Federal
Condemning anti-Semitism as hateful expressions of intolerance that are contradictory to the values and aspirations that define the people of the United States and condemning anti-Muslim discrimination and bigotry against minorities as hateful expressions of intolerance that are contrary to the values and aspirations of the United States.
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H. Res. 183
In the House of Representatives, U. S.,
March 7, 2019.
Whereas the first amendment to the Constitution established
the United States as a country committed to the prin-
ciples of tolerance and religious freedom, and the 14th
amendment to the Constitution established equal protec-
tion of the laws as the heart of justice in the United
States;
Whereas adherence to these principles is vital to the progress
of the American people and the diverse communities and
religious groups of the United States;
Whereas whether from the political right, center, or left, big-
otry, discrimination, oppression, racism, and imputations
of dual loyalty threaten American democracy and have no
place in American political discourse;
Whereas white supremacists in the United States have ex-
ploited and continue to exploit bigotry and weaponize
hate for political gain, targeting traditionally persecuted
peoples, including African Americans, Latinos, Native
Americans, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and
other people of color, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, the
LGBTQ community, immigrants, and others with verbal
attacks, incitement, and violence;
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Whereas the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., taught that
persecution of any American is an assault on the rights
and freedoms of all Americans;
Whereas on August 11 and 12, 2017, self-identified neo-Con-
federates, white nationalists, neo-Nazis, and Ku Klux
Klansmen held white supremacist events in Charlottes-
ville, Virginia, where they marched on a synagogue under
the Nazi swastika, engaged in racist and anti-Semitic
demonstrations and committed brutal and deadly violence
against peaceful Americans;
Whereas a white nationalist murdered nine African American
worshipers at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal
Church in Charleston, South Carolina, on the evening of
June 17, 2015, in the hopes of igniting a nationwide race
war;
Whereas on October 27, 2018, the perpetrator of the dead-
liest attack on Jewish people in the history of the United
States killed 11 worshippers at the Tree of Life Syna-
gogue building in Pittsburgh and reportedly stated that
he ‘‘wanted all Jews to die’’;
Whereas anti-Semitism is the centuries-old bigotry and form
of racism faced by Jewish people simply because they are
Jews;
Whereas in 2017 the Federal Bureau of Investigation re-
ported a 37 percent increase in hate crimes against Jews
or Jewish institutions and found that attacks against
Jews or Jewish institutions made up 58.1 percent of all
religious-based hate crimes;
Whereas there is an urgent need to ensure the safety and se-
curity of Jewish communities, including synagogues,
schools, cemeteries, and other institutions;
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•HRES 183 EH
Whereas Jews are the targets of anti-Semitic violence at even
higher rates in many other countries than they are in the
United States;
Whereas it is a foreign policy priority of the United States
to monitor and combat anti-Semitism abroad;
Whereas anti-Semitism includes blaming Jews as Jews when
things go wrong; calling for, aiding, or justifying the kill-
ing or harming of Jews in the name of a radical ideology
or extremist view of religion; or making mendacious, de-
humanizing, demonizing, or stereotyped allegations about
Jews;
Whereas Jewish people are subject in the media and political
campaigns to numerous other dangerous anti-Semitic
myths as well, including that Jews control the United
States Government or seek global, political, and financial
domination and that Jews are obsessed with money;
Whereas scapegoating and targeting of Jews in the United
States have persisted for many years, including by the
Ku Klux Klan, the America First Committee, and by
modern neo-Nazis;
Whereas accusing Jews of being more loyal to Israel or to the
Jewish community than to the United States constitutes
anti-Semitism because it suggests that Jewish citizens
cannot be patriotic Americans and trusted neighbors,
when Jews have loyally served our Nation every day since
its founding, whether in public or community life or mili-
tary service;
Whereas accusations of dual loyalty generally have an insid-
ious and pernicious history, including—
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•HRES 183 EH
(1) the discriminatory incarceration of Americans of
Japanese descent during World War II on their basis of
race and alleged dual loyalty;
(2) the Dreyfus affair, when Alfred Dreyfus, a Jew-
ish French artillery captain, was falsely convicted of
passing secrets to Germany based on his Jewish back-
ground;
(3) when the loyalty of President John F. Kennedy
was questioned because of his Catholic faith; and
(4) the post-9/11 conditions faced by Muslim-Ameri-
cans in the United States, including Islamophobia and
false and vicious attacks on and threats to Muslim-Amer-
icans for alleged association with terrorism;
Whereas anti-Muslim bigotry entails prejudicial attitudes to-
wards Muslims and people who are perceived to be Mus-
lim, including the irrational belief that Muslims are in-
herently violent, disloyal, and foreign;
Whereas Muslims and people perceived to be Muslim are sub-
jected to false and dangerous stereotypes and myths in-
cluding unfair allegations that they sympathize with indi-
viduals who engage in violence or terror or support the
oppression of women, Jews, and other vulnerable commu-
nities;
Whereas in 2017, mosques were bombed in Bloomington,
Minnesota, and burned in Austin, Texas, Victoria, Texas,
Bellevue, Washington, and Thonotosassa, Florida, and
mass attacks on Muslim communities were planned
against communities in Islamberg, New York, in 2019,
Jacksonville, Florida, in 2017, and Garden City, Kansas,
in 2016;
Whereas the Federal Bureau of Investigation reported that
hate crimes against Muslims or Muslim institutions in
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the United States increased by over 99 percent between
2014 and 2016;
Whereas attacks motivated by bigotry against those who are
Muslim or perceived to be Muslim have substantially in-
creased since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks;
Whereas the violation of an individual’s civil rights based on
his or her actual or perceived membership in a particular
religious group clearly violates the Constitution and laws
of the United States; and
Whereas all Americans, including Jews, Muslims, and Chris-
tians and people of all faiths and no faith, have a stake
in fighting anti-Semitism, as all Americans have a stake
in fighting every form of bigotry and hatred against peo-
ple based on religion, race, or place of birth and origin:
Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives—
(1) rejects the perpetuation of anti-Semitic stereo-
types in the United States and around the world, includ-
ing the pernicious myth of dual loyalty and foreign alle-
giance, especially in the context of support for the
United States-Israel alliance;
(2) condemns anti-Semitic acts and statements as
hateful expressions of intolerance that are contradictory
to the values that define the people of the United States;
(3) reaffirms its support for the mandate of the
United States Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat
Anti-Semitism as part of the broader policy priority of
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fostering international religious freedom and protecting
human rights all over the world;
(4) rejects attempts to justify hatred or violent at-
tacks as an acceptable expression of disapproval or frus-
tration over political events in the Middle East or else-
where;
(5) acknowledges the harm suffered by Muslims and
others from the harassment, discrimination, and violence
that result from anti-Muslim bigotry;
(6) condemns anti-Muslim discrimination and big-
otry against all minorities as contrary to the values of
the United States;
(7) condemns the death threats received by Jewish
and Muslim Members of Congress, including in recent
weeks;
(8) encourages law enforcement and government of-
ficials to avoid conduct that raises the specter of uncon-
stitutional profiling against anyone because of their race,
religion, nationality, political, or particular social group,
including the assignment of blame or targeting members
of an entire religious group for increased suspicion,
based on the conduct of a single individual or small
group of individuals; and
(9) encourages all public officials to confront the re-
ality of anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, racism, and other
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forms of bigotry, as well as historical struggles against
them, to ensure that the United States will live up to the
transcendent principles of tolerance, religious freedom,
and equal protection as embodied in the Declaration of
Independence and the first and 14th amendments to the
Constitution.
Attest:
Clerk.
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