On the recordJune 24, 2015
as our Nation continues to mourn the tragic loss of life at the Mother Emmanuel AME Church in Charleston, I wish to discuss international efforts that can assist in addressing the prejudice and discrimination that fuels violence and acts of extremism in our country and abroad. Following the horrific attacks in Paris and Copenhagen earlier this year, the president of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, Ilkka Kanerva, appointed me to serve as the assembly's first special representative on anti-Semitism, racism, and intolerance. As a Member of Congress, the U.S. Helsinki Commission, and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, I have long fought to counter prejudice and discrimination and to advance more effective measures against hate crimes. I was therefore extremely honored that President Kanerva entrusted me with this responsibility. Given the breadth of my mandate, I am focusing my work this year on three areas: first, the urgent issue of anti-Semitism and community security; second, discrimination against Muslims and anti-Muslim backlash; finally, in light of events in our own country and the salience of these struggles for minorities in Europe, discriminatory policing. As my first initiative, I visited the sites of the Paris and Copenhagen tragedies in April, where I met with people directly affected by the violence as well as government officials and civil society representatives.…
