Chris Smith: “I thank Chairman Royce for his leadership on this very important human rights issue, as he has done so ably and…”

“I thank Chairman Royce for his leadership on this very important human rights issue, as he has done so ably and effectively on all of these issues, particularly his leadership on Iran; and that, of course, would be echoed with Eliot Engel's excellent work there as well. This is a group of leaders that have made a huge difference. So thank you, Chairman Royce, for that. H. Res. 354, Mr. Speaker, prescribes specific, effective actions that government should take in response to the deadly threats to the Jewish communities in Europe. As we all know, the number of violent anti- Semitic attacks have increased from 100 to 400 percent in some European countries since 2013 alone. Murders in Paris and Copenhagen and elsewhere remind us that there are those who are motivated by anti- Semitic hate and have the will and the means to kill. I would just note parenthetically that my work in combating anti- Semitism began back in 1981, in my first term, from this very podium, speaking out in favor of Jewish refuseniks. I joined Mark Levin and the NCSJ 1 year later in 1982 on a trip to the Soviet Union where we met with men and women who were targeted by the KGB and the Soviet evil empire simply because they were Jewish. Sadly, anti-Semitism has not abated, and in recent years, it has actually worsened.…”