U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, who recently helped lead the U.S. delegation to the historic Berlin Summit on anti-Semitism, met with President Bush today to report on legislative initiatives undertaken to implement recommendations made by the conference. 

    It was Smith – who serves as Chairman of the U.S. Helsinki Commission and Vice Chairman of the House International Relations Committee – who initiated the idea for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) conference in Berlin. As vice chairman of the U.S. Delegation to the summit, Smith briefed the President on the mission and discussed follow-up initiatives, including his bill, HR 4214: the Global Anti-Semitism Review Act, which will require annual documentation of anti-Semitic incidents in the U.S. and abroad.

    “The Bush Administration has been a leader of efforts to combat all forms of hatred – especially anti-Semitism – and has made it clear to other nations that we all must do more to investigate and prosecute such incidents, and to educate our younger generations so they will not fall victims to such hatred,” Smith said.

    “That the conference occurred at all is the direct result of a major diplomatic push by the Bush Administration, including the President himself, Secretary of State Colin Powell and U.S. Ambassador to the OSCE Stephan Minikes, the Helsinki Commission, and Germany – including Professor Gert Weisskirchen, a Vice President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly who has worked very closely with me on this important issue,” he added. 

    Joining Smith in the Oval Office meeting were delegation chairman and former New York City Mayor Ed Koch, Senator George Voinovich, Congressman Ben Cardin, and others who participated in the summit that focused specifically on actions governments, non-governmental organizations, education institutions and the media can take to combat prejudice and promote tolerance.

    The summit was called by Smith and others in response to increasing instances of anti-Semitism in cities throughout Europe. Since Smith began calling increased attention to this issue several years ago, a number of nations have responded by tightening their own laws and improving their education initiatives. 

    “The campaign against anti-Semitism and all forms of hatred must be a team effort in which all members are actively engaged. Summits like the recent session in Berlin, as well as past forums I helped organize last year in Vienna and earlier in Washington, have been critical to fostering this important dialogue and to developing a meaningful plan of action we can use to move forward,” Smith said. 

    Smith – who has authored several resolutions on anti-Semitism that have passed both the U.S. House and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly – was first exposed to anti-Semitism as a teenager, when he met a Holocaust Survivor in New Jersey.

    “As a teenager, I met a man who told his story of horrific pain and his struggle to survive during the Holocaust. When the man rolled up his sleeve to show his concentration camp number – I was numb,” Smith said. 

    While at the Berlin Summit, Smith held up as an education model the state of New Jersey’s Holocaust Education Curriculum, which is used to educate school students about the Holocaust.

    “The New Jersey curriculum is a model I hope will be replicated throughout the U.S. and world as a tool to combat the hatred of anti-Semitism by educating our youth about the horrors associated with this hatred,” Smith said.