A resolution condemning last year’s violent antisemitic attacks in Pennsylvania, Colorado and the nation’s capital passed the U.S. Senate without opposition on Wednesday.
The measure also called on “elected officials, community leaders and civil society to speak out against antisemitism and politically motivated violence in all forms,” while reaffirming a “commitment to protecting the rights of all individuals in the United States to assemble peacefully and practice their faith without fear of violence.”
“Protecting my friends and neighbors, and all Jewish people across the country, must be a national priority,” stated Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.). The senator lives in the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Squirrel Hill, near the worst antisemitic attack in U.S. history when 11 Jewish worshippers were gunned down at the Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha synagogue in October 2018.
McCormick and the state’s senior Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) introduced the measure in June after a firebomb that month against participants at a rally in Boulder, Colo., calling for the release of Israeli hostages captured by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023; the shooting deaths of two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington in May outside the Capital Jewish Museum; and an arson attack in April, during Passover, at Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s residence in Harrisburg, Pa.
“These appalling attacks on our Jewish communities are not isolated events,” Fetterman stated at the time.
Pennsylvania’s senators were joined by 39 Senate colleagues, who co-sponsored S. Res. 288.
The House passed a similar resolution in June, sponsored by Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) and 70 others, by a vote of 400-0.
