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Vote Explainer: Condemning Antisemitism on University campuses

December 14, 2023

Transparency is vital to democracy. Below please find explainers for key votes I took in the 118th Congress.

On December 13th, I voted in favor of H. Res 927, a bipartisan House resolution entitled “Condemning antisemitism on University campuses and the testimony of University Presidents in the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.”

I agree with the two core tenets of this resolution: condemning the rise of antisemitism on university campuses across the country and condemning recent testimonies by the presidents of Harvard, MIT, and the University of Pennsylvania in which all three failed to say that calls for the genocide of Jews would or should violate their codes of conduct.

Universities have codes of conduct that go further than our legal code for a reason. For example: plagiarism isn’t against the law, but it violates the code of conduct of virtually every academic institution in America. The same logic applies to certain forms of speech on campus that degrade their communities.

While I overwhelmingly support the primary provisions of the resolution, I did not agree with the inclusion of one particular phrase that reads “Whereas President Magill has resigned, and the other Presidents should follow suit.” Although, importantly, the resolution is not directive on this point (it appears in the preamble, not the “be it resolved…” section), and it suggests they should resign voluntarily, not be fired, I don’t agree with the implication. I have previously stated that I will not call on the presidents to be fired because I don’t want to perpetuate the ‘cancel culture’ that is already far too pervasive on college campuses like Harvard. I have also publicly stated that I hope university leaders will learn from this shameful episode and start to display the moral leadership we should all expect in this difficult moment.

One thing I have learned in Congress is that it is always easier to find a reason to vote against a bill than to vote for it. For example, the annual defense bill inevitably includes some provisions I disagree with, but I voted for it today because, on balance, it’s a good bill. Likewise, on balance this is a bill that I agree with, and it addresses an important issue, namely the shocking rise of antisemitism on American college campuses. Everyone should feel free and safe at our schools while engaging in vigorous debates about the issues of the day.