Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), chair of the House panel on global human rights and co-chair of the Bipartisan Taskforce for Combating Anti-Semitism, issued the following statement on International Holocaust Remembrance Day:

We pause today on International Holocaust Remembrance Day to mourn the lives of more than six million Jews who perished during the Nazis’ systematic campaign to annihilate the Jewish people of Europe. On this Yom HaShoah—marking 73 years since the liberation of the Auschwitz, Birkenau, and Monowitz concentration camps—we reaffirm our absolute commitment to combating the evil of anti-Semitism in all of its forms and wherever it is found. 

The words “Never again” were repeated often in the wake of the Holocaust, but recent attacks and threats against Jewish establishments and synagogues in the U.S. and Europe call for our renewed vigilance and decisive action to root out the scourge of anti-Semitism. Vowing “Never Again” means upholding the security of the Jewish people everywhere, as a universal priority.

Bearing in mind the memory of the Holocaust, I believe humanity has an abiding obligation to preserve the security of Israel—the Jewish homeland. This includes fighting boycotts, divestment, and sanctions campaigns that aim to stigmatize Israel. Nearly 70 years since the founding of the Jewish State, the threats facing the State of Israel have only grown more numerous and more complex. Our firm resolve is required, now more than ever, to ensure that those that wish unspeakable evil upon the Jewish people never prevail.