As the only Jewish woman currently serving in the U.S. Senate, I’ve made it a top priority to ensure we take meaningful, immediate, bipartisan action to address the concerning surge in antisemitism. That’s why five years ago, on the first anniversary of the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting, I co-founded the Senate Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism with Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), and, as its co-chair, I’ve made it my mission to work across party lines to end anti-Jewish hate and bigotry.
Ever since, we’ve led our colleagues in the Senate on efforts to combat this type of discrimination, including by successfully pushing the administration to create the first-ever national strategy for combating antisemitism, confirming the first-ever ambassador-level special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism to take on antisemitism around the world, and passing bipartisan Holocaust education legislation into law.
Earlier this year, I introduced the bipartisan, bicameral Countering Antisemitism Act to take comprehensive action to strengthen efforts to combat antisemitism in America, including by establishing a first-ever national coordinator to counter antisemitism and establishing an Interagency Task Force to Counter Antisemitism. In fact, the American Bar Association has submitted a letter of support for the Countering Antisemitism Act. With growing support in both chambers of Congress and from organizations across the political spectrum, I look forward to getting this historic step to address the antisemitism crisis signed into law.
We’ve also taken direct action to address rising antisemitism on college campuses. We successfully pushed the U.S. Department of Education to issue guidance to schools and colleges, reminding them of their legal responsibility to protect students from discrimination, including antisemitism, and warning of potential consequences for not meeting this obligation. But there’s more work to do. That’s why I’m also pushing the Department of Education to designate a senior official to oversee efforts to address antisemitism at universities, undertake a comprehensive review of college and university harassment policies and codes of conduct to ensure they account for antisemitic discrimination, and swiftly resolve pending investigations relating to campus antisemitism.
Let me be clear: I won’t stop fighting until we eliminate this hatred and bigotry from our communities. We must keep working to create a world where no student should have to hide in their room because of the violent, antisemitic threats they face walking on campus; no parent or guardian should have to worry about their children’s safety when they send them to school; no synagogue should have to face threats of violence; and no one is targeted for their religion or ethnicity. It will take continued bipartisan action to get us there. And I won’t stop fighting until we do.