Chris Smith: “I first thank Mr. Lawler for his very, very passionate and articulate defense of our Jewish brethren. It was very, very…”

“I first thank Mr. Lawler for his very, very passionate and articulate defense of our Jewish brethren. It was very, very moving, and I thank him for that. Mr. Speaker, 42 years ago, my first human rights trip as a Congressman was to the Soviet Union to defend Jews against pernicious anti-Semitism. I never thought, however, that the anti-Semitic hate that I saw in Moscow and Leningrad could ever happen here, but it has. It is happening, and it is escalating. The bigotry, intolerance, prejudice, and unbridled hatred for Jews and the Nation of Israel exploding on American college campuses today is absolutely disgraceful. It is morally impermissible and illegal that Jewish students are the targets of anti-Semitic hate and violence. In both word and deed, Hamas is a terrorist organization that commits mass murder of Jews and seeks the evisceration of Israel. Don't believe it? Remember the horrific violence of October 7 and the ongoing ordeal of the hostages, or just read the Hamas Charter of 1988, the blueprint for genocide against Jews, a modern-day Nazi-like final solution. As co-chair of the House Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism, I thank my good friends and colleagues, Mike Lawler and Josh Gottheimer, for authoring the Antisemitism Awareness Act. This important legislation will codify the IHRA working definition of anti-Semitism into title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the landmark antidiscrimination law.…”