WASHINGTON, D.C. — House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) joined Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), Education and Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), Representative Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.), members of the Republican Conference, and Jewish students from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, New York University, University of Pennsylvania, and Harvard Law School to discuss the unacceptable rise of antisemitism on college campuses across the United States. Leader Scalise highlighted the importance of speaking out against these injustices – something administrators at these universities are failing to do – and emphasized House Republicans’ priority to stand up for Jewish American students.
On the rise of antisemitism on college campuses:
“Over and over again we hear that saying, ‘evil prevails when good people do nothing.’ This is one of those times people need to look in the mirror. Antisemitism has been spreading throughout our country since the horrendous attacks by Hamas on Israel. Make no mistake: This was Hamas attacking Israel. It was an unprovoked attack. It was a brutal attack – the worst we’ve seen since the Holocaust.
“And, yet, since that time, not just in Israel but here in the United States of America on our college campuses, you’ve seen a growing antisemitism. You’ve seen silence from some of the heads of once-great universities, who are failing to protect their own students – not just Jewish students, any student that wants to stand up for Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state, for all of us who support Israel.
“And it used to be overwhelmingly bipartisan in this country, in this Congress. You’re seeing a divide. You’re seeing some people not willing to stand up against it. Well, that’s not going to happen with his House majority. This House Republican majority has been very vocal – not only standing with Israel, but standing up against the evil hatred of antisemitism. We have to be clear with a voice that we will not tolerate it.
“This is how history repeats itself. People wonder: Can you ever get back to those days? Could that history, that evil history of the Holocaust, ever repeat itself? Well, it only repeats itself if people remain quiet. We’re not going to remain quiet. These students aren’t remaining quiet, and they shouldn’t.
“They have a right to free expression. They have a right to go to school and feel safe – for those policies that those university administrators put in place to be carried out and to speak out. But, if others won’t speak out, we’re going to continue to stand up against this evil of antisemitism.”