Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On Tragic Campus Shooting At Brown University And The Antisemitic Terror Attack In Sydney

Washington, D.C. – Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor following a deadly campus shooting at Brown University and an antisemitic terrorist attack targeting a Jewish celebration in Sydney, Australia. Leader Schumer called for all lawmakers to confront and condemn antisemitic rhetoric and urged Congress to find the will to address gun violence. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:

We convene after a weekend of both horror and grief.

Saturday afternoon—as students were studying for finals—a masked gunman opened fire inside a classroom at Brown University.

Nine students were injured, two were killed. The victims were not even twenty years old! This is every father and every mother’s worst nightmare.

For now, the shooter remains at large, and we urge residents in the area to listen to guidance from local law enforcement.

Then, just a few hours later on the first night of Hanukkah on a popular beach in Sydney, Australia, two terrorists opened fire on Jewish-Australians gathered in celebration. At least fifteen were killed, another 29 injured.

Among the murdered was a ten-year-old girl and an eighty-seven-year-old a Holocaust survivor. Also among the murdered also was Rabbi Eli Schlangler, a pillar of the Crown Heights community who welcomed a son to the world just two months ago.

May the memories of all those killed and injured this weekend be a blessing.

I have warned repeatedly that antisemitism is a scourge around the world that must be condemned loudly and fought vigorously at every turn. The Jewish people have been collectively demonized—increasingly so in the last few years—and this tragedy in Sydney shows the abject danger of letting antisemitic rhetoric and action go unchecked. So those of us in elected office have a responsibility to speak out against antisemitic rhetoric and conduct wherever it arises, whenever it arises.

And, separately, Congress must also take action against another poison of our age—that of rampant gun violence.

Australia is no stranger to gun safety legislation. They famously took strong action in the 1990s and saw gun violence plummet. Yesterday Australia’s prime minister said they will take another look at their gun safety laws and see where they can make improvements—if Australia can find the courage to act after a tragedy like the one in Bondi Beach, Congress should certainly find the will to act after a tragedy like the one at Brown University.

For the sake of those who were killed this weekend, and for the sake of so many lives we can save moving forward, Congress must again act against gun violence and act against all forms of violent hate.

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