Meng Leads "Special Order" on House Floor to Denounce Recent Wave of Anti-Semitism in U.S. and Europe

U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East, organized and led a "special order" hour on the House Floor last night to denounce the recent wave of anti-Semitism in the United States and Europe.

Joining her were Reps. Debbie Wasserman Shultz (D-FL) and Ted Deutch (D-FL).

Click here to view Meng's remarks as well as the speeches delivered by Wasserman Shultz and Deutch. A transcript of Meng's comments are below as well.

"Special orders" are opportunities for Members of the House to speak out on topics that concern them, usually in an effort to impact public policy and bring attention to specific issues.

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Meng's remarks: Mr. Speaker, we gather this evening to discuss anti-Semitism. It is a plague that has ravaged the world for thousands of years, yet in the last few weeks, it has reared its ugly head globally in a way we have not seen in a long time.

It is truly shocking. From Berlin to New York, we are hearing chants of ``Gas the Jews.'' And this is not hyperbole. We are actually hearing chants of ``Gas the Jews'' around the world.

And these are not isolated incidents. We are seeing hundreds and thousands of people rallying and sometimes attacking synagogues in Europe. It is one thing to protest against events going on in the Middle East, but there is simply no justification and no reason for doing it right outside any Jewish place of worship. These are brazen acts of anti-Semitism.

Now, I cannot possibly understand anti-Semitism to the same extent as my Jewish friends. But I think it is crucial that non-Jews speak out forcefully against this disease because to effectively combat anti-

Semitism, we need non-Jews to step up and also lead on this issue.

I would like to focus my remarks today on two related issues, the international and domestic dimensions of anti-Semitism.

With regard to anti-Semitism beyond our borders, I would like to focus on one case, that of France. I am focusing on France because I think it is really the front line right now in the war against global

anti-Semitism, and I think it is an instructive case for how policy leaders here can face this issue.

In France right now, there is a war. On the one hand, we see some of the most widespread and atrocious acts of anti-Semitism, but on the other hand, we see a government--most particularly, Prime Minister

Valls--acting forcefully against anti-Semitism. The words and actions of the French Government, most particularly Mr. Valls' recent assertions that anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism, are unprecedented and

should be acknowledged as such.

So what we have here are two sides: virulent anti-Semites on one side, and on the other, a democratically elected government that appears resolved to take them on. Rather than throw our hands in the air and say that France is a horribly anti-Semitic place and that all the Jews should leave, we ought to get in this fight.

Anti-Semitism is a complicated issue, not a black-and-white issue. Yes, France has a deep history of anti-Semitism, but it is also a country that has had a Jewish President and one that nearly elected another a couple of years ago. It has the third-largest Jewish population in the world, and there is a reason for that. It is also a country that historically has proven itself capable of changing. We need to recognize this history and work with France's leadership and civil society to fight this battle and remain hopeful. What happens here will, I believe, affect the future of the Jewish people.

This brings me to the domestic dimension of our problem. We obviously have anti-Semitism in this country as well, although not to the degree we see it in Europe. It is essential that Jews and non-Jews speak about this problem to their own communities, and we have to continue to encourage that here in Congress.

In New York, Mr. Jeffries and I are leading a program whereby Jewish, Asian, and African American college students are gathering to discuss foreign policies and the perspectives of the respective communities in relation to key foreign policy issues.

We must speak regularly about Israel, BDS, and other issues of importance to our Jewish friends and neighbors, not just when there is a major international incident. The reason I say this is because it is

also far easier to hate someone you don't know than to hate someone that you do know.

Mr. Speaker, as we head into the August recess, I urge my colleagues of all stripes to discuss the dangers of anti-Semitism with their communities and to build bridges between communities so that we may

reduce hatred and bigotry.

I also urge my colleagues as statesmen and -women to engage the international community in a positive way on this issue and believe in and fight for a Europe and world of lesser anti-Semitism.

With that, I would like to yield to the gentlewoman from Florida, Ms. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the first Jewish woman from Florida elected to Congress, a tireless advocate and one of the great Jewish leaders of our time.

Meng: In conclusion, we stand today united as a Congress to condemn acts of anti-Semitism through the world and right here in our communities. Hate is never the answer. We must always speak up.

I would like to end by reciting a well-known poem by Martin Niemoller:

First, they came for the socialists--and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists--and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews--and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me--and there was no one left to speak for me.

Thank you and I yield back the balance of my time.