Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.Con.Res. 49, which expresses the sense of Congress that the sharp escalation of anti-Semitic violence within many participating States of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) is of profound concern and efforts should be undertaken to prevent future occurrences.

As the ranking Democratic member of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, commonly known as the Helsinki Commission. I want to commend Helsinki Commission Chairman Chris Smith for introducing this resolution, which I am pleased to co-sponsor. I will not repeat the testimony we received in our hearing, but I would refer members to the pending resolution, which notes that recent expressions of anti-Semitism have included: physical assaults, arson of synagogues, desecration of Jewish cultural sites, and propaganda in the media.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that the House is considering this resolution today, which is very timely. The Organization for Security and Cooperation (OSCE) recently concluded its first conference devoted specially to the issue of anti-Semitism. The OSCE pledged to take a leadership role in helping to stamp out anti-Semitism, which is on the rise in many European countries as well as in Russia. We must adopt a policy of "zero tolerance" when it comes to anti-Semitism. The Conference also addressed a number of concrete steps that governments can take to address this issue, which included sessions on: legislative, institutional mechanisms and governmental action; law enforcement; the role of governments and civil society in promoting tolerance; education; information and awareness-raising; and the role of the media in conveying and countering prejudice.

Over a year ago, Mr. Speaker, the Helsinki Commission held a hearing on escalating Anti-Semitic violence in Europe. At that hearing we received extensive testimony which conclusively documented the rising amount of anti-Semitic violence in both Europe and throughout the OSCE region.

In July 2002 the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, meeting in Berlin, held a separate forum on this issue with American and German parliamentarians. The Parliamentary Assembly ultimately adopted a resolution on anti-Semitic violence in the OSCE region. The Berlin Declaration recalled that in 1990 in Copenhagen all participating states pledged to "unequivocally condemn" anti-Semitism and take effective measures to protect individuals from anti-Semitic violence.

As the Helsinki Commission has worked on this issue, we have focused on what specific steps OSCE parliamentarians can take to address this growing problem. The Berlin Declaration urges that participating states take several concrete steps to combat anti-Semitism, including: making public statements recognizing violence against Jews and Jewish cultural properties as anti-Semitic; ensuring aggressive law enforcement by local and national authorities of anti-Semitic criminal acts; and reviewing their laws, regulations, practices and policies to ensure that they conform with relevant OSCE commitments on anti-Semitism. Many of these points are also included in the resolution that the House is considering today.

We must also remember that violence against Jews can never be justified by international developments or political issues. The OSCE participating states have an obligation to stamp out anti-Semitism now, and not wait for this cancer to continue to spread its prejudice and intolerance towards Jews and ultimately to other religious minorities.

Mr. Speaker, let me give you just one example of our work on this issue with some of our colleagues in the OSCE. In December 2002 a number of Helsinki Commissioners signed a letter of intent with the Germany parliamentary delegation to the OSCE. Let me point out two actions discussed in the letter of intent of particular interest. First, the letter of intent pledges that the parliamentarians will promote educational efforts throughout the OSCE region to counter anti-Semitic stereotypes and attitudes among younger people. As I stated in our May 2002 hearing on this issue I believe that education of the younger generation is a key solution to tackling the issue of anti-Semitism. In some countries we have actually seen counterproductive educational programs that actually breed prejudice, hatred, intolerance, xenophobia, and ultimately anti-Semitism. We must take a more pro-active approach to this issue by encouraging and promoting tolerance and diversity in our curriculum, so that generations of our young people are not growing up learning to hate their fellow citizens simply based on their religious beliefs and practices.

Second, the letter of intent supports the establishment of an OSCE parliamentarian-based "Coalition of the Willing" to address anti-Semitic propaganda that appears to be increasing rapidly in a number of OSCE partner countries, most recently and notably in Egypt, who is an ally in the Middle East of the United States. I strongly support further engagement and discussion with the OSCE Mediterranean Partners for Cooperation (which includes Israel and Arab countries such as Egypt, Jordan, Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia) on the issue of anti-Semitism. I am very eager to open a dialogue with our fellow parliamentarians in those nations in the near future.

The Helsinki Commission has continued to put a spotlight on this issue. We reaffirmed these commitments at our February 2003 winter session in Vienna. Next week I will join the gentleman from New Jersey in attending the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. At that Assembly we will also debate and pass a resolution which condemns anti-Semitism and sets forth a framework for specific action to be taken by participating states in Europe and Asia.