If confirmed, Lipstadt will be the first in this role with the rank of Ambassador, the result of bipartisan legislation Senator Rosen co-led that was signed into law earlier this year
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV), co-founder and co-chair of the Senate Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism, released the following statement applauding President Biden’s nomination of Deborah Lipstadt to serve as the State Department’s Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism with the Rank of Ambassador and offering her full support.
“With antisemitism rising across the globe, we need dedicated leadership in place, solely focused on putting a stop to this alarming trend,” said Senator Rosen. “I applaud President Biden for naming Deborah Lipstadt – a preeminent scholar of Holocaust and Jewish studies – to serve in this critically needed role, the first time it will have the rank of Ambassador. Deborah, having devoted her life to fighting back against antisemitism and Holocaust denial, is well prepared to ensure that the United States remains a leader in combating antisemitism internationally. I am proud to have worked closely with the White House to advance this critical nomination, which has my full support, and look forward to working alongside Deborah in our shared mission of protecting Jewish communities and combating antisemitism across the globe.”
BACKGROUND: Senator Rosen holds the distinction of being the third female Jewish Senator in U.S. history, as well as the first former synagogue president to serve in the United States Senate. As such, Senator Rosen has been an outspoken advocate of combating antisemitism in the United States, the Middle East, Europe, and around the world.
In June, Senator Rosen and Senator James Lankford (R-OK), co-founders and co-chairs of the Senate Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism, led a group of 56 Senators – representing over half the Senate – in announcing the re-launch of the Task Force. First launched in 2019, the collaboration is the first of its kind in the United States Senate, serving as a corollary to the House of Representative’s Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism.
That same month, the Senate unanimously passed a resolution introduced by Senators Rosen and Lankford – and co-sponsored by nearly three-quarters of the Senate – condemning the recent rise in antisemitic violence and harassment and urging President Biden to nominate a qualified Ambassador to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism.
In April, Senators Rosen and Lankford led 22 of their Senate colleagues in a letter to President Joe Biden urging him to expeditiously nominate a qualified Ambassador to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism in order to confront the rising level of antisemitism worldwide.
Last Congress, Senator Rosen helped introduce the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism Act of 2019, bipartisan and bicameral legislation to enhance the State Department’s role in combating and monitoring antisemitism around the world by elevating the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism to the rank of Ambassador. In January, the Rosen-backed legislation was signed into law.
###
