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This week, our Jewish friends and neighbors are observing Passover, a holiday which commemorates the Israelites' freedom from slavery in Egypt and the “passing over” of faithful Jewish households, sparing them from the 10th plague and leading to their eventual liberation. Passover is a time when families gather, and stories of overcoming adversity, of conquering hate, are retold.
Unfortunately, this week, a new tale of hate has emerged, unfolding on our college campuses. Terrorist-supporting Hamas sympathizers flooded Columbia University with vile attacks on the university's Jewish community. Every American has a constitutional right to peacefully protest. However, they do not have the right to threaten the very existence of people in the Jewish community.
What we're witnessing at Columbia University and many other universities around the country, including at one point the University of Iowa, is violence fueled by hatred of Israel and the Jewish people, and it must be stopped.
Such violence is unacceptable anywhere, but to witness it at our universities is another low, even for the radical left who organize and fund these protests. Places of education are places of discourse, and all those who choose to attend deserve peace, respect, and safety. My heart truly goes out to all the Jewish students who no longer feel safe at American universities. They deserve better, and sadly, the university presidents refuse to help them.
In just the last few months, the presidents of two major universities (Harvard & Penn) resigned in shame following their inability to condemn and control antisemitism on their campuses. Now, Columbia University's President, Minouche Shafik, is being pressed to resign following her inaction and unwillingness to condemn the antisemitic, pro-terrorist demonstrators on her campus, some of whom call for the murder of Jewish people. Speaker Johnson and Conference Chair Elise Stefanik have rightfully called for her resignation, and I echo their sentiment.
Columbia, much like most Ivy League Schools, receives billions of dollars from the federal government. From 2018 to 2022, Columbia received over $5.8 billion in grants from the federal government. Funding for these institutions should be reconsidered. The federal government should not be funding any school that allows antisemitism and allows for violence against Jewish students.
The purveyors of antisemitism must be stopped. I have recently spearheaded a piece of legislation aimed at tackling antisemitism across the country. The Commission to Study Acts of Antisemitism in the United States Act addresses the uptick of antisemitism in the United States. It establishes a commission to investigate the causes of antisemitism, evaluate the evidence and circumstances, and report the findings and recommendations to the President and Congress.
In Congress, I will continue to push for efforts to combat antisemitism and stand with our Jewish friends and neighbors.
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