On the House floor, Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) decried the rise of antisemitism and called for an increase in funding for the nonprofit security grant program.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00I yield myself as much time as I may consume.
00:04I want to thank my friend and colleague from New Jersey for introducing this resolution
00:11that gets right to the heart of a scary rise of violence against Jewish Americans.
00:21The rise in anti-Semitism since the October 7 terrorist attack by Hamas has been jarring,
00:29unsettling, and incredibly scary for the Jewish community.
00:36And in the last two months, there have been three incidents of outright violence.
00:42The arson at Governor Shapiro's home on Passover, the murder in front of the Capitol Jewish Museum
00:50of two Israeli embassy workers, young Jews, just about to get engaged and begin their lives together
01:00solely because they were Jewish.
01:04And last weekend, a horrific attack with Molotov cocktails on a peacefully marching group,
01:13bringing attention to the fact that there remain 56 hostages in horrific conditions in captivity
01:23of a terrorist group in Gaza.
01:28Mr. Van Drew's resolution accurately recounts these facts, accurately cites and refers to the anti-Semitism
01:41that has risen in America and boldly condemns it, as we all should, because hate of any kind
01:50has no place in this country.
01:53The numbers are startling.
01:57In the American Defamation League's audit of 2024, there was a record 9,354 recorded anti-Semitic incidents,
02:081,700 of which targeted Jewish institutions, and this is the highest number ever recorded
02:16in the 46 years of this audit.
02:18And as the co-chair of the Bipartisan Anti-Semitism Task Force here in the House of Representatives,
02:25I applaud Mr. Van Drew and join with him in condemning these attacks in bringing light to what is a new phase
02:34of anti-Semitism in this country and one that is incredibly scary that includes violence and murder.
02:44All that being said, I note that today my Republican colleagues introduced an appropriations bill
02:55that proposes $305 million for the nonprofit security grants, which is the program that provides security
03:05funding to all nonprofit organizations in the United States who apply and are granted them,
03:13and that includes Jewish houses of worship, Jewish organizations, Jewish community institutions.
03:25I join 132 of my colleagues to demand that we increase last year's funding of over $400 million,
03:33because with this new violence, the need for security for every single Jewish institution has skyrocketed.
03:41And I'm deeply disappointed that the Republican majority has introduced a bill that would only fund $305 million,
03:52which is the same amount as fiscal year 2023 before October 7th,
04:00before this sudden and dramatic rise in anti-Semitism, and before the recent violence against Jewish people.
04:09And so I would ask my friend from New Jersey and my Republican colleagues to please reconsider.
04:17If you believe this resolution, as I know you do, then let's put literally our money where our mouth is,
04:29because Jewish institutions need our help to be secure, and $305 million is not going to cut it.
04:39I reserve the balance of my time.
04:41I'm in reserve
04:42I'm in reserve