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Floor Speech

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Mr. SCHMITT. Mr. President, I rise today to bring attention to a problem that is plaguing our great country.

Americans and the rest of the world woke up on October 7 to horrific scenes in Israel, and the ensuing news reports of Hamas's terrorist attack brought to light even more gruesome details--thousands of innocent Israelis slaughtered, babies decapitated, people burned alive, horrific scenes of brutality and brazen disregard for humanity by Hamas terrorists. Israel and American hostages are still awaiting rescue.

These past few weeks following the terrorist attack, there has been a frightening rise of anti-Semitism, particularly on college campuses and from younger generations in America's major cities.

Jewish students at Cooper Union in New York City had to shelter in a library while pro-Palestinian students banged on windows and doors in a frightening incident. Anonymous posters on a Cornell message board threatened violence, all while a Cornell professor proclaimed Hamas terrorist attacks to be ``exhilarating'' and ``energizing.'' Countless videos show students and even teachers tearing down missing posters for Israeli hostages. The list goes on and on.

Some may be surprised by these incidents, but for those who have been paying attention, it is anything but shocking. For years, the American left has embraced identity politics--DEI and critical race theory. For years, students at some of this country's most elite colleges have had this race essentialism, this oppressor-versus-oppressed ideology, hammered into their heads.

They have tried to make moral equivalence between Israel and Hamas. Every single situation or issue is viewed through the lens of race or other immutable characteristics.

If you don't rank high enough on the totem pole of grievances or score well on the oppression matrix, well, then your views aren't as important. Being right has taken a back seat to your skin color.

DEI and CRT are fruit of the poisonous tree of cultural Marxism, and it is playing out right now in our streets. The proof is in the numbers as well. A Harvard CAPS/Harris poll states that when voters were asked whom they sided with in the Israeli-Hamas conflict, 95 percent of voters age 65 or older said Israel, while only 5 percent said Hamas. In the 18-to-24 age range, 52 percent said Israel, while 48 percent said Hamas. That is a startling generational divide and shows just how entrenched this divisive ideology is.

This ideology completely strips people of their individuality. Ideas don't really matter as much as what the person speaking looks like. It is completely antithetical to the core tenets of our Constitution and the American experiment. It places an unhealthy emphasis on race. It strips people of their dignity and the many layers that define us. It rips away the ties that bind us, and that is exactly the point for these cultural Marxists.

We need to return to the American idea--equality of opportunity, not certainty of outcome or so-called equity. We need to prioritize merit over characteristics that people have no control over. We need to push back against the poisonous DEI and CRT ideology--an ideology that has even made its way into grade schools, where school-age kids are being forced to participate in things called a privilege walk. Until we do that, we will continue to see more race essentialism from groups like Black Lives Matter and more chants of ``from the river to the sea.'' That is not what America is about, but we better get real about the problem before it is too late to fix it. Nomination of Ramon Ernesto Reyes, Jr.

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