DJOP Defender of Democracy Annual Event at the Weitzman Museum
Rep. Wasserman Schultz Remarks
11:00am October 13, 2024
Please note, these are revised-draft remarks, and may not reflect the Congresswomans remarks as delivered.
Thank you, Congresswoman Dean, and good morning, Philadelphia!
A special thanks to Jill Zipin, the Chair of Democratic Jewish Outreach Pennsylvania and a good friend; to the DJOP Board; to former Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz, a classmate of mine; and Ilan Goldenberg, the Director of Jewish Outreach and a Policy Advisor for Vice President Kamala Harris
It’s such a pleasure to be with you all and the fabulous Democratic Jewish Outreach Pennsylvania, right here in the inspiring Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History.
What a great place to honor Senator Fetterman and Gisselle Barreto Fetterman for their steadfast support of Israel and the Jewish people.
A special thanks to DJOP. Your tireless efforts since 2008 to turn out Jewish voters for Democrats in Pennsylvania.
We come together today just days after marking one year since Hamas’ horrific attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
This past year was filled with heartbreak and mourning, with fresh pain rearing its ugly head each time we learned the tragic fate of hostages who were captured that fateful day, and subsequently murdered by their captors.
But as a Zionist and a Jew, I’m so thankful we have President Biden and Vice President Harris in the White House.
They have stood by Israel and the Jewish people during a year of continual existential threats.
In this last year, Biden and Harris provided the most significant and sustained support for the state of Israel since its founding.
That’s an undisputed fact. And I know Kamala will continue this support when we elect her president.
She consistently voices support for Israel’s right to defend itself, and she works tirelessly for an end to the hostilities, and in a way that restores Israel’s security and guarantees the return of hostages – including four living and three deceased Americans still held in Gaza.
The Vice President helped muscle through Congress the emergency Israel aid bill that House Republicans blocked for over six months after the attacks.
And let’s not forget it was Biden and Harris who green-lit an unprecedented defense of Israel against Iranian missiles in April.
They did it again recently, demonstrating how a competent and reliable Administration can effectively neutralize Iran and its terrorist proxies.
And it was Biden and Harris that just authorized five major arm sales to Israel, including F-15 jets, tactical vehicles and much needed munitions.
And today, while we’ve been in this room, again backed up that commitment with the Pentagon’s announcement of a THAAD Air Defense Battery deployment that will be opperated by U.S. Personel.
She will always ensure Israel has what it needs to defend itself from the threats from Iran and Iran-backed terrorists like Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis.
And now let’s compare Harris’ demonstrated and tangible support for Israel and the Jewish community to Trump.
It’s here we have the starkest set of contrasting values between presidential candidates in recent history.
Never forget, Trump opposed the national security supplemental bill that Vice President Harris and President Biden pushed through Congress, which included the fourteen billion dollars for Israel.
Of course, JD Vance voted against it, too.
And both men attempted to trigger a government shutdown, which would halt military support for Israel and choke off funds from our own national security.
And remember, it was Donald Trump and Mike Johnson’s who just weeks after the atrocities of October 7th introduced a partisan funding proposal that condition aid to Israel in her time of greatest need.
Trump’s erratic policies are not what Israel needs now.
Trump’s positions are solely based on what’s good for Donald Trump.
Not what’s good for Americans, Israelis, or anyone else.
When Trump mentions hostages, he’s always referring to imprisoned January 6th insurrectionists.
Not Americans and Israelis held by Hamas in Gaza.
It’s quite simple: Trump is no friend to Israel and no friend to the American Jewish community.
On the other hand, Kamala’s values are the same ones as so many of us grew up around at home, reflecting tikkun olam, or repairing the world.
And what are Donald Trump’s values?
Trump dines with, uplifts, and echoes white nationalists.
He dragged the antisemitic “Great Replacement” theory –
which was cited by the Tree of Life and El Paso mass murderers – into the mainstream of the Republican party.
While Kamala and Doug Emhoff helped develop and implement Biden’s first-ever National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, Trump spews dangerous antisemitic tropes and scapegoats our community.
He just recently said that if he loses, it’s all because of Jews.
Republicans also continue to cut funds for the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, the very agency that is dedicated to protecting the rights of Jewish students.
All while they pose as campus protectors, and right as we grapple with the rise of antisemitism on college campuses.
And when the security needs for Jewish institutions are at record highs, the party that Trump leads decided to underfund the Nonprofit Security Grant Program that so many of our synagogues rely on.
We must not allow support for the Jewish community or support for the State of Israel to become a partisan wedge issue.
Kamala and Tim Waltz consistently stand with the Jewish community. Every time.
Vice President Harris and Gov. Walz consistently embody and practice our Jewish values, be it respecting religious and reproductive freedom or empowering those in need, from working families at home to democratic allies abroad.
But a Harris White House needs a strong Democratic Pennsylvania Congressional delegation at their side.
That is why we must send Bob Casey back to the Senate.
And the handful of contested Pennsylvania House races – including:
Returning to Congress our Frontline Members: Susan Wild, Rep. Matt Cartwright, Rep. Chris Deluzio, and
The Red-to-Blue Candidates Janelle Stelson and Ashley Ehasz;
Pennsylvania will absolutely decide whether its MAGA Mike Johnson or a new Speaker Jeffries who holds a gavel next year.
Look, none of us doubts when Trump will support Israel and America’s Jews – and that’s only when it suits him.
We need leaders like Vice President Harris, who demonstrate, time and again, that they stand with all Americans and democracies like Israel.
That’s the same kind of unwavering support we see in our honorees tonight, Sen. and Giselle Barreto Fetterman.
Look, the polls we’ll see in the next few weeks will swing us from dread one day, to unbridled hope, the very next.
But don’t get distracted.
We all know this nation’s fate rests in the smallest of voting margins, in just a handful of states like this one.
So, what we do and say today, and every day until Nov. 5th, will determine the future of generations to come.
And the Jewish community can help shape that future with the clear and amazing choice we have on Nov. 5th.
And that choice must be Kamala Harris!
