Political Quotes

“today, I come to the floor to speak on a subject of great importance--the rise of anti-Semitism in America. I feel compelled to speak because I am the highest ranking Jewish elected official in America--in fact, the highest ranking Jewish elected official ever in American history--and I have noticed a significant disparity between how Jewish people regard the rise of anti-Semitism and how many of my non-Jewish friends regard it. To us, the Jewish people, the rise of anti-Semitism is a crisis--a five-alarm fire that must be extinguished. For so many other people of good will, it is merely a problem, a matter of concern. So, today, I want to use my platform to explain why so many Jewish people see this problem as a crisis. Before I get into that, I want to offer two important caveats about what this speech is not. This speech is not an attempt to label most criticism of Israel and the Israeli Government, generally, as anti-Semitic. I don't believe that criticism is. And this speech is also not an attempt to pit hate toward one group against that of another. I believe that bigotry against one group of Americans is bigotry against all, and that is why I have championed legislation, like the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, which targets violence against Asian Americans, and the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which provides funding to help all houses of worship-- churches, mosques, synagogues, gurdwaras--and to protect them from extremists.…”