went to a pro-life walk, and then, I went to three separate synagogues to be with the Jewish community in my city.

Mr. Speaker, what I don't quite understand is the concern over this resolution. Here is what, when you get to the ``now, therefore, be it resolved,'' this is what it says, and here is the reality.

Mr. Speaker, we can cosponsor Mr. Neguse's resolution. We can cosponsor and vote for Mr. Van Drew's resolution. We can cosponsor and vote for Mr. Evans' resolution.

Mr. Evans' resolution, the one we are talking about, says: ``Now, therefore, be it resolved that the House of Representatives.''

Tell me if I say anything, Mr. Speaker, that is radical. It says: ``Be it resolved that the House of Representatives condemns Mohammed Sabry Soliman and his antisemitic terrorist attack on peaceful demonstrators supporting the release of the hostages held by Hamas.''

I am for that. That is why I cosponsored Mr. Evans' resolution.

Number three, it says: Be it resolved that the House of Representatives ``affirms that free and open communication between State and local law enforcement and their Federal counterparts remains the bedrock of public safety and is necessary in preventing terrorist attacks.''

It seems reasonable to me.

Number four says: ``Expresses gratitude to law enforcement officers, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel, for protecting the homeland.''

These are all things I can support and vote for. I guess I would ask why anybody would not vote and support the ``be it resolved'' in that resolution.

I rise today in support of my friend and colleague, Representative Gabe Evans, and his resolution denouncing this anti-Semitic terrorist attack.

We shouldn't even be here today debating this resolution. Because of the radical, illegal, and harmful policies being rubberstamped by the Governor of Colorado and the State legislature, here we are.

Mr. Speaker, this terrorist was in our country having overstayed his visa. Instead of turning over this illegal alien to ICE and law enforcement, Colorado lawmakers gave him a sanctuary pass. In fact, they even went a step further and gave this terrorist a driver's license.

I am proud to be from El Paso County, a county in Colorado that stands for commonsense immigration policies and a community that works with our law enforcement to give them every tool to protect our community.

We must work with our Federal, State, and local law enforcement professionals and give them every resource to protect our communities and our country. I am proud to cosponsor and to support this resolution for Mr. Evans.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of this resolution to denounce the anti-Semitic terrorist attacks that occurred in Boulder, Colorado, on June 1, 2025.

First and foremost, let me say my heart goes out to the Jewish community, who were peacefully advocating for the release of hostages held by Hamas. This anti-Semitic terror attack was disgusting, and this type of hate has no home in Colorado. As we have heard, this man yelled anti-Semitic language while harming innocent people who had peacefully gathered.

We stand in strong opposition and denounce this attack, but this attack was not an isolated instance. It is part of a surge in anti- Semitism that is going unaddressed. Whether it is the Pennsylvania's Governor's mansion; a couple in Washington, D.C.; or peaceful protests in Boulder, Colorado, these attacks should not happen, and it is a tragedy that they continue to happen.

I can speak directly to that as a cop and a soldier for 22 combined years. I spent the better part of a year in a combat zone deployed in support of the global war on terror. I have responded and helped with tragedies in Boulder, Colorado, both as a National Guardsman fighting wildfires, putting together the crews, and deploying the aircraft. I also served as a police officer on the honor guard who has stood with our colleagues in Boulder when they lost an officer in 2021 in an active shooter event.

I am focused on making sure that we have a conversation around how do we prevent this from happening again. Unfortunately, in sanctuary States like Colorado, local law enforcement is prohibited from sharing information with their Federal counterparts, Mr. Speaker. This terror attack in Boulder is an example of why these sanctuary policies are dangerous to the safety and well-being of Americans.

As a former police officer, I know that law enforcement must be able to work with authorities to keep Coloradans and Americans safe. In this particular case, the attacker was an illegal immigrant who was granted a driver's license by the State of Colorado. He had multiple contacts with law enforcement prior to the attack, most notably when he tried to buy a gun and failed a background check. This is on top of publicly espousing support for an organization that is known to have jihadist problems and jihadist leanings.

Colorado's refusal to allow law enforcement to share basic information with Federal immigration authorities highlights the danger of these policies, and it is a contributing factor to the rise in crime rates which are impacting the life and safety of all Coloradans. Colorado now ranks second in the Nation as the most dangerous State. Without Colorado's sanctuary laws, this attack might have been prevented.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to stand in defense of American values and join me in passing this resolution, which is focused on keeping Americans and Coloradans safe, and having the discussion around the solution to have the policies to accomplish that.

Mr. Speaker, I, unfortunately, had other engagements that had been scheduled.

The resolution was introduced to, again, focus a component of the dialogue. Of course, our thoughts and our condolences go out, but we need more than thoughts and condolences. We need to have the conversation about how to prevent this from happening again. We need to have the public safety dialogue. That is what the resolution does.