Watch again: US House Speaker Johnson discusses college protests

to do something about it over the last few weeks we've we've seen absolute lawlessness and Chaos on college and university campuses Across America on on Wednesday of last week I and a handful of my colleagues traveled to Columbia University which became the epicenter in the last couple of weeks to meet with Jewish students there and to see the madness that's happening there for ourselves the anti-jewish hatred was appalling and we heard firsthand from students who are living in in fear because of the Hamas agitators who have taken over their campus we met with a large number of Jewish students before we had our our press event there and before we met with the University president and they told us the heroine Tales of what they're having to face it's it's not right and everybody in this country knows it after I met with uh president um shafik it was clear that she has lost control of her campus and she needs to step down the first and most obvious responsibility of a university administrator is to ensure the Safety and Security of their students if an administrator cannot ensure that they have they have missed their first assignment we need to find people who can do that just last night there at Columbia students barricaded themselves inside one of the academic buildings where they fought with the maintenance crew there they assaulted students they broke through Windows destroyed property hung in inata banners from the building and the law enforcement was nowhere to be found we're told that NYPD is outside the perimeter of the campus but they have not been invited in and they won't go until they are invited what are University officials waiting on what do they need to see before they stand up to these terrorist sympathizers and that is exactly what they are what's worse though is that Colombia's choice to ignore the safety of their Jewish students and appease anti-semites has inspired even more hatefield protests to pop up across the country and what we're seeing right now is people wave Hezbollah flags and and Hamas Flags their homemade signs supporting what happened on October 7th it's outrageous Hamas endorsed the protest at Columbia University just about two hours before we walked out on the steps to have our press event on Wednesday they're proudly chanting things like death to America and and profanity and and hate filled slogans and this is utterly despicable and it cannot be accepted in this country anti-Semitism is a virus and because the administration and woke University presidents aren't stepping in we're seeing it spread we have to act and House Republicans will speak to this fateful moment with moral Clarity we really wish those in the White House would do the same we will not allow anti-Semitism to thrive on campus and we will hold these universities accountable for their failure to protect Jewish students on campus and that's why today we're here to announce a housewi effort to crack down on anti-Semitism on college campuses nearly every committee here has a role to play in these efforts to stop the madness that has ensued joining me today are my colleagues in leadership as well as committee chairs of the Committees of appropriate jurisdiction and we're going to elaborate on what we'll be doing as part of this this whole of house effort the federal government plays plays a critical role in higher education and we will use all the tools available to us to address this Scourge with that I'll I'll turn it over uh first to our house Republican chair Alise stefanic who's been doing extraordinary work work on this issue for a number of weeks least that thank you so much to our speaker I want to thank the speaker as well as chairwoman Fox for visiting Columbia University's campus last week to highlight moral leadership that is sorely needed and lacking when it comes to these University presidents I also want to thank the speaker for making this a priority for all of House Republicans it is clear that Jewish families across this country Americans across this country are looking for moral Clarity and we are going to deliver where these higher education institutions have failed as the speaker said last night at Colombia America watched in disgust as president shaik allowed an anti-semitic pro-terrorist mob to storm and seiz an academic building holding faculty inside flying pramas signs and damaging property Joe Biden farle Democrat Governors like my home state in New York and morly bankrupt University leaders have allowed this moral rot of anti-Semitism to Fester refusing to enforce the laws and refusing to ensure the safety of Jewish students and it's not just Colombia this is a moral rot that has taken root across American higher education institutions at Yale University a Jewish student was stabbed in the eye with a Palestinian flag at the University of Southern California graduation was cancelled due to the university being unable to guarantee the safety of students Jewish students were barricaded at the library at Cooper Union at my alma moer Harvard University a Palestinian flag was hoisted at University Hall where the American flag always flies in clear violation of University policies there are dozens of these anti-semitic encampments across the country these mobs are breaking University rules leading to the targeting and harassment of Jewish students and faculty in December at a hearing chaired by our education and Workforce chairwoman Virginia Fox we exposed just how ingrained anti-Semitism has become at America's so-called Elite institutions in higher education when I question the presidents of Harvard MIT in Penn does calling for the genocide of Jews violate your University's code of conduct one after the other after the other said it depends on the context and the world heard it is now it is now the most viewed Congressional testimony in history eight days ago I was the first member of Congress to demand that Columbia president shafik resign for her failure to disband the anti-semitic mob consuming Colombia's campus and her failure to ensure the safety of Colombia's Jewish students instead she negotiated with these self-proclaimed terrorists allowing their anti-semitic mob to grow enough as enough it is time to Resto restore Law and Order academic integrity and moral decency to America's higher education institutions Joe Biden has been definitely silent so I want to thank again the speaker as well as all of our chairs who will ensure this is a top priority for House Republicans there can be no moral equivalency it is time to send a clear message to the world that anti-Semitism has no place in America the world is indeed watching and with that I'm going to turn it over to our whip Tom emmer thank you our house Republican conference is here today to deliver a message to the pro-terrorist anti semites taking over our college campuses we're here to deliver a message to the university administrators who have chosen to be complicit in these movements for hate rather than taking action and we're here to deliver a message to Hamas Iran and members of the squad including my Minnesota colleague ilhan Omar who have all endorsed these anti-semitic protest that enough is enough accountability is here our college campus es should never be breeding grounds for anti-Semitism yet that is exactly what they have become why because of University administrators who have refused to protect their Jewish students because of Faculty members who have enabled the wave of anti-Semitic violence because of administra because of an Administration that has tried to play both sides of this issue and because of far-left members of Congress who are applauding anti-semitism on college campuses in other words it's because we have a bunch of adults in a room who are refusing to be the adults in the room while no one else is standing up to lead during this pivotal moment in history House Republicans will I want to thank speaker Johnson and our committee chairs for providing providing much needed accountability on an issue that has been met with a disturbing amount of indifference and even encouragement from the people who are supposed to keep our students safe the world is watching to see how we respond and I for one am grateful to be part of a conference that will be on the right side of history and with that I turn it over to our leader Steve scales thank you whip since October 7th when a terrorist organization backed by Iran known as Hamas invaded Iran invaded Israel you have seen a growing wave of anti-Semitism obviously in Israel we saw a war declared on them and Israel said we're going to defend our state and you saw by the way these colleagues here and so many of my house colleagues stand and say we support Israel's right to defend themselves as a Jewish state but something else alarming that you started to see happen after that is when we started taking action here and that is when you started seeing anti semitism grow here in the United States here on college campuses and in fact here on the house floor by some of our colleagues on the other side and we've been speaking out against it vocally this is an area where you have to learn from the mistakes of History because if you don't learn from the mistakes of History we're all doomed to repeat it let's not forget what happened in the leadup to World War II and so when you see some of the things that these whether you call terrorist sympathizers anarchists they're organized when they show up and they all have the same kind of tents when they all are from out of state in many of these places where they're showing up it's an organized mob trying to ensue chaos and breed anti-Semitism and if we don't stand up against it every place we see it and more importantly if we don't call on those people whose main job is to protect the people that they're tasked with looking over look at these college presidents you know and and we're asking all of our committee chairs to look into the billions of federal taxpayer dollars that go to these universities and part of the reason it goes to these universities is that so they could provide a good education for their students so they could provide a safe environment for their students and if these presidents won't provide that safe environment then those University presidents need to go they need to resign and we've been very vocal about calling on them to step down as well because they're not only failing their students but they're disgracing the universities many of these universities that have had long and stored reputations that are being tarnished uh many of them permanently uh students parents that won't even send their kids to these schools anymore because their kids are no longer safe and we're seeing it play out today on many campuses Across the Nation but here in this house with our majority we're going to continue to hold the these people accountable for the money that they get and for the failures uh that they're ensuing uh if you look at what happened and at least touched on it a little earlier over a billion people watch that video that she talked about over a billion people watched a congressional hearing like to think there's interest that high in every Congressional hearing we have but America's watching and even more than that the world is watching and so we need to continue to show the moral Clarity between right and wrong and call out anti-Semitism and attack tax on Jewish people and anybody else for their faith as for what it is and stand up against the people that are doing it and leading the charge the person who had the first Hearing in her committee months ago uh is the chair of the education and Workforce committee somebody's tough going after the people that are doing all of this Virginia Fox thanks I want to thank the speaker also for making this an all of the house issue it is an all the house issue it's a an issue for our country as Republican leaders we have a clear message for mey mouth spineless College leaders Congress will not tolerate your D eltion of Duty to your Jewish students American universities are officially put on notice that we have come to take our universities back I applaud the speaker for expanding the committee on education and work Force's ongoing investigation into a congress wide initiative no stone must go unturned while buildings are being defaced campus greens are being captured or graduations are being ruined college is not a park for playacting juveniles or a Battleground for radical activists everyone affiliated with these universities will receive a healthy dose of reality actions have consequences one of those consequences is is that I have given notice to appear to use to Yale UCLA and Michigan to appear before the education and Workforce committee on May 23rd for a hearing on their handling of the these most recent outrages I look forward to working with my fellow house leaders on additional action to address these riots and I yield to Frank Lucas thank you madam chairman and thank you speaker Johnson for taking action on this important issue right now Jewish students facing harassment discrimination and in some case violence at our colleges and universities this anti-Semitism is unacceptable and it goes against who we are as Americans we entrust our colleges and universities with conducting scientific research and educating the next generation of leaders and innovators they can't do that when students are being driven off of Campus by Shocking displays of anti-Semitism what's more universities that can't protect their students are not in compliance with their funding obligations through the National Science Foundation funding through NSF accounts for about 25% of all federal support to America's college and universities for basic research as a part of the conditions of receiving taxpayer dollars through the NSF universities must comply with title six of the Civil Rights Act which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race color and national origin schools like Colombia and UC Berkeley annually receive more than $50 million each in NSF grants it's time we review whether universities that allow the harassment assault or intimidation of their Jewish students are in compliance with their Federal obligations we'll be looking to conduct oversight on this issue very soon thank you for your time here today and I now turn to my colleague chairwoman Kathy McMorris Rogers I echo my colleague's words I appreciate the leadership of speaker Mike Johnson and bringing us together we must do everything that we can to ensure the safety and well-being of all students faculty and staff including those of Jewish Heritage and Faith with broad jurisdiction over energy and public health the Energy and Commerce Committee overseas agencies that Dole out massive amounts of taxpayer funded research grants for example in fiscal year 2023 the National Institutes of Health have given around 682 million to Columbia University 409 million to Harvard $58 million to USC which just canceled their graduation over fears of violence and protest 73 million dollars to George Washington University just down the street we will be increasing our oversight of Institutions that have received Public Funding and cracking down on those who are in violation of the Civil Rights Act I'll leave you all with this imagine being a Jewish American knowing that part of your hard-earned paycheck is going to fund an anti-semitic professor's research while they threaten students and actively indoctrinate and radicalize the Next Generation please to yield now to the chairman the great chairman of the Judiciary Committee Jim Jordan earlier today the Republicans on the house Judiciary Committee sent two letters one to secretary blink and one to secretary my orcus asking three fundamental questions questions we as Republicans in the Cong want to know and maybe more importantly questions I think the American people want to have the answers to First how many students on a Visa have engaged in the radical activity we've seen now day after day on college campuses how many have engaged in this activity endorsing or espousing terrorist activity on a college campus question two if you know that number have you the state department have you asked the state department to revoke the visas to revoke their visas and then third and maybe most importantly to secretary my orch if you've done that if you know that answer have you started removal proceedings those are the questions that are in front of the Judiciary Committee that we want the answers to remember on September 30th 2021 secretary my orcus issued his guidelines for immigration enforcement and he said in there that National Security threats are a reason of course to remove people from this country so the fundamental question the overwriting question is real simple are individuals advocating for the destru of our dearest and closest Ally the state of Israel and engag in this anti-semitic behavior is that a national security threat we think it is and we think we need deserve the American people deserve the answers to those three fundamental questions I now yield to the chairman the ways it means committee chairman Smith let's start out with just saying these college and universities enjoy generous generous benefit fits under the US tax code they have a responsibility to the American taxpayer to ensure that they are fulfilling their educational requirements as tax exempt organizations as well as protecting students from intimidation harassment and violence sadly too many colleges and universities have failed to hold up their end of the bargain they have failed the test they have allowed anti-semitism to flourish on their campuses their inaction has emboldened the mobs to threaten Jewish students at the Ways and Means Committee we have been investigating the issue for months in a hearing last November we examine the Nexus between anti-Semitism tax exempt universities and Terror financing networks during that hearing we heard Vivid testimony from a Jewish student from Cornell about how she feared for her life Aid the death threats being made to Jewish students on the campus while the university leadership was telling folks they shouldn't be worried we've sent letters to University leaders demanding information on what disciplinary action if any that they have taken against those whose anti-semitic activity violates campus policy we've called on them to disclose any donations or funding they have received from foreign governments as well our investigation has already produced more than 1,500 pages of documents that we are now actively reviewing we will not stop until we get answers until Jewish students can feel safe and until these universities are held accountable I'm pleased to introduce my good friend chairman Jamie comr the failure of Columbia University to address the pramas mob is an appalling lack of leadership now we are witnessing copycat anti-israel protests pop up at universities across the country these radical protests threatening violence against Jews are anything but organic it appears Global Elites are funding these hateful protests and popup tent cities these are the same groups that fund other radical agendas including diminishing America's energy production and pushing soft on crime policies that harm the American people the house oversight committee will follow the money Trail expose it to the American people and seek to hold Bad actors funding hate accountable I want to thank speaker Johnson and house leadership for coordinating this and the house oversight committee looks forward to working with other committees uh to investigate this serious problem I yield back to speaker Johnson so you've just heard from the chairs of uh a number of the most powerful committees on Capitol Hill You' had oversight you heard from the chair of Judiciary science space and Technology the house education Workforce committee uh Ways and Means uh there there's there's more and you'll you'll hear the leadership team uh deeply involved in all this as well we' got to get down to the bottom of it we have to root it out the Congress has two really important responsibilities that will be fulfilled in this exercise one is oversight and and that's a job that we have and also of course the use of the power of the purse we need accountability for those who can not maintain order will not protect innocent students on their campus and uh it will not uh get on top of the situation so with that I'll take a few questions yeah un speaker yeah I do um in in fact um after we left the the campus uh I made a call to senior policy advisers in the White House the president was on the road as I was and we did not connect immediately but I've encouraged him to go and see it for himself I will go where the where we're needed we we felt like there was a vacuum of leadership there and that it was an important moment for us as the house for the Speaker of the House who represents the whole body to speak with Clarity conviction and consistency about what this is moral Clarity is the phrase that you've heard from us you'll continue to hear it this is not a gray issue there is right and wrong wrong here there's good and evil in my view and we need to call it out for what it is I think this is a time for decisive leadership we're living in faithful moments here we do not have time for weakness and anyone who has a platform or an elected office I believe has a duty and a responsibility to speak to it so yes we went we faced the crowd we told them the truth they didn't want to hear that but that's okay the American people need to and we'll continue to do that um Congress is floating a resolution against Congress Omar made about some Jewish students being um obviously Pro genocidal um would you support a resolution against the Congress I I I think that speech is detestable she's on exactly the wrong side of the issue I haven't spoken with u Congressman bacon about uh about the the cental resolution but we'll look at it look uh we're at desperate times call for desperate measures I I think when you're calling for the extermination of a race of people which is exactly what many in the crowd are calling for the reason Hamas endorsed the the the protest at Columbia University is because they were using Hamas talking points they're talking when they say when they chant from The River To The Sea you understand they're talking about the elimination of the state of Israel they they were they were putting posters onto uh placards and and uh telephone poles and trees around campus that is actual imagery that the Nazis used in the 1930s literally the same symbols and messages they're putting up this is not the freaks expression of ideas this is not the use of the the free Marketplace of ideas for debate that would be healthy on a University campus that's envisioned for a place of higher education it it is the opposite this is threatening violent inciting speech and it's dangerous and it is acknowledge by us University administrators to be dangerous as evidenced by their cancellation of classes they told Jewish students it wasn't safe for them to come to campus and and then that they came back with the hybrid model which made it even worse so ostensibly if you're non-jewish you can attend classes and come and take your final exams on campus but if you're Jewish you might need to stay in your apartment I mean it it's it it's it's really crazy what it's come to and we need Ken we need Clarity on the issue for leaders at the University level at the local state and federal level to step up and say enough is enough we got to bring order to the chaos yes yes sir speaker you talked about anti-Semitism on the world stage we've seen it with the United Nations with theal criminal cour can you elaborate a littleit you out a stat theal criminal chares Israeli leaders yeah it's a it's a very dangerous development you're you're seeing an an allout assault on the state of Israel and those of of Jewish Heritage and and ethnicity and it it's unacceptable the ICC for them to take the step to suggest they would they would issue a a warrant for the prime minister of the country who's in the midst of a war for the very survival of his nation is unconscionable to us and I and I will tell you I spoke within the last hour to to secretary blinkin about this issue and he confirmed that the position of the White House is our position as well I'm glad to uh that they are affirming that and I suspect they will do that publicly later today they are calling for the ICC to stand down Mr Khan who is in charge of that is uh has hinted that he might be issuing uh the warrants uh to be executed and they'd better not do that because that would unsettle the situation it would be a terrible sign on the world stage and I think that it would make us as a nation respond in kind to the ICC I think there would be appropriate sanctions I think that there uh is a bipartisan I think um a group of senators and house members who would move expeditiously and uh we might just turn the table on the ICC they better be careful they can hear that straight from me yeah back row back row back row yeah how about ending the encampments on campus the occupation of buildings the destruction of property this isn't hard we sat down with the president of Colombia across her um her her conference table and and and told her that you know we have no no no intent here other than to bring order to the chaos and they have a responsibility to do it they are breaking the law they are destroying property they are threatening fellow students this is not who we are in America so get control look if you want to have vigorous debate about foreign policy issues or you know anything else do that sponsor it open up the auditorium and have kids from different viewpoints come in respectfully and have debate that's what the University campus should be for but not this and if anybody is equivocating and they don't understand where the line is we can help them understand that this is pretty simple yeah interview published today that Israel was not prepared what happened October 7 and that benjam rightfully criticized for that as well do you agree with that uh look I'm not going to assess the Intel or the decisions that were made I think the October 7th uh attack surprised the entire world I think that was true of our intelligence Community as well and you know Israel is a very close Ally of ours in our view it's the most precious Ally that we have the only democracy in the Middle East um there's a lot of reasons that we stand by Israel and always have and always must um but but I think that there was a I I think they were very obviously very secretive about what they were plotting and planning and it's a it's a warning sign to other nations and other Freedom loving people around the world terrorists uh uh never sleep and evil doesn't rest and they are plotting these things right now and I you know as an aside we're deeply concerned as our leaders in the current Administration I think about what we might be facing here on our own Shores with that wide open border that's been open for over 3 years we know we have dangerous persons and Suspects on the terrorism watch list that have been apprehended at the border we don't know how many of them actually come in we don't know if there are terrorist cells set up in a community near you um but FBI director Christopher Ray testified now on on multiple occasions to Congress that all the red lights are flashing this is a dangerous time we all need to walk circumspectly we need to be watching out for this and that's why it's so important to call out the evil when we see it we cannot allow this stuff to grow and fester in the country it is anti-Semitism as I said is a virus and it will spread if it's not Stamped Out yeah um the the problem of anti-Semitism on campuses of the the question that here is why isn't there a whole of anti-Semitism approach there's a there was a Neo-Nazi uh March the other day in Charleston just three days ago a lot of the threat the physical threats to Jews the most acute physical threats continue to come from the far right from people who Embrace their their grateful replacement Theory which has been echoed even by some people in their own caucus why why not extend this to make this a whole of anti-semitism a and thereby not be accused of making this partisan this is not not partisan at all um we'll call this out anywhere that it occurs but what's captured the nation's attention is what is happening on the University campuses because it should be so easily controlled you have radical friends groups on the right and left who who do crazy things and say crazy things and it's up to local and state law enforcement typically uh to get a handle on that if they go out in a public Street you'll see law enforcement uh uh respond appropriately what's happening on the campus is though especially these private and the ivy league universities is they're not allowing law enforcement to come in they're not inviting them to do their job and bring order to the chaos those are the policy changes that we're demanding and if they don't don't correct this

Channel: The Independent

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Length: 31min 10sec (1870 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 30 2024