WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, Senator Rick Scott joined his colleagues in a press conference to condemn the rampant antisemitic and pro-Hamas protests at universities and colleges around the country. Joining Senator Scott were Senators Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas), James Lankford (R-Oklahoma), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), John Kennedy (R-Louisiana), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Roger Marshall (R-Kansas) and Deb Fischer (R-Nebraska)

The senators’ press conference follows a letter they sent to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona to request information on how the Biden administration planned to restore order and protect Jewish students facing persecution. Additionally, Senator Scott wrote to Attorney General Garland yesterday urging the Department of Justice to launch an investigation and pursue prosecution against the unlawful, violent and left-wing-funded organizations behind these protests.

Senator Rick Scott said, “What we’re seeing with these anti-Israel and violently antisemitic mobs on university campuses across the country is disgusting and un-American. Here’s what needs to happen: any college or university that enables anti-Israel mobs or antisemitic mobs on their campus should be stripped of federal funding. Congress must pass my Stop Antisemitism on College Campuses Act and Antisemitism Awareness Act to make that happen. I urge the boards of these universities to remove leadership that chooses appeasement of Hamas sympathizers over protecting Jewish students and for donors to cut off these radical university administrators. Enough is enough. My message to these protestors is this: if you hate America, if you want to live under the Palestinian flag, then leave. If you want to support Palestine and Hamas – go to Gaza and see for yourself what they’re all about and if Hamas respects your freedoms and ‘liberated zones.’

“It is shameful to see universities like Columbia, Brown, UCLA, USC, George Washington University and Yale cowering to antisemitic hate, letting terrorist sympathizers take over campus, break into buildings and threaten Jewish students. This is not First Amendment speech – it is violent hate and lawless behavior that threatens fellow students and cannot be tolerated. It is time for accountability, and for those breaking the law to be punished to the fullest extent.”

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Senator Scott has been adamant about protecting students at American colleges and universities who continue to be threatened by terrorist sympathizers calling for the eradication of Jewish people and the destruction of Israel. Senator Scott is fighting to pass his and Senator Tim Scott’s Stop Antisemitism on College Campuses Act. This bill would rescind federal education funding for colleges and universities that peddle antisemitism or authorize, fund or facilitate events that promote violent antisemitism.

Additionally, Senator Rick Scott joined Senators Bob Casey and Tim Scott to introduce the Antisemitism Awareness Act. The bill will help address antisemitic sentiment and action on college campuses—which has been rising across the nation for years and spiked in the wake of Hamas’ terrorist attack on October 7, 2023—by requiring the U.S. Department of Education to consider the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism when enforcing federal anti-discrimination laws. Read more HERE.

Read more regarding every action and statement Sen. Scott has done in support of Israel following the October 7th Iran-backed Hamas terrorist attack: https://www.rickscott.senate.gov/israel.

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