'It Is Not Antisemitic To Speak Out Against The Extremist Israeli Government!': Bernie Sanders

Forbes Breaking News

At Wednesday's Senate Health Committee hearing, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) put forward an amendment relating to the definition of antisemitism.

Transcript

00:00Who else has an amendment which I'd like to bring up?

00:01I've got an amendment.

00:03Cain, you want to go Sanders first?

00:05Yeah.

00:07I'll call Sanders Amendment Number 2.

00:14Mr. Chairman, as you will recall, in the recent hearing we held on this issue,

00:20all five witnesses, including three Republican witnesses, made it clear

00:25that criticizing the extremist government of Netanyahu over their policies in Gaza

00:31is not anti-Semitic.

00:33One can criticize the government of Israel for their policies without being anti-Semitic.

00:40This amendment makes it clear that it is not anti-Semitic to oppose the Netanyahu-led war effort

00:45that has killed more than 50,000 people and wounded over 116,000,

00:5160% of whom are women, children, and the elderly.

00:56Making that point is not anti-Semitic.

01:00It is not anti-Semitic to criticize Netanyahu's war machine

01:03that has damaged or destroyed two-thirds of all structures in Gaza,

01:08including 92% of the housing units.

01:10It is not anti-Semitic to speak out against the extremist Israeli government

01:16for not allowing a single shipment of aid into Gaza in over two months,

01:2362 days and counting.

01:25To point this out is not anti-Semitic.

01:28It is the truth.

01:30I urge my colleagues to vote yes on this amendment.

01:34Senator Hassan.

01:36Just briefly, Mr. Chair, on Sanders' Amendment 2,

01:41I will say that this amendment doesn't necessarily reflect the words

01:46that I would use in describing the full picture in Gaza,

01:50but just saying these words doesn't make you an anti-Semite.

01:55And so while I continue to remind people that this war would end

02:00if Hamas would put down its arms,

02:02we do have a First Amendment in this country that protects the freedom of speech.

02:06So, Senator Murphy.

02:11Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

02:13I'm going to support the Senator's amendment,

02:15and it speaks to, I think, a really important issue in the underlying bill.

02:21The author of this definition has testified publicly

02:25that he never intended for the definition that ended up in statute

02:31to include the litany of examples that are offered as part of the guidance

02:38on how to implement this definition.

02:40This is really important, because if you read these examples,

02:44which are going to be incorporated by law into this new definition,

02:49it absolutely opens up the possibility that criticism of Israel,

02:56for instance, suggesting that there is discrimination or bias against Palestinians

03:03connected to decisions that the government is making,

03:07as actions or speech that could ultimately cause your federal funding to be in jeopardy.

03:14If you argued that there was bias or discrimination inherent in an exercise of the U.S. government,

03:20you would not be held liable.

03:23You would not be at risk of losing your federal funding.

03:25But under this definition, which includes the examples,

03:29there is a real potential that First Amendment protected speech,

03:33which criticism of Israel, the policies of Israel,

03:38will end up getting you in trouble and putting your federal funding at risk.

03:42So I wish we had listened to the author of the definition.

03:46The author of the definition would support the definition itself

03:50as being complete and total enough

03:54in order to protect against anti-Semitism on campus.

03:59The reason that many of us are having trouble with this bill

04:02is because of the incorporation of the examples

04:04that were never, ever intended to become law

04:06and will just make this definition very confusing

04:09for an administration or courts to ultimately interpret and administer.

04:15So, Senator, I'm about to recognize Senator Paul.

04:18I'm just going to tell folks this is actually not our jurisdiction.

04:21As this amendment is phrased, this is Senate Foreign Relations.

04:25And so I'm just telling you that we're going to have a lot of discussion

04:29and I'm going to have a gavel.

04:31I've asked my staff, we're going to get through this bill.

04:34You're going to have a gavel, but this is an issue that is relevant to this committee.

04:39This is the heart of what we're debating today.

04:41This is a Senate Finance, this is a Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Sanders.

04:46No, we're not debating the war in Gaza.

04:48We're debating this amendment is there.

04:50So, Senator Paul.

04:52Senator, what is the actual, what is the rule?

04:54Is the rule that we each get two minutes on each amendment?

04:59Okay, so you're not going to gavel down individuals who are speaking?

05:02We're going to finish by noon because our time here is restricted.

05:07And I'm not going to allow process to kill our final passage

05:10by a death of a thousand conversations.

05:12Well, you set a very restrictive debate rule,

05:15and I just want to make sure you're holding to that.

05:16We all get the ability to speak for two minutes on each amendment.

05:20Is that correct?

05:21Because let's not be naive.

05:22I believe this is a strategy to defeat final passage

05:25on something which has been out there for some years.

05:27Mr. Chairman, but this is a, listen, this is a very important issue, Mr. Chairman.

05:30Senator Paul.

05:32You know, I think imputing what the goals are of each of us in discussing this,

05:36my goal is to further the debate and have a very intellectual and informed debate over this.

05:41So there are 11 examples that are listed that could be anti-Semitism.

05:46One of them says that claiming the existence of the state of Israel is a racist endeavor.

05:53Well, what if I repeat that Netanyahu says that Israel is a Jewish state?

05:57Well, Jewish is a race, and if he says it's a Jewish state, just by repeating Netanyahu,

06:04could I be guilty of anti-Semitism?

06:07So, you know, the thing is, is there are questions.

06:10There are valid questions that can people ask.

06:12So if you're a settler on the West Bank and you're Jewish, you get to vote in the Israeli elections.

06:17If you're Arab and you live on the West Bank, you don't.

06:19So is that fair or is that me condemning, you know, you know, the citizenship or making allegations

06:30that are going to be, you know, limited by this bill?

06:32So these are really important, and this is really the main objections that have come to this.

06:36If we did a standard sort of we condemn anti-Semitism, it'd probably be passed with everybody voting for it.

06:42But instead, we are listing all these things that open Pandora's box and realize that the police are behind this.

06:49The Department of Education has police.

06:51You may not know this, but the Department of Education actually has armed police.

06:55So they can send people to the campus to police this type of speech.

07:00And, you know, seriously, it is actually advocated by the current government of Israel

07:08that it be a Jewish state and always remained a Jewish state.

07:11That is a racial statement.

07:13That's not my statement.

07:14That's their statement.

07:15So is it going to be disallowed by this bill for a student to say that on campus?

07:22So the...

07:23Chairman, I would call the question.

07:25There is a motion.

07:27I'm going to make a motion to table this amendment.

07:30Is there a second?

07:31Well, I made a motion to call the question.

07:35Mr. Chairman, I would like a vote on my amendment.

07:39Motion to table because of absence of jurisdiction.

07:43Is there a second?

07:44Second.

07:44There is a second.

07:45It's non-debatable.

07:46Clerk or shall call the roll.

07:50Senator Paul?

07:51No.

07:53Senator Collins?

07:54No by proxy.

07:57Senator Murkowski?

07:58I'm sorry.

07:59Yes by proxy.

08:02All right.

08:02Senator Murkowski?

08:05Yes by proxy.

08:06Senator Mullin?

08:09Yes by proxy.

08:11Senator Marshall?

08:12Yes.

08:14Senator Scott?

08:15Yes.

08:16Senator Hawley?

08:17Yes by proxy.

08:18Senator Tuberville?

08:19Yes.

08:20Senator Banks?

08:21Yes.

08:21Senator Husted?

08:23Yes.

08:23Senator Moody?

08:24Yes by proxy.

08:26Senator Sanders?

08:27No.

08:28Senator Murray?

08:29No by proxy.

08:31Senator Baldwin?

08:32No by proxy.

08:34Senator Murphy?

08:35No.

08:36Senator Koehn?

08:37No.

08:39Senator Hassan?

08:40No.

08:41Senator Hickenlooper?

08:42No.

08:44Senator Markey?

08:45No.

08:46Senator Kim?

08:47No.

08:48Senator Blunt-Rochester?

08:49No.

08:50Senator Ulsterbrooks?

08:52No by proxy.

08:54Chairman Cassidy?

08:55Senator Cassidy is a yes and I will also point out that we would not have the restrictions

09:01on debate had minority agreed to go beyond two hours.

09:05Now the idea that somehow we're doing restrictions because of something that is heavy handed on

09:11for my part when we've not had an agreement to go beyond two hours is deceitful to the American

09:16people.

09:17Deceitful.

09:19So with that said, staff?

09:23I have 11 ayes, 12 nays.

09:25Okay.

09:26So do we now have a...

09:28Hold it.

09:30So the motion table was not agreed to yet.

09:36Oh, okay.

09:37Right.

09:37Now we'll have a vote on the amendment.

09:39Correct.

09:39The chairman will call the vote.

09:43And I shall be voting no.

09:49Senator Paul?

09:54Aye.

09:56Senator Collins?

09:58No by proxy.

09:59Senator Murkowski?

10:01No by proxy.

10:02Senator Mullen?

10:03No by proxy.

10:05Senator Marshall?

10:06No.

10:08Senator Scott?

10:09No.

10:10Senator Hawley?

10:12No by proxy.

10:14Senator Tuberville?

10:15No by proxy.

10:17Senator Banks?

10:18No.

10:20Senator Houston?

10:21No.

10:21Senator Moody?

10:23No by proxy.

10:24Senator Sanders?

10:25Aye.

10:26Senator Murray?

10:27Aye by proxy.

10:29Senator Baldwin?

10:30Aye by proxy.

10:31Senator Murphy?

10:33Senator Kane?

10:35Senator Hassan?

10:37Aye.

10:38Senator Hickenlooper?

10:38Aye.

10:40Senator Markey?

10:41Aye.

10:43Senator Kim?

10:43Aye.

10:44Senator Blunt-Rochester?

10:46Aye.

10:46Senator Ulsterbrooks?

10:47Aye by proxy.

10:48Chairman Cassidy?

10:51Senator Cassidy is a no.

10:55I have 12 ayes, 11 nays.

10:58Okay.

10:59The amendment fails.

11:06The amendment fails.

11:07The amendment fails.

11:08The amendment fails.

11:09The amendment fails.

11:10The amendment fails.

11:11The amendment fails.

11:12The amendment fails.

11:13The amendment fails.

11:14The amendment fails.

11:15The amendment fails.

11:16The amendment fails.

11:17The amendment fails.

11:18The amendment fails.

11:19The amendment fails.

11:20The amendment fails.

11:21The amendment fails.

11:22The amendment fails.

11:23The amendment fails.

11:24The amendment fails.

11:25The amendment fails.

11:26The amendment fails.

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