June 23, 2025
Mr. Lankford (for himself, Ms. Rosen, Mr. Bennet, Mr. Hickenlooper, Mr. McCormick, Mr. Fetterman, Mr. Moran, Mr. Thune, and Mr. Schumer) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
Condemning antisemitism and recent antisemitic attacks in the United States.
Whereas, on May 21, 2025, the American Jewish Committee organized an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, DC, which brought together Jewish young professionals and diplomats from around the world and featured members of the Multifaith Alliance and IsraAID in a discussion of humanitarian diplomacy and how a coalition of organizations are working together in response to humanitarian crises throughout the Middle East and North Africa;
Whereas, shortly after Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky left the event, they were shot and murdered;
Whereas the suspect in that attack proceeded to enter the event inside the Capital Jewish Museum and told law enforcement, I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza.
;
Whereas, as law enforcement escorted the suspect outside, he shouted, Free Palestine
;
Whereas Sarah Milgrim, a Jewish American from Kansas and staff member at the Embassy of Israel in Washington, DC, was committed to peacebuilding, passionate about people-to-people relations, dedicated to preserving the environment and all its life forms, a lay leader of American Jewish Committee Access, and a member of the American Jewish Committee-Mimouna Michael Sachs Fellowship for Emerging Leaders, where she was focused on advancing relations in the Middle East and North Africa;
Whereas Yaron Lischinsky, an Israeli-German dual citizen, moved from Jerusalem to work at the Embassy of Israel in Washington, DC, where he focused on Middle East issues, and was passionate about creating connections between people and countries for the benefit of the region of the Middle East;
Whereas Sarah and Yaron met at the Embassy of Israel and fell in love in the aftermath of the October 7th terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel and were set to build a future together with a marriage proposal on the horizon;
Whereas, immediately after the murder of Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky, there was celebration of that attack on all major social media platforms, including calls for more violence and an increased presence of the phrases what goes around comes around
and long live the intifada
, as well as glorification and justification of that violence and characterization of the suspect in the attack as a hero;
Whereas, on June 1, 2025, in Boulder, Colorado, several individuals took part in a peaceful walk organized by Run for Their Lives
, showing support for the hostages still held captive by Hamas;
Whereas, during this walk, an individual shouted Free Palestine
and threw 2 lit Molotov cocktails into the crowd, resulting in multiple injuries, including severe burns;
Whereas the murders of Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky and the attack in Boulder, Colorado, were the result of antisemitism, extremism, and political violence, which are threats not only to Jewish individuals, but to all of society in the United States;
Whereas, following the attack in Boulder, Colorado, there was a similar celebration of that attack, and of the attacker, as occurred after the May 21, 2025, attack, on all major social media platforms, including praise of the suspect in the attack as a courageous figure and hero and encouraging additional violence;
Whereas, since the October 7, 2023, terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel, antisemitism has surged in the United States and around the world;
Whereas, according to the report published by the American Jewish Committee entitled The State of Antisemitism in America 2024
—
(1)
77 percent of Jewish Americans say they feel less safe as a Jewish person in the United States because of the October 7, 2023, terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel;
(2)
56 percent of Jewish Americans say they altered their behavior out of fear of antisemitism in 2024, a sharp increase from previous years;
(3)
90 percent of Jewish Americans say antisemitism has increased in the United States since the terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel; and
(4)
33 percent of Jewish Americans say they have been the personal target of antisemitism, in person or virtually, at least once over the last year;
Whereas, according to the 2024 Audit of Antisemitic Incidents conducted by the Anti-Defamation League, individuals in the United States experienced 9,354 incidents of antisemitism in 2024, a historic high, and for the first time ever, a majority of those incidents, 58 percent, contained references to Israel or Zionism;
Whereas Jewish Americans make up approximately 2.4 percent of the population of the United States, yet account for 68 percent of religiously motivated hate crimes reported, according to the 2023 Hate Crimes Statistics Report issued by the Federal Bureau of Investigation;
Whereas the 1,989 reported hate crimes against Jewish Americans in 2023, including assault, arson, larceny, vandalism, imitation, and other acts of violence, was the highest number of anti-Jewish hate crimes ever reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation;
Whereas, according to the 2023 Hate Crimes Statistics Report issued by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, antisemitic hate crimes increased a staggering 63 percent since the annual report issued in 2022;
Whereas antisemitism is not just a Jewish problem, but a problem that threatens democracy and all of humanity; and
Whereas fighting antisemitism will not only protect the Jewish community in the United States but also protect our democracy: Now, therefore, be it
That the Senate—
(1)
mourns the loss of Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky;
(2)
unequivocally condemns antisemitism in all its forms, including the antisemitic attack on and murder of Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky, and the antisemitic attack in Boulder, Colorado;
(3)
stands with the Jewish communities in the United States and throughout the world and all those effected by the antisemitic attacks that occurred in Washington, DC, on May 21, 2025, and in Boulder, Colorado, on June 1, 2025;
(4)
wishes for the swift recovery of all victims of the attack in Boulder, Colorado;
(5)
encourages all of society to denounce and combat all manifestations of antisemitism and ensure that antisemitism is not normalized;
(6)
recognizes the importance of resources and action in the aftermath of attacks, including the distribution of resources from the Nonprofit Security Grant Program of the Federal Emergency Management Agency; and
(7)
reaffirms the commitment of the people of the United States to combat hate, bigotry, antisemitism, and violence against Jewish Americans.