Joni Ernst: “I would like to thank my colleagues for joining me here on the floor again this evening--the Senator from South Carolina…”

“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.…”