Meng Issues Statement Denouncing U.S. State Department's Reluctance to Appoint Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY), a member of the House Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs, released the following statement following her questioning of Rex Tillerson, Secretary of State, regarding the Department's failure to appoint a Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat anti-Semitism:

"I pressed Secretary Tillerson at this hearing on why the State Department has not yet appointed a Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat anti-Semitism. I was struck that Secretary Tillerson said that ‘we've made no determination' that the Special Envoy is a necessary position. I respectfully disagree. The Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat anti-Semitism was created by Congress in 2004 with the sole purpose of combatting global anti-Semitism. With international threats to the Jewish community continuing to persist, this position, and the work it accomplishes, remains critical.

I urge Secretary Tillerson to listen to Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle who have called for the State Department to appoint a Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat anti-Semitism as soon as possible."