The subcommittee on health, employment, labor, and pensions will come to order. I note that a quorum is present. Without objection, the chair is authorized to call a recess at any time. Today's hearing will examine how healthcare unions are using their resources to
advance anti-Israel political agenda while harassing and discriminating against Jewish doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers. Instead of fulfilling their duty to fairly represent all employees, these unions have chosen to engage in divisive, discriminatory, and anti-semitic
conduct. The subcommittee held a hearing nine months ago about the alarming rise of anti-semitic incidents in our country and in our workplaces. Unfortunately, the problem has only worsened. Across the nation and around the world, Jewish people continue to face discrimination,
intimidation, and violence, and that is just unamerican. The unions we will discuss today have devoted time, money, and institutional influence to advance their divisive, harmful, and discriminary discriminatory political agenda. In doing so, they are
contributing to a workplace culture in our hospitals and medical institutions that is hostile and discriminate discriminatory for Jewish employees. For example, the committee of interns and residents, an affiliate of the service employees international union represents
thousands of medical residents, interns, and fellows across the country. After the October 7th massacre of Israeli citizens, CIR adopted a series of resolutions condemning Israel for genocide. One resolution endorsed the
boy boycott dei de d de d de d de d de d de d de d de d de d de d de d de d de d de d de d de d de d de d de d de dvestment and sanctions movement and called on CIR members to encourage teaching hospitals to cut all ties with Israel including financial investments, pension funds, retirement accounts, academic partnerships, and in
intellectual property relationships. It is no surprise that many doctors and nurses are afraid to speak up about what their unions are doing in their workplaces. Many fear retaliation, professional isolation, or becoming targets themselves if they exercise
their rights under federal law. Workers have rights to speak out against union leadership and to declined to fund political activities with which they disagree. The Civil Rights Act protects workers from having to sacrifice their faith in their principles to get and
keep a job. In public hospitals and clinics, medical professionals also have the right to decline union membership and cannot be required to pay union dues or fees. Yet, under current law, CI exclusively exclusively represents all employees in a bargaining unit, even
those who voted against the union or strongly disagree with the union statements and policy following October 7th. Today we will hear directly from those on the front lines of our hospitals, clinics, and doctor's offices about the anti-semitism they have experienced and witnessed in
their workplaces. My colleagues on the other side of the aisle may be frustrated that we continue to discuss workplace anti- anti-semitism. I'm afra I'm I'm frustrated, too. But until Jewish workers can expect dignity and safety in their workplaces and until
unions return to their core mission of representing all workers, we cannot afford to stop talking about it. With that, I yield to the ranking member for his open opening statement. >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to thank all the witnesses for being here today.
Uh, I'd like to begin by saying that no one should be threatened, harassed, or assaulted because of who they are, who they worship, or what they stand for. We must do more to combat anti-semitism in this country, and ensure that all
Americans are treated with the dignity and respect that they deserve. When it comes to health care, patients and providers must be able to rely on a safe environment free from discrimination. If that is what has motivated this hearing, I think we should be able to come
together in a bipartisan manner and discuss solutions. But I fear that yet again the majority is weaponizing the issue of anti-semitism to attract groups they disfavor like labor unions.
Today marks the 11th time in the last three years we have held committee activity to address anti-semitism. Committee Democrats want to meaningfully address hate and discrimination. How after however after nearly a dozen hearings, it is abundantly clear that
committee Republicans have no interest in addressing the issue in good faith or discussing an effective response. Instead, the majority has weaponized this issue for their political objectives rather than tackle anti-Jewish enemists in a serious
serious and enduring way. As I've said many times before and other people on our side have said, "We're willing to work with you on that issue." If my colleagues were serious, they would call out the leader of their own party, President Trump, who has made
anti-semitic statements himself and embolden right-wing extremists to spew hate with not only impunity, but with celebration. At the same time, the majority will also hold hearings to address racism,
xenophobia, sexism, islamophobia, or similar harms that Americans face. On both counts, committee Republicans have been silent. Even more critically, this committee has stood on the sidelines while this administration has dismantled
the lead civil rights agencies responsible for investigating discrimination and protecting patients, healthcare workers, and medical students. The silence is deafening and telling. Hate cannot be tolerated anywhere,
including in unions. However, it is irresponsible and unproductive to take the words and actions of a few and broadly categorize labor unions as fostering discrimination. I want to remind my colleagues that the labor movement is a large diverse
coalition of workers, including Jewish Americans, many of whom have been pre prominent in the American labor movement. has been a significant force in the battle against anti-semitism and other forms of hate throughout its history, not without its challenges like
America as a whole. At the end of the day, the fight against discrimination in health care is not separate from the fight for affordable care. When entire communities face barriers to quality care, costs rise, preventable conditions go untreated, and working families bear
the burden. Our health care system should work for everyone regardless of who they are or where they come from. Our committee has a real opportunity to improve access to health care, make care more affordable, and address inefficiencies in the health care system
that cost both patients both their economic security and their lives. However, the Trump administration has taken the problems that patients and healthcare workers face and made them demonstrabably worse. Since President Trump returned to
office, his administration and congressional Republicans have waged relentless attacks on the health and well-being of the American people, particularly the most vulnerable Americans. Republicans have failed to meaningfully lower drug cost. And thanks to their big ugly bill and failure to
extend the Affordable Care Act, enhance premium tax cuts, millions of Americans have seen their healthcare premiums skyrocket. At the same time, President Trump's reckless economic policies and foreign wars have asated a cost of living crisis in one in which onethird
of Americans could not afford a $400 emergency expense. I think everyone here knows that a medical crisis costs a lot more than $400. The Trump administration policies in
this Congress Congress's inaction have also harmed our ability to address discrimination for both workers and patients. Multiple agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services, has slashed programs and research they deemed to be too woke and
ban words such as black, disability, trauma, accessible, and mental health. How are we supposed to stop discrimination if we aren't allowed to describe it? These policies are not have not made Americans, including Jewish Americans,
healthier or safer. Instead, Americans are forced to scrap the bottle the bottom of the barrel and skip doctor's appointments to avoid crushing medical debt. The leading cause of bankruptcy in the United States is medical debt. We
should be addressing that. Democrats are committed to protecting people from hate and discrimination and providing safe, affordable health care so that all Americans can access access the care they need. I look forward to today's discussion and continue to look forward,
Mr. Chairman, to work with you in a principal way on addressing discrimination in America. I yield back. The gentleman yields. Uh, pursuant to committee rule 8C, all members who wish to insert written statements into the record may do so by submitting them to
the committee clerk electronically in Microsoft Word format by 5:00 p.m. 14 days after this hearing. And without objection, the hearing record will remain open for 14 days to allow such statements and other extraneous material noted during the hearing to be submitted
for the official hearing record. I will now turn to the introduction of our four distinguished witnesses. Our first witness is Miss Dina uh Margolus, litigation staff attorney at the Lewis D. Brandius Center for Human Rights
under law in New York, New York. Our second witness is Dr. Jacob Grman, uh an cardiology fellow in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Our third witness is Miss Jamie Buren, chief executive officer of Ben the Ark in New York, New York. Our
last witness is Miss Evelyn Sheckchman's, chief executive officer of the American Jewish Medical Association in Sacramento. Sac Sacramento, California. We thank the witnesses for being here today and we look forward to your testimony. Pursuant to committee
rules, I would ask that you each limit your oral presentation to a threeminut summary of your written statement. As command committee members have many questions for you, the clock will countdown from three minutes. Pursuant to committee rule 8D and committee
practice, however, you will not uh cut we will not cut off your testimony until you reach the five minute mark. I would also like to remind the witnesses to be aware of their responsibility to provide accurate information to the subcommittee. I will first recognize
Miss Mongales Margales for your testimony. >> Chairman Allen, Ranking Member Donier, and distinguished members of the subcommittee. Thank you for this opportunity to testify. My name is Dina Margles, and I'm an attorney at the
Lewis D. Brandise Center for Human Rights Under Law, where I represent Jewish and Israeli individuals facing anti-semitic harassment and discrimination. Before joining Brandeise, I worked at a healthc care organization monitoring quality of care
under Medicare and Medicaid. Since the October 7th Hamas terror attacks, we have seen an unprecedented surge in requests for help from Jewish individuals facing anti-semitism, including for refusing to disavow Zionism as part of their Jewish
identity. Hostility to Zionists often functions as a proxy for hostility to Jews, especially when it is used to exclude, demonize, or demand that Jews abandon a part of their identity as a price as a
price of admission to a school, workplace, professional association, or a union. Today I will focus on healthcare labor unions that use the power and privileges of union representation not to protect workers rights but to promote anti-semitic and
anti-sionist campaigns that demonize Israel and marginalize Jewish and Israeli healthare workers. The issue is not whether healthcare workers may hold political views. Of course they may. The problem arises when health care unions use their authority and resources to
promote anti-semitic campaigns outside their labor mission. Jewish and Israeli healthcare professionals are then placed in an impossible position. The union that is supposed to represent them is also helping to create the hostile work
environment they must endure. We are seeing this in healthcare unions across the country. For example, at the National Union of Health Workers, Jewish and Israeli health care professionals report that union spaces became increasingly hostile after October 7th
and that they had been pressured to adopt anti-ionist statements, have met hostility from union leadership, and their requests for meaningful anti-semitism training was not addressed. The harm is not theoretical. A Jewish physician at a major academic
medical center shared a wanted poster included in my written testimony that was posted throughout his campus identifying him and accusing him of complicity in ethnic cleansing. The poster created a threatening workplace, affected his work in the hospital for
months and led patients and colleagues to interrogate him about Israel. Even though Israel had nothing to do with his work as a physician, patients do not want politics in health care. When they are vulnerable in an exam room, hospital bed, or operating room,
they need to trust that every member of the care team is focused on their well-being, not on shunning excellent doctors because they are Jewish or Israeli. When that is happening, the harm is not just to the workplace environment, but it also affects patient care and safety. We are also seeing
anti-semitism enter healthcare through clinical language. In some mental health settings, so-called decolonizing therapy frameworks pathize Zionism itself, treating a core part of Jewish identity as morally or psychologically defective.
Anti-semitism can be dressed up as labor solidarity or clinical language, but the effect is the same. Jewish and Israeli health care professionals and patients are treated as morally suspect and unable to participate fully and equally in clinical settings. Congress can and
should act. They should ensure that healthcare unions cannot use workplace power to promote anti-semitic and anti-ionist campaigns that marginalize Jewish and Israeli workers or threaten patient care. Thank you and I look forward to your questions.
>> Thank you. And I now recognize Dr. Grumman uh for your testimony. >> Chairman Allen, Ranking Member Donier, and members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today. My name is Jacob Agronin. I'm a cardiology fellow at a major medical
academic center, and I've been training for numerous years to take care of patients. That is what I'm supposed to be doing today with with my time and energy. Instead, I'm here because my union formally discriminates against physicians based on national origin, openly supports terrorist sympathizers,
and has made its obsession with a single geopolitical conflict a defining feature of its identity. I will soon be compelled by federal law to fund it. I did not choose this union. The Committee of Interns and Residents, CIR, was voted in at my institution. No contract has
been signed yet, but when it is, a portion of my salary funded in part by Medicare's direct graduate medical education program will flow to an organization whose conduct I will describe today. CIR represents 37,000 resident and fellow physicians across this country. In May of 2024, it passed
a formal resolution titled House Staff Against aparttheid, declaring Israel guilty of apartheid and genocide as an official organizational doctrine. That resolution endorses the boycott, divest, and sanction movement and explicitly calls on hospitals to divest, and I quote, all resources, including but not
limited to direct financial contributions, human capital, pension funds, and retirement programs. Human capital means people. CIR has formally recommended that hospitals exclude my Israeli colleagues from employment and
then compels dues from those same colleagues to fund that position. If any employer in this country adopted that policy, we would call it what it is, discrimination. CI has publicly supported Mahmud Khalil, whom the Secretary of State determined
posed serious adverse foreign policy consequences, and who was alleged to have distributed Hamas associated materials. CI has also publicly supported Dr. Rasha Alawi, a physician who expressed sympathy for Husbah, a designated foreign terrorist organization that has killed hundreds of
Americans, and she even attended its leader funeral. These are not the views of rogue members. In fact, they are documented public organizational choices. My union supports terror sympathizers. This is not a characterization. It is a description of
their own conduct. Jewish and Israeli colleagues who face C's hostility will often not speak publicly. Not because they don't care. They certainly do. but because they are afraid it will affect their employment, their ability to finish training, and most importantly is their ability to care for patients in an
environment where they don't face harassment from their peers. A union is supposed to protect workers, and this one has made some of its members afraid to speak. While this is happening, the resolutions, the rallies, the statements, the political campaigns, my colleagues and I are just trying to take
care of patients. That is why we're here. C's relentless focus on this one geopolitical conflict is a distraction from our mission. I am a Jewish American and I want to be very clear. I am here as an American physician telling this subcommittee that federal law will soon
require me to fund an organization that supports terror sympathizers and formally recommends the exclusion of my colleagues based on where they're from. When Americans come to the hospital, they are not thinking about geopolitics. They should not have to wonder whether their doctor's unit supports terror
sympathizers, but mine does, and Congress has the authority to do something about it. Thank you very much. >> Next, I'll recognize Miss Baron for your testimony. >> Chairman Allen, Ranking Member Donier, and members of the subcommittee. Thank
you for inviting me here today. The organization that I lead as CEO, Ben the Arc Jewish Action, is the nation's largest Jewish membership organization focused on domestic policy. We fight anti-semitism, racism, and other forms of hate. And right now, many American
Jews are understandably afraid. Devastating acts of anti-semitism and increasing attacks on Jews, including as a proxy for Israel, are impacting our physical and emotional well-being. Anti-semitism is never acceptable and it is heartbreaking to encounter it in a
healthcare setting. Imagine being the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor having her therapist dismissed her fear, claiming videos of Hamas's attack on October 7th were conspiracy. Increased anti-semitism leaves many Jews feeling isolated and unsure who to
trust. I feel this fear myself some days when I drop my own children off for religious school at our conservative synagogue. But this is not the only reason that we feel alone. The Trump administration is using Jewish safety as a pretext for policies that endanger our neighbors and our
democracy. And as a Jewish leader, that angers me to see our safety used to justify violating rights, detaining immigrants, or destroying parts of civil society. These disingenuous attacks advance ulterior political goals without making Jews any safer. They don't combat
anti-semitism, they weaponize it. To effectively fight anti-semitism, we must not broadly characterize First Amendment protected speech or criticism of Israel as illegal. Criticism of the government of Israel is not inherently anti-semitic. But both supporters and critics of Israel can fuel anti-semitism
by indiscriminately conflating Jews with the state of Israel or invoking anti-Jewish tropes. Unions and professional organizations are engaged in the same debates happening across America. These disagreements are not inherently illegal anti-semitic discrimination or harassment. In fact, some of the loudest voices in these
organizations on both sides of these debates are themselves Jewish. These organizations should apply their conduct rules uniformly and adhere to federal civil rights laws, but to smear the institutions themselves as anti-semitic because of what some members say is politically motivated. It's gross
governmental overreach to constitutionally protected speech among adults. And the administration itself has built a dangerous permission structure for bigotry and anti-semitism through their embrace of white nationalists and extremists. This normalizing of hate endangers not
just Jews but all Americans because anti-semitism does not exist in a vacuum. When racism and xenophobia are allowed to flourish, anti-semitism inevitably flourishes alongside it. That is one of the many reasons we can only fight anti-semitism alongside other
forms of hate. So, let's talk about the dangers of to Jewish safety and healthcare right now. The administration's cuts to Medicaid and the ACA have made access to health care harder for all Americans, including Jews. Unbelievably, they've also frozen funding for the HHS Office of Civil Rights, gutting the agency responsible
for investigating medical bias. And there is another threat to Jewish safety in our healthcare system. The rabbis teach us to trust women to make decisions about pregnancy and ensure that everyone has access to safe reproductive health care, including abortion. Just this month, 30 Jewish organizations from every denomination in
America joined an amikas brief to the Supreme Court organized by the National Council of Jewish Women in support of medication abortion. Jews are not safer with access to scientifically sound Sorry, Jews are safer with access to scientifically sound, culturally appropriate health care that is not
contingent upon other people's religious beliefs. Instead of adopting the punitive approach favored by the administration, Congress should take actions that actually fight anti-semitism, which I have detailed in my written testimony. And so I'll be brief. Support the improving reporting to prevent hate act
and the support the anti- and support the anti-semitism response and prevention act. Use anti-semitism definitions as educational tools and not divisive speech codes that can be used as pretext to cretail first amendment protected speech. Call it anti-semitism whenever
and wherever you hear it and refuse to normalize conspiracy theories and anti-semitic tropes from elected leaders. Ben the Arc has a dismantling anti-semitism messaging guide that explains in detail how to talk about Jewish safety effectively. The future for this country that is safest for Jews is the future of this country that is
safest for everyone. A thriving multi-racial democracy where every person has access to dignified, appropriate and affordable healthcare. Because there is no higher Jewish value than Paku nephesh saving a life. Where the medical professionals keeping us healthy are protected on the job and can
bargain as a unit. Where anti-semitism and all hatreds are dismantled. And where Jewish people refuse to remain silent as our safety is used as a pretext to harm our allies and neighbors. Thank you. >> Thank you. And lastly, I recognize Mrs.
Shechman for your testimony. Chairman Allen, Ranking Member Donier, and members of the subcommittee. Thank you for inviting me here to testify on anti-semitism in healthcare. My name is Evelyn Shechman, and I serve as CEO of the American Jewish Medical Association
and I have more than 25 years of experience within the health care sector. I am the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors and a first generation American born to a family of Jewish refugees. I am testifying today with a sense of urgency that I did not
expect to feel in 2026. Anti-semitism is not new, but we have entered a new era in which Jew hatred hides behind the guise of anti-ionism. The vast majority of American Jews identify as Zionists or support Israel's right to exist as a Jewish and
democratic state. That means that when Zionism is targeted, Jewish people are targeted. We are seeing calls to fire Jewish doctors, the praising of terrorist groups in and outside of clinical settings, the refusal to treat patients because of their faith,
national origin, or Zionist identity, and the demand that Jewish colleagues renounce Israel as a condition of workplace acceptance. This is anti-semitism. This is discrimination and it is a distraction. It has no place in medicine. Yet we are seeing it within
hospitals, medical schools, associations, and unions. Every health care professional has the right to a workplace where they can focus on the patient, thereby fulfilling their their hypocratic oath. But Jewish health care professionals are denied that right because geopolitics and activism have
infected the health care space. When employers fail to protect their workers, employees rely on labor unions for help. Today, many unions have created an environment where Jewish professionals no longer feel welcome because union resources have focused on politics
instead of patience. Worse yet, Jewish members are compelled to fund these activities through mandatory dues. The Committee of Interns and Residents, the nation's largest house staff union, has become inhospitable to Jewish members, actively institutionalizing anti-semitism.
In May 2024, CIR passed resolutions blacklisting political candidates who accept donations connected to the so-called Israel lobby and another endorsing the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement. CIR has openly supported terrorist sympathizers and
plastered hospitals with posters accusing Israel of the false charges of genocide and apartheid. Jewish CIR members who ask the union to focus on patient care instead of geopolitics are routinely silenced, ostracized, and isolated from union dialogue. Other
unions are not immune. National Nurses United has even distributed a guide on how members can bring anti-Israel politics, sentiments, and polarizing activity within the clinical setting. Anti-Semitic conduct must be investigated and punished with the same
urgency as any other form of discrimination. Every Jewish health care professional, every patient, and every person who walks through a hospital door deserves nothing less. Thank you for this opportunity to testify for Jewish Voices and Healthcare. I look forward to
your questions. >> Thank you all for your opening statement. Um, now we are ready for u under committee rule nine. We will now question witnesses under the five-minute rule. I will recognize myself for five
minutes. Dr. Groonin, it takes real courage for you to be here today. like you said, you'd really like to be taking care of your patients, but to speak about something uh this these anti-semitic actions of the CRA CI
CIR union and some of its members. Can you discuss how the CIR leadership and some members have created what you call in your written testimony a climate of enforced silence for Jewish and
pro-Israel medical trainees? Thank you, Chairman Allen, for your question. Um, on a policy level, they've very clearly created a culture of discrimination, of intimidation, of exclusion, uh, amongst my Israeli
colleagues, my Jewish colleagues, and a large number of others that support the state of Israel or just don't like this activity. Um, many of my colleagues are really afraid to speak up about this. Um, I've tried to have them sign petitions and people are really afraid to have their name on anything that goes
against this union. Um, I think most importantly when it comes to this point is Americans really do not want their doctors supporting terrorist sympathizers, which is exactly what this union is doing. It's creating a culture of fear and intimidation in our hospitals.
>> Thank you. Uh is Margolus uh your written testimony describes Jewish physicians being shunned and isolated in hospital settings because of perceived support for Israel. How does that kind of con conduct affect the work the workplace and patient care?
>> Thank you for the question and I I I think that first and foremost healthc care depends on trust, teamwork and professional cooperation. So if Jewish doctors and and they are and Israeli doctors are being isolated and marginalized and ostracized, it affects
patient care, um it doesn't make it a a safe place for patients. You know, they feel vulnerable when they come into a hospital setting and they're certainly going to be concerned about the quality of care that they're going to receive if a p if a doctor right in front of them is being ostracized by their co-workers.
Um, at the same time, it's also um besides affecting patient care, we should be concerned that there are hostile work environments for for Jewish and for Israeli doctors based on protected characteristics. If this were for any other group,
it would it would it would be addressed. >> Thank you. Uh, Miss Sheckchman, your written testimony provides examples of disciplinary action taken against Jewish medical professionals because of their public condemn condemnation of Hamas are speaking out against anti-semitism.
What impact does retaliation or fear of retaliation have on Jewish medical professionals? >> So, the clinical environment is highly regulated. It's highly coordinated. Um if anyone who's seen what goes on in in a in an operating room, everything there has to be synchronized um and it's
planned out. Um if there is something that comes in that is unplanned, that is a distraction, that is disruptive, you are uh uh disrupting the whole system and you are impacting patient care. There is a trust that's involved. There are relationships that involved and
everyone there needs to be focused on the patient and nothing else but but the patient. You need to create an ideal setting um that is is um keeping the patient in mind. Not politics, not geopolitics, just the patient. Good. Thank you. And again, I appreciate
your courage for standing up for what you believe in. And you know that there's going to be an attempt to change the subject here today and point at the administration. Uh but I can tell you this, never in history has an administration united the entire Middle
East against the most evil in in in in the world. And that is people a nation that says they want to destroy Israel and everyone that supports the people of Israel. That is what that is the conflict we're
in today. It is a righteous conflict. And uh thank goodness for the courage of this administration in taking on this uh very difficult uh situation. And again, that's courage and we're seeing courage today and we've seen it throughout
biblical history. So uh you know, we're in this we're in this conflict together. So thank you very much. And I yield my time and I now call on Mr. Courtney for his line of questioning. >> Uh thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you to all the witnesses for being here.
I want to take a point of personal privilege just to particularly welcome uh Miss Shechman who's here today. Her 25 years of um experience in healthcare I've personally benefited from as well as her husband Mark who's a incredibly talented surgeon who uh makes sure that I can actually get around a golf course,
Mr. Chairman, because of a knee replacement surgery that he just did for me a few months ago. So, um uh >> you told me you're playing better. >> I am. >> You can be playing your time. >> Thank you. Um so um the the seriousness
of this uh issue today is um undeniable in terms of what's happening in 2026. Um as was mentioned earlier um Ellie Wiselle once famously said that anti-semitism affects more than its victims. It affects the society in which it lives and breathes. And unfortunately
we are seeing it um you know manifest itself um in the most unexpected places. uh in quiet suburban Connecticut uh a few weeks ago in Coventry, Connecticut, the town council meeting which was being presided over by the council chair which
is like the mayor of the the the city there uh Lisa Thomas who is Jewish and a granddaughter of u Jewish refugees. The meeting was suddenly interrupted by individuals um doing Nazi salutes and saying seeile um which again was just
you know beyond shocking and uh offensive um as you know the statement that Lisa uh put out uh afterwards is that this is not free speech. It's hateful. These gestures and symbols represent loyalty to a regime that committed genocide and their use today
is intended to intimidate and dehumanize the Jewish people. Lisa uh is a retired teacher, longtime member of the NEA Union. She was the head of the local uh in Hebrin, Connecticut, which is uh nearby. And the good news I I just want to share is that the eastern the Jewish
Federation of Eastern Connecticut has organized um a community conversation and gathering which is going to happen in a few days uh in countering the Holocaust and anti-semitism. Uh and the ADL has also stepped forward in terms of trying to uh connect with uh Jewish
public officials, elected officials who again are experiencing unfortunately what what happened to Lisa a few uh weeks ago. Um last night the New London police arrested an individual who threatened the seek American um mayor of
Norwich uh to take out his him him and his family. Um so as we said, you know, this this virus, you know, really um becomes systemic and widespread and and we've really got to be smart about making sure that we we take the the appropriate steps. So, Miss Shechman, in
your um testimony, you um really explicitly said that we need to ensure robust enforcement of the Civil Rights Act is one of the, you know, suggestions to Congress. And I really appreciate that because I I think frankly there's I broad consensus that if there's um well
there in law school as you may recall Miss Margolus there was a legal um uh statement ubby juice ubie just eB remedium which basically says without a remedy there is no right and right now because of the fact that the office of
civil rights has been basically um disappearing in in plain sight um there is no remedy. for for people who have complaints in terms of anti-semitism, whether it's in medical schools or medical institutions. Um, and again, the the Civil Rights Office for the
Department of Education, which has jurisdiction over medical schools, resolved only 1% of cases in 2025 because between Doge and decisions made by um Secretary McMahon, that office was basically dismantled. she's scrambling
now to rehire people to because they realized that they went too far and that there the backlog of cases um has piled up um in in the wake of you know really a a very bad decision. So Miss Baron I mean again just for to give you a second
to talk about again the OCR and just how that's actually a very concrete way that Congress in Washington can help address this issue. >> Yeah, for sure. I I think that we can all agree that funding the Office of Civil Rights is one of the key steps that we can take to combat
anti-semitism. And you know, 72% of Jewish American voters don't approve of the job this administration is doing. And physical assaults against Jews in the US were at the highest rates in nearly 50 years in 2025. So well I understand that um a lot of conversation
about anti-semitism has been happening. I think funding these offices that can take proactive steps and actually investigating complaints is one of the most important things that can >> and again as we learned in first year law school if you don't have a remedy you just don't have a right. You can have all the fancy language in there and
and deplore um injustice but frankly if you don't have a remedy it it it's it's all for not. With that I yield back. Uh, the gentleman yields. And now I call on our chairman of the full committee, Mr. Wahberg, for your line of questions. >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thanks to
the panel for being here. And, uh, Miss Sheman, uh, if you and your husband were able to get Representative Courtney's golf game better. We need to talk after this. Well, maybe maybe it would take a miracle anyway for
me. So, thanks for being here. Um, M. Mr. Margolius, your testimony discusses uh healthc care unions moving beyond mandatory bargaining uh subjects that normally would be things like wages and
working conditions into anti-semitic and anti-zionist campaigns. I think I know the answer, but I'd like you to discuss with us why is that especially concerning in a healthc care
setting? happy to address this. Um, healthc care settings are incredibly delicate settings. Okay, a hospital setting is supposed to be about patient care. And I think everybody here agrees that patients in America should have
quality of care. If you have a hostile work environment in a hospital setting, right, where you need trust and cooperation between doctors and nurses and support staff, it's going to affect the quality of care that patients
receive. The other thing is is that there is no place for politics inside of a hospital. That's why if you notice there are dress codes, right? and you see people in different color gear so you can identify the doctor or the nurse or the technician because nobody should
know what your views are whether you're a doctor in an emergency room or if you're a psychiatrist or a therapist, right? You're supposed to be a blank slate and you're supposed to provide people care no matter what their protected characteristic is.
>> Yeah. agnostic as far as the peripheral stuff. Just make me well. Put my shoulder back together and like. Thank you. Um Dr. Ronin, uh, a majority of your colleagues
um, voted for CIR to represent them, which was their right, of course, probably wrong, the right to be wrong, but otherwise now the hospital is in the middle of collective bargaining with CI, which means it has legal responsibility
to bargain in good faith. What does bargaining in good faith, keying on that, bargaining in good faith mean to you? Thank you for your question. Bargaining in good faith has to mean bargaining in the interests of all members you're representing. Um, in this case, they're
clearly not. It's impossible for them to bargain in good faith when they or by organizational doctrine want to exclude a portion of those that will that apply under their purview. Um, namely my Israeli colleagues. Um, this is not
collective bargaining. This is actually selective bargaining. >> Okay? where they're referring to they they want to help those that agree with them and they want to fire those that don't. >> And that's not what you would hope out of bargaining, I take it. >> Certainly not. >> And what you would hope out of
bargaining would be >> what I would hope for is the option for those that disagree with this union on fundamental level to not be compelled to pay dues to this union. Um, I think it's absurd that the union can call for blatant discrimination against Israeli
colleagues and then compel those same colleagues >> to pay >> to pay them. >> Yeah. To pay to take action on you against you and to weaponize the system. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, >> Michman. Your testimony uh cites materials produced by the National
Nurses Union from August of 2022 which as I understand describe Israel as an apartheid system, an occupation of indigenous Palestinian lands and a European settler colonial project fairly
explicit as in their scription. Um that was their position before October 7th. Uh what reports have you received from your members about the activities of nurses union since October 7th? >> Um so a nurs's union um just to remind
um everyone here a union is meant to improve the conditions of the employees to create an ideal situation for patient care. Um so in bringing in a political situation or a geopolitics um for something that is a a halfway around the world is um irrelevant to the
patient care setting. So within that context um since then um the nurses union has put forth a guide um to try and educate their members in order to how they can bring that into the clinical setting and that's extremely dangerous. So you want to keep that
whole setting sterile and um uh uh making sure that you keep patient first. So they are right now trying to educate and bring the tools into a space that has it has no space for it has no place for it >> which should bring terror into the
hearts and minds of some of the patients that could come under their care. >> Correct. >> So thank you. My time is expired. I yield back. >> Gentleman yields. Now I call on the ranking member of the full committee Mr. Scott for his five minutes of questioning. >> Thank you. Um thank you Mr. Chairman.
Um, I ask question to Ms. um Ban. The committee of Republicans have turned a blind eye to anti-semitism when it inconveniences them politically. For example, the leader of their party, Donald Trump and his allies have
repeatedly said vile anti-semitic statements and Republicans have been silent. Trump has even hosted a Holocaust denier at M Marila Lago committee. Republicans have now held three hearings on anti-semitism in unions. Yet reports of antise-semitism
of young among young Republicans, including news reports of students in the University of Florida's College Republicans chapter doing a Nazi salute has evoked no response at all. Mr. Chairman, I'd ask unanimous consent to enter into the record a Washington Post
article entitled College Republican group disbanded after students allegedly give Nancy Salute. A new a New York a Time article entitled White House shrugs off leaked chants chats from young
Republicans praising Hitler. A political article entitled leaked messages expose young Republicans racist chant. Thousands of private messages reveal young GOP leaders joking about gas chambers, slavery, and rape. A New York
Times article entitled, "The farright is dividing garlic college Republicans." A political article entitled Donald Trump dawned with White House n nationalist Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes. an article from the Jewish Democratic
Council of America entitled Donald Trump's long record on anti-semitism which lists the countless examples of anti-semitism espoused by the president in the White House. I'd ask unanimous consent that those articles be inserted in the record.
>> Without objection, >> Mr. Chairman, earlier this month I sent a letter to Chairman Wahlberg asking him if and when he plans to conduct oversight on those kinds of examples. and we obviously haven't had such a um hearing. And so, Miss Ban, what are the
dangers of a double standard when it comes to calling out and tackling anti-semitism? >> Thank you for the question, Mr. Scott. Yeah, American Jews really don't want to be at the center of these political debates and when it feels like the administration is trying to have it both
ways. As you said, it's deeply troubling to watch this administration give a permission structure to Christian nationalists um and to surround themselves with people who regularly pedal anti-semitism while saying from the other side of their mouth that they care deeply about fighting it. Um when
that government turns and tries to tell us that they're cracking down on civil society organizations to protect us, how on earth are we as American Jews supposed to trust that? Um I don't trust that. I don't feel protected by those those uh choices by the administration.
Um, and I hear from Jewish people every day about how it scares us that uh the Office of Civil Rights and many of the other uh ways that anti-semitism and other forms of hate are able to be reported on effectively um are are being
dismantled and and undermined. Well, that um you mentioned the Office of Civil Rights in various organizations and I'd point out that this committee under Republican leadership does not have a subcommittee on civil rights. Used to under Democrats, it has a
subcommittee on civil rights, not this one. Uh those organizations can investigate and address um anti-semitism. And did you what did you say about their funding? Yeah, that that they've defunded many of
these institutions. Um, and that has real world consequences on on the ability to actually investigate claims of anti-semitism. Uh, which which deeply concerns me. And I think being able to have a whole of government response by passing something like the anti-semitism response and prevention act that funds
these offices um that puts a national coordinator in place so we can actually have all of our government agencies working together to investigate these these various forms of hate. >> And then the department of education office civil rights is being effectively dismantled. Uh does the politicization
of anti-semitism make Jews safer? Does do you feel that some policies advanced by this administration have actually undermined the fight against anti-semitism? >> Yeah, that's right. I mean, we're a small minority community that is already feeling vulnerable as demonstrated by the stories you've been hearing uh
today. And you know, the last thing we want is to be used as a convenient excuse to dismantle the very democratic systems that keep our civil society healthy and safe. Um, and you know, we we don't want to be a political football that's being put in the middle of these debates.
>> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back. >> Gentleman yields. And now I'll call on Mr. Owens for your five minutes of questioning. >> Thank you, uh, Mr. Chairman, uh, for convening this this hearing. I cannot express how deeply disappointed it is to, uh, that we're sitting here today
uh, talking about anti anticipism in the health care system. and someone mentioned as a virus. Uh it's it's a cancer and it's since we've seen growing is right 2026. It's hard to believe we're having this conversation in this particular area particularly. This is an area where people should be more concerned about saving lives and helping
the public instead of creating division and sowing fear. Uh so I want to thank the witnesses who are bravely and boldly uh coming forward to shine a light on what's been going on. Um, Miss Maggole, uh, you said in your written testimony that health care workers are within their rights to hold political views
about the Middle East, Israel, and other other topics. Uh, where is the line between legitimate criticism of Israel, Israeli government policy and anti and anti-semitic anti-semitic and uh, discriminary conduct targeting Jewish,
Israeli and Zionist health care workers. Thank you for that question and I I think this is a really important question and I gives me an opportunity to also talk about one of the ways in which we determine what is anti-semitic conduct is with a definition of
anti-semitism and the gold standard for that is the IH definition including its contemporary examples which are really important for showing what the contemporary manifestations of anti-semitism are today and I want to be
clear that it's not about regulating speech, it's about regulating conduct and the discriminatory intent to that conduct. The other thing that's incredibly important here about the IRA definition is that it says that legitimate criticism of Israel, similar
to criticism of any other country, is fine. It's not anti-semitic. But when you demonize Israel or you hold it to a double standard or you hold it to a standard that you hold no other country to and you collectively blame Jewish people for the actions of Israel
and you alienate them and marginalize that is different. That is contemporary manifestations of anti-semitism. And those are the things that I see every day. I talk to students, medical students, doctors, professors, Jewish employees. And these
are the kind of problems that we are seeing. These are the manifestations of contemporary anti-semitism that we are seeing today. >> Thank you. And it's going to kind of lead into this next question. Mr. County. Uh CS CIR's May 5th, 2024 resolution, House Staff
against apartheid includes the commitment that CI will provide legal and logistical support to staff and members who speak in solidarity solidarity with Palestine and and other causes that they suffer harassment uh disciplinary disciplinary actions or
other forms of retaliation. Um quick question, they mentioned logistical and legal. Does that mean that they will bust people in um if they act out disrespectful bully people and get arrested they'd also help with that process using the dues?
>> Uh that's what it seems to mean. >> That's what it seems like to me too. >> And I while I don't know any specific examples of this taking place yet, um I would point out the egregious double standard um as Miss Mgles was just pointing out um how they focus solely on
this one issue. They're offer they offer legal support for those that are speaking up against this one issue when we know that they're actually promoting the exact opposite for those with opposing views. >> Uh with that, uh can you can you discuss whether C has offered similar support to
union members who speak in solidarity with Israel or suffer harassment, disciplinary actions or other forms of retaliation for opposing the union's pro boycott divestment and sanction positions. They absolutely have not and they would not. Um, in fact, quite the opposite.
Um, I'm in regular contact with dozens of former CIR members that have left the organization specifically because of their conduct regarding Israel. Um, it's just plain and simple Jew hatred and discrimination. >> Mr. Hackman, you've I think you've kind of discussed this, but just to address
it one more time, one uh one purpose of unions is to advocate for better conditions for the members. Can you tell me if CR's pa uh passage of resolutions supporting bank boycott divestment and sanctions improve conditions for workers and do you think these resolutions could
lead to a negative health outcome? >> Um absolutely they can lead to negative health outcomes. Um resources are being taken away from the job of what a union is supposed to do. There are worthy there's a worthy role of unions. Um that's to improve the conditions of residents. So, anyone who has seen a
resident who's worked um 80 hours a week or more um understands the the type of conditions that need to be addressed. Um when resources are are not allocated towards what is needed um by the member base and they're actually in they're
instead being used for a geopolitical situation um uh uh such as the false statement of apartheid and genocide um then it is a misallocation of funds and resources. Therefore, the patient care team and um all the members there are learning how not to take care of
patients. >> I want to thank you first of all for for standing up this for your courage to come forward and uh but we need to make sure we're addressing it. So, thank you so much and I yield back. >> Gentlemen Yels. And now I call on our ranking member, Mr. Sier, for your five minutes of questioning.
>> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to thank all the witnesses again. This has been a a good discussion and I think if we could focus on the issues we've talked about here, we could really make a bipartisan difference. I'm reminded um by a couple of statistics.
Uh anti-semitic and Islamophobic hate crimes have become more common in recent years. A crime and justice research an an alliance analysis showed that there's been a 12% increase in anti-Jewish hate crimes in 2024 and an 18% increase in
anti-Muslim hate crimes in 40 major US cities. And an FBI um report said that anti-Jewish hate crimes accounted for roughly 69% of all religious-based hate crimes in 2024 despite u Jewish Americans making up 2%
of the US population. I think to me that's good framing that we do have a challenge here. To the degree we can work on it together without distractions in every field is is really important. Um, I unfortunately just uh got a alert
that our former colleague Barney Frank um just passed away and in the New York Times article he's quoted as saying prejudice is based on ignorance. Um so Barney, thank you for that reminder as a gay Jewish uh public official. Miss
Baron, could you um give me a a response to what the international um Sorry, I need my glasses. The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance describe uh frames about defining anti-semitism.
>> Sure. Thank you for that question, Mr. Sier. And may Mr. Frank's memory be a blessing. Um the Jewish community is deeply divided on definitions of anti-semitism. There are three definitions that all have merits and have challenges. Um but the key point is that they were never intended to be
legislated uh and codified into federal law. They're really good educational tools, but um even the the author of the IH definition uh did not intend for it to actually be codified into federal law. And so um it it has the risk of
impacting uh protected free speech through cotification. >> Thanks. Want to ask that question in context of Congressman Frank because of his quote is that prejudice is based on ignorance. So, let's talk a little bit about um I'd like to ask you a question
of the effect of the actions of HR1 on what is already a pretty discriminatory biased health care system for all of the greatness of the American health care system. And I agree with everything everyone said about as a consumer of health care um in my life, particularly
recently, we want the best and the brightest working as a team when you go into that emergency room. So, let's talk about the effect of um what the big ugly bill did on what I would view as an very uh biased health care system right now.
The impacts of that legislation on minorities in particular. >> Yeah. I mean, you know, we're talking about the largest Medicare cut in history and seeing roll roll backs of ACA tax credits and um you know, it puts everyone in this country in a terrible
squeeze, including Jewish Americans who want to be able to afford their healthcare, want to be able to get the care that we all all Americans need. Um, and so, you know, it's it's devastating that people have lost access to care. Um, and even for, you know, American
Jews who can still afford to go to the doctor, it's still a crisis because, um, it's it's indication it's an indicator of a society that's actually not treating our most vulnerable um, and and allowing them to get the healthcare that that they deserve. So, in terms of the
most vulnerable, many people who are in minorities and disadvantaged and civil rights protected classes of people, um they're going to end up in the emergency room because in a community like the one I represent in the Bay Area, we've spent a lot of efforts in primary care. We
make sure that people who have to get medical in California have a primary care physician, but we're going to have to eliminate that, which means that people who don't have resources will end up where. >> Yeah. Yeah, I mean people that don't have resources will end up not being able to get healthcare and not being
able to afford it. And um it's it's really a it's a shondaanda. It's a shame. Um and you know, I think that um because of the ways that our communities overlap, right, American Jews sit at every identity intersection. So we we
aren't just Jewish, right? We're many we're many things and we are vulnerable to the same things that all Americans are vulnerable to. and and in that context again the cuts that have come to um federal grants for people to go into the health field. Could you respond to that?
>> Yeah, I mean I I think that in in across all of these uh issues, the the cuts are impacting our health care system across the board and are making it harder for people to access care, harder for um people to stay in the health care field. Uh and it it's going to have long-term ramifications for our country.
>> Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Gentleman yields. And now I call on Dr. Ander for his uh five minutes of question. >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As a physician and member of Congress, I believe that every American should feel safe in
obtaining medical treatment without worrying about facing discrimination based on his or her ethnicity, religion, personal convictions, or other arbitrary factors. Unfortunately, many Jewish patients now confront the troubling reality that anti-semitic attitudes
exist within parts of the medical community. Major medical organizations have permitted anti-semitism to infiltrate health care settings, undermining confidence in patient care and weakening public trust. According to a recent peer-reviewed study published
in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, 40% of Jewish health care professionals reported experiencing anti-semitism in their professional or academic environment. Um um in the in the years after Hamas's September 7th terrorist attack against Israel, which
is truly alarming. No physician, therapist, medical student, or healthcare worker should face intimidation or harassment simply for being Jewish. One recent example, which is deeply disturbing, was a protest outside Massachusetts General
Hospital. Eyewitnesses reported seeing posters developed by the committee of interns and residents depicting bloody raised hands alongside anti-Israel messaging. And of course, this is a reference to the 2000 Ramala lynching of two Israelis where one of the killers
notoriously held up his blood soaked hands to a cheering crowd. CIR is the largest house staff union in the United States, representing uh more than 40,000 resident physicians and fellows across 60 hospitals. Miss Shechman, you are CEO
of the American Jewish Medical Association, which was created in response to rising anti-semitism in healthc care settings after the October 7th Hamas attacks. From your experience, what do you think can be done um when
major medical associations defend leaders who engage in anti-semitic harassment or act or or excuse acts of terror? >> Thank you for that question. It's an important question. I think um what we also have to understand is that this piece of it is called institutionalizing
of anti-semitism. So when it enters into the institutions and it codifies it, then you're entering into dangerous gowns. becomes um systemic and it's something that we have seen previously um in history. Um there are a number of different actions that can can be taken. Um members can speak up. Uh there are
committees for ethics. Um there are reviews. Um it can be elevated as well into uh um outside condemnation and then it can go all the way up into civil rights actions because these are uh uh title six and title seven discriminatory actions.
>> And no, thank you for that answer. And um could you share some examples of medical institutions that have taken action against anti-semitism? >> Um I love that question. I think it's worthy of of also sharing systems that have done well. Um we're working with a
system we're working with UC San Diego who had some um some issues of their own and we've been developing a curriculum with them um that has been enlightening. I've gone to every single session um of them and um as things have come up, they have been uh there have been discussions
in order to address them. Um I can also say locally, you know, from from the state of of Connecticut, uh we've worked very well with our own, you know, health care system there and and and Hartford Healthcare. they have been able to walk a very nice um line and promote uh uh uh
you know I'll say Israeli technology innovation and those that um that are really bringing forth partnerships and and healthcare. >> Well, thank you for your answer and I'd like to yield the balance of my time to the chairman of the whole full committee, Chairman Wahberg.
Well, I thank the gentleman and uh I just wanted to respond in a way to my good friend and colleague, the ranking member of this committee uh in his concern that we have not addressed or even spoken about what went on at the University of Florida with Republican
organization. Uh in this committee, our our normal process is to bring in institutions like Colombia um and others when they do harm and don't do the right thing. University of Florida did the right thing, reprimanded, disciplined
the Republican club. I made public statements in support of that and objection to the Republicans for making those anti-semitic statements as as students. That's the difference. And we have record of that. I would like to submit, Mr. Chairman,
uh, to go alongside of the record that I don't think gave the accurate information. We will go after offenders and Miss Shipman maybe we should do better maybe bringing University of Florida in to thank them for what they
did immediately in taking action against the anti-semitism. So I would re request that these documents be submitted for the record as well. >> Without objection. >> Thank you. I yield back to Mr. Under.
uh the gentle and now I I call on M uh Mr. Fine for his five minutes of questioning. >> Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I apologize. I missed what sounds like a bunch of lies about the University of Florida. Um I come from Florida. Actually, in Florida, we were the first
state to pass the IRA definition and we applied it to our medical schools and all of our education institutions in K through20. because we passed the IRA definition. When that so-called Republican club had that event, they were immediately thrown off of campus by
the university. See, that's the difference between Republicans and Democrats. We do something about it. They like to talk about it. Um, but I want to give an example of even where there is an issue. I want to give an example and I have a question for Miss Ban about it. Um, I want to talk about a dentist in the state of Florida. Um, his
name is Dr. Fatti Kablaui. Um he's not just a dentist in Florida. He's a mainstream Muslim imam at a mosque in North Miami. And he said the following. Um "Oh Allah," this is in his sermon. When he's not practicing as a dentist, he's practicing as the Muslim religious
leader, the imam of his mosque. He said, "Oh Allah, annihilate the tyrannical Jews. Oh Allah, annihilate them." He also said, "Oh Allah, annihilate the brothers of apes and pigs." Referring to Jews. Should a Muslim religious leader
who's a dentist who refers to, I guess, his Jewish patients as the brothers of apes and pigs, should he be allowed to practice medicine in the United States? >> I mean, that's a an abhorrent thing to say, and I don't think anybody uh that
kind of discrimination is okay in any context. >> So, you would agree that he should lose his license? >> I'm not a professional on who gets medical licenses, but I can agree. In your opinion, if if it was up to you and you could say, should a Muslim religious leader who says his Jewish patients are
the brothers of apes and pigs, is that someone that should be allowed to pract to stick tools into the mouths of his Jewish patients in North Miami, by the way, where there are lots of Jews. Is that someone who you believe should be allowed to practice medicine in the state of Florida? >> I think that would probably not be
somebody who >> All right. So, so look, it is an issue. This is a real issue and it's an ironic one. I can't say I've ever experienced this personally. One of my mother's great disappointments is that I did not become a Jewish doctor. Um so I I could not live up to her I I didn't have a
thing. I couldn't I can't deal with blood. But this is a real issue that is out there. And my question is for Miss Margles. Um what I find outrageous in today's testimony is this isn't just a campus problem. It's affecting hospitals, residency programs, and as my
example just pointed out, patient care itself. We've got refusals to treat Jewish patients. Healthcare workers calling Jews the brothers of apes and pigs. Patients hearing pro-terror slogans. Inifatifa, long live the inifat, which is a call for violence.
Um, from hospital rooms. Jewish patients have learned they have to hide their identity just to safely receive care. I actually talked to a kid just this morning who told me he's afraid to wear his kea here on Capitol Hill. He works in one of our offices and he's afraid to
wear it because he's Jewish. That's part of why I wear mine, to tell people that they should not be afraid. So, I have a question for you. If a nurse publicly said she would refuse to treat black patients, or if patients were lying in hospital beds hearing staff chant
slogans associated with violence against them, there'd be national outrage justifiably, and people would lose their jobs immediately. So when Jewish patients are being denied care, intimidated, being called the brothers of apes and pigs, or made to fear the people treating them, why instead of
zero tolerance, are so many institutions still rationalizing this as free speech instead of what it is, outright bigotry that's putting patient lives at risk. >> Thank you, Congressman, for that question. And I just want to say as another disappointment who should have
been a doctor but also has problems with blood, I I feel your pain. So, uh, Congressman, Jewish patients and healthcare workers should never be the exception to basic civil rights protections. And I do feel that we often
are because there isn't a legitimate definition to explain what constitutes anti-semitism and that people don't because people don't understand it, they don't often identify it. So I do think that's a problem because I agree with you that if
similar conduct were directed at any other protected group um if patients re fear they would receive worse care you know for showing a part of their protected identity if doctors were shunned because of their identity institutions would immediately recognize it as discrimination. >> Well thank you and since I only have 20
seconds left that's why I've filed a bill which I'm hoping this committee is going to hear soon which does two simple things. It uses the IRA definition, which is what we use to eliminate this problem in Florida, and it simply says that anti-semitism has to be treated the same way as racism. That solved the
problem in Florida. That's why anti-semitism is largely a 49 state problem and not as much of a problem in Florida. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. >> Thank you. And gentleman yields. And now I call on our chairman Emeritus, uh, Miss Fox, for her five minutes of
questioning. >> Thank you, Mr. chairman and thanks to our witnesses for being here. Um Dr. Gonan, your testimony talks about the resolution your union adopted on May 5th, 2024 titled House Staff Against
Aparthide, which called for boycott, devestment, and sanctions against Israel and encouraged affiliated academic institutions to devest all resources from Israel, including financial contributions, human capital, pension
funds, retirement programs, and intellectual property. What do you understand this call to devest all human capital to mean? >> Thank you for your question. Uh, human capital very clearly refers to Israeli colleagues, but I would also say extends
to other American Zionists, which includes most Jews, a large number of Christians, and a number of other Americans that just don't support this. >> Thank you very much. What effect has the human capital provision in the
resolution had on the Jewish and Israeli doctors you work with? >> Thank you. It's created a really problematic culture of uh intimidation and exclusion. Um as I mentioned previously, my uh colleagues are afraid to speak up against this union because of provisions like that. Um and I do
worry it extends uh to patients. It totally impacts patient care. You know, should patients family members have to worry about speaking Hebrew? uh when their family member is sick in the hospital over fear of how they may be treated differently by some of their doctors that support some of these
things. >> Well, thank you very much, Miss Margol. Workers in unionized workplaces have rights to decline to financially support their union's political activities under the Civil Rights Act. They may also
obtain a religious accommodation to funding the union's activities. What additional approaches might Congress consider to protect better Jewish and is Israeli health care workers from being
forced to fund or accept representation from unions that promote hostility toward their identity. >> So conduct oversight into how healthcare unions use due funded resources, official platforms, member communications and representative
authority. And also, Congress should be examining whether unions promoting anti-semitic and anti-ionist hostility can fairly represent Jewish and Israeli members. Um, also the Department of Labor, the National Labor Relations
Board, the EEOC, and HHS OCR can also clarify anti-Semitic harassment in healthcare workplaces is unlawful and whether it comes from employees, co-workers, professional associations or unions. Thank you very much. Uh I yield back,
Mr. Chairman. >> All right, the general lady yields. And um let's see where's Okay. All right. Uh now I'd like to recognize our ranking member for your closing remarks since it looks like we have no further questions.
>> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh, first I want to ask unanimous consent to enter into the record three items. The Senate helped Democratic staff report entitled Justice Denied: How Trump's Office of Civil Rights reached a 12-year low in protecting students from discrimination.
Number two, a political prom education article entitled A Sinking Ship: Employees Flee ED Civil Rights Office. And uh number three, a national council of Jewish women's amicus brief signed by 50 faith-based organization to protect
uh metapriston poor pronunciation access to the Supreme Court. >> Without objection. >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I I do really want to thank all of the witnesses. I think all of your testimony has helped me. Um, and we really I want to just say
again how much I feel like we should work together. Uh, we can have legitimate differences. I can see some of the differences having many friends in the union movement and healthcare unions in particular in um, California and across the country. So let's have that conversation, but let's focus on
what's undeniable that anti-semitism is unacceptable in any form and we should work together to make sure that there are consequences for people who practice it. And to the question about education and Barney Frank, we must deal with the ignorance around um anti-semitism and
its effects in the workplace. So with that, Mr. chairman. Um, again, combating anti-semitism and every every form of discrimination is a moral imperative that demands action by all of us. As a member of the bipartisan task force for
combating anti-semitism, I take this responsibility very seriously. It is not enough to ask promise to make promises or change slogans. We must fight every day to ensure that no one is threatened, harassed or assaulted because of who
they are in America. particularly in medical settings where people are giving and receiving life-saving care. As all of our witnesses have have mentioned, those involved must be provided with dignity and respect. Regrettably, discrimination and inequalities in
health care are not new issues. Many individuals and groups have been treated as lesser than and given inadequate treatment. And although we have taken steps to change that, we still have a long way to go in this country. I however I fear that only focusing on
anti-semitism in that in that way that weaponizes it against unions and healthc care entities my colleagues are not only failing to address the concerns of million millions of Americans who also experience discrimination every day but
are also failing to exercise appropriate oversight regard regarding this administration's policies that have sidelined civil rights agencies and have and have distracted from this their mission. These agencies should be fully resourced and staffed to focus on the
enforcement of our federal civil rights laws. Instead, they are complicit in the degradation of these agencies, undermining their ability to combat anti-semitism and enforce the laws we have in place to defy to fight that discrimination.
We need to take anti-semitism in all of its forms of discrimination seriously. But too often my colleagues across the aisle use these hearings as an excuse to threaten any person, institution or movement that ha that they happen to disagree with with or without offering
any solution often rather often than to get rid of the offending party entirely. It may be polit politically expedient to do so, but that fails to serve the broader goal of protecting Jewish Americans and others from discrimination
and conducting robust enforcement of our civil rights law. Democrats remain committed to working with you to do just that. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back. I thank the ranking member. Um, and I'd like to thank our witnesses for sharing
your experiences and perspectives on how unions are fanning the flames of anti-semitism in our hospitals and healthc care institutions. Uh, the reason we have these hearings is to work towards solutions. We want to hear what is uh, you know, what what
what we're seeing on the ground. We are the people's house here and uh and we hear you and uh and in fact as representative fine uh line mentioned he is going to uh put a put a bill together
as they did in Florida to deal with this problem and uh so you you got to cut to the chase here and uh that's why we do this and uh and again I want to thank you for your courage to be here to highlight the the issues that it's it's
disturbing that we have to deal with in in our nation. Um, you know, today's hearing also highlights the importance of having labor laws that respect the choices of Jewish workers and and who do not support their union's political priorities. Uh, no worker in America should have to
pay dues to a union that celebrates violence against Jews, seeks the destruction of Israel and advocate advocates for the fair firing of Jewish and Israeli workers. In the state of Georgia, we have a right to work law that says to hold your job, you do not
have to be a member of a union and you have the free choice to do that. Union should represent all members fairly, even those with different political or religious views. I look forward to working with committee members and the administration to protect the dignity of
workers in America and shield Jewish workers from hate and harassment at work. Like I said, this is unamerican. Again, I'd like to thank our witnesses for taking the time to testify before this subcommittee today. Without objection, there being no further
business, the subcommittee stands adjourned.