Led by Sens. Cruz and Kaine, Senate Passes Unanimous Resolution Expressly Condemning Anti-Semitism
In contrast to the March House fiasco presided over by Nancy Pelosi, Ted Cruz and Tim Kaine demonstrated this week what leadership looks like
On Thursday, the Senate did what the House was unwilling to do earlier this year: Pass a bipartisan, unanimous resolution that expressly condemned anti-Semitism.
Fox News reports:
The new resolution, introduced by Texas Republican Ted Cruz and Virginia Democrat Tim Kaine, calls anti-Semitism “a unique form of prejudice stretching back millennia that attacks the equal humanity of the Jewish people.”
“The Senate did what the House couldn’t,” a senior Senate aide told Fox News. “It said that anti-Semitism is a unique kind of bigotry that needs to be uniquely condemned. Everyone knows that’s obviously, objectively true. The question is why the House can’t bring itself to say so.”
The “anti-hate” resolution that passed the House back in March was seven pages long and broad-based in nature, covering “all forms of bigotry” after several days of public criticism from Republicans and heated infighting among Democrats.
The Ocasio-Cortez wing of the party thought it was unfair and unjust to single out Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), whose repeated anti-Semitic comments in the weeks prior were the catalyst that prompted the push from Republicans for a resolution condemning anti-Semitism in the first place. Some Jewish House Democrats expressed concern privately with Pelosi that House leadership was letting Omar off the hook too easily.
In the end, the Ocasio-Cortez wing won out, and what Republicans called a “watered down” resolution was presented for a floor vote. The final vote on the March resolution was 407-23, with all Democrats voting in favor and 23 Republicans voting against the measure in protest that it neither focused exclusively on anti-Semitism nor mentioned Rep. Omar.
In contrast, the Senate resolution that passed Thursday solely focused on anti-Semitism and was short and to the point at just two pages. It was co-sponsored by dozens of Senators, including 14 Democrats, and the vote was unanimous in favor.
On the floor of the Senate, Cruz spoke about the reasons the resolution was needed:
“We’re living in an era where the need for a strong and clear condemnation of anti-Semitism has become acute,” Cruz said.
Cruz then went on to discuss the uptick in anti-Semitic attacks and violence in the United States and abroad, highlighting such horrific incidents as the shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh which killed eleven people.
“We have seen the growth on our college campuses of movements to aggressively boycott products made by Jews in Israel,” he continued, highlighting the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
He also mentioned the New York Times‘s recent announcement that they would stop publishing daily political cartoons internationally after the outrage over an anti-Semitic cartoon the paper ran back in April.
And though the Senate resolution didn’t explicitly mention Omar, the speech Cruz gave all but called her and the House Democrats who sidestepped the issue in March out by name (transcribed from video):
“This resolution was also prompted, unfortunately, by the inability of the House of Representatives to come together and vote on a resolution straightforwardly and directly condemning anti-Semitism.
Too many in political life have given in to the extremes, including the embrace of boycotts and at times outright hatred for Israel, the world’s only Jewish state.
So when the House tried to condemn anti-Semitism, sadly they were instead forced to water it down into a general resolution decrying bigotry of all sorts, listing every group they could think of.
There’s of course nothing wrong with condemning bigotry and hatred in general, but anti-Semitism is a unique prejudice, with a unique history that has led to unique horrors throughout history.
Jews today are the most targeted religious group in the United States for hate crimes according to the data compiled by the FBI. We need to be able to acknowledge that clearly and directly, and that’s what this resolution does.”
Watch Sen. Cruz’s speech below:
Kaine’s speech focused on the August 2017 Charlottesville riots that left several injured and a young woman, Heather Heyer, dead. He also noted that those in leadership positions needed to stand firm against anti-Semitism:
“Right now, we are seeing an uptick in hate crimes against Jewish communities. We have to acknowledge that anti-Semitism is real, it’s dangerous, and it’s growing,” said Kaine. “Those of us in leadership positions need to stand up against it, and I’m grateful that Senator Cruz reached out to work together on this bipartisan effort. I’m proud the Senate came together to unanimously pass our resolution that shows we will do everything in our power to combat this rise in anti-Semitism.”
Watch Sen. Kaine’s speech below:
That Republicans and Democrats in the Senate joined together in a bipartisan manner without disagreement on this resolution stands in stark contrast to the failed leadership efforts of Speaker Pelosi in the House in March during the run-up to the resolution that ultimately passed in that chamber.
It really shouldn’t have been that hard for her to get a majority consensus on expressly condemning anti-Semitism. But it was. And the excuses she gave in the aftermath of it all were not acceptable and should not be forgotten.
— Stacey Matthews has also written under the pseudonym “Sister Toldjah” and can be reached via Twitter. —
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Comments
Senator Kaine sponsoring a resolution against antisemitism is like William Jefferson Clinton calling for stronger laws against rape and sexual harassment.
Why? Do you know anything specifically about Kaine expressing antisemitic views, or behaving in a way that betrays such views?
Wow! Although we must be thankful for small blessings. Could the Senate Republicans be any further behind the curve on this. The jellied-in-aspic pace shows McConnell’s majority leadership is clearly passed it’s due date. Only strong conservative voices like Sen. Cruz’s seem to penetrate the swampy miasma of Mitch’s equivocal pandering to the center Left rotten core of the US Congress.
Whooopeee! That’s very touching, however there are much more pressing issues facing this country ie, the southern border
If the resolution had named names and condemned the actual antisemitic voices in Congress (Omar & Co.) I would have been impressed. As it happened, all Cruz managed to accomplish was to give Democrats political cover to hide their growing antisemitism.
And Cruz still wonders how he almost lost last year to O’Rourke, Texas’ 21st century version of Bob Krueger (anyone familiar with Texas politics will recognize that name).
Young Jews on college campuses being targeted is especially troubling. That needs to be dealt with in a manner similar to what just happened to black liars and thieves, and their supporters at Oberlin. I really object to Jews who produce tremendous advances for humanity being abused by the dumbest people.
When these slugs persecute Jews they damage all of humanity, conversely, those slugs could all disappear and there would be very little impact on civilization.
I bet they all patted one another on the back and drank organic herbal tea into the wee hours of the morning. Preening peacockery.
Subpoena Mueller. Subpoena Comey and Brennan and Clapper. Stop f’n treating us little people like idiots.
to unanimously pass our resolution that shows we will do everything in our power to combat this rise in anti-Semitism.
Ahhh, like what? Is this an assertion that a mere resolution is everything in the Senate’s power?
That Republicans and Democrat in the Senate joined together in a bipartisan manner without disagreement on this resolution stands in stark contrast to the failed leadership efforts of Speaker Pelosi in the House
That’ll stop as soon as the D’rats elect a Muslim to the Senate. The problem isn’t Pelosi, it’s Islam; hatred of Jews is endemic, and the D’rats are the vector carrying this vile contagion into government.
I think Charlottesville INCREASED anti-Semitism in the way it was handled.
First, there were bad people on both sides. But anti-Fa either weren’t charged or the penalties were very minor. (see the vid of the guy with the flamethrower, and the black guy that split open someone’s head with a mag light that served a few weekends in jail).
James Fields is a political prisoner. He pled guilty like General Flynn. He didn’t target Heyer, I’m not even sure if he hit her. An AntiFa bragged about brandishing an AR-15 toward him, his car was being attacked, and a minivan blocked the road. When police are in far less clear “fear of my life” circumstances it doesn’t make it to trial.
The actual battle was when police closed off the exits and forced the Unite the Right (who had a permit!) to go into a gauntlet of violent anti-Fa (no permit; there is a long report that no one has read).
Many who were there merely to TALK, rationally, were radicalized and “noticed” the ethnicity of the people who were calling them Nazis when they weren’t. Some went to prison. For example, Christopher Cantwell (who was a libertarian) was labeled “the crying Nazi” and became anti-Semitic because of his long jail without bail term, then watching those who attacked him (he used keychain pepper-spray after being maced) getting off entirely. There was no rule of law nor justice in Charlottesville, only politically motivated prosecutions.
I don’t say this lightly. I can’t make you read the report or watch the actual videos of what happened. It is the same Hoax narrative like “Trump said Nazis were good people”.
The problem is when there is no justice, only political prosecution and persecution – see the Colorado Baker for another example of harassment by lawfare – and you can’t even defend yourself (see Portland Oregon where a violent antiFa mob threatened someone where he pulled a gun – didn’t fire it, merely removed it from the holster and ended up with a long sentence for a Felony with plenty of judicial misconduct).
What is left but civil war? No I don’t want it. But it is coming. And there will be a split between those who would follow the rules, but aren’t going to when the other side cheats, and those who are “by any means necessary”. This was made clear at Charlottesville. The right followed all the rules, but were sent into a violent mob and jailed and found guilty of crimes for defending themselves, and the left did many acts of violence and nothing happened. The right can’t speak in public, they can’t count on the police or judicial system except to harass and persecute them, they can’t even rely on contracts or anything in the legal system.
What is left but war to restore the rule of law for the right?
‘The “anti-hate” resolution that passed the House back in March was seven pages long and broad-based in nature, covering “all forms of bigotry”’
IIRC, the House resolution missed anti-Christian bigotry.