September 10, 2004

Hon. Colin Powell
United States Department of State
2201 C St. NW
Washington, D.C.  20520

Dear Secretary Powell:

We are deeply disappointed to learn of the State Department’s opposition to the Global Anti-Semitism Awareness Act (H.R.4230), which has been proposed by Rep. Tom Lantos.

This legislation would require the State Department to compile an annual report on anti-Semitism around the world, and would make it the responsibility of a specific office within the department to focus on this serious and growing problem.

The State Department opposes the legislation on the grounds that it would show “favoritism” to Jews by “extending exclusive status to one religious or ethnic group.”

The State Department is wrong.  It is the anti-Semites who are singling out Jews, and that is why the fight against anti-Semitism deserves specific, focused attention.  The Lantos bill is a timely and appropriate response to the rising tide of anti-Semitism in Europe, the Middle East, and elsewhere.

Moreover, we note that the State Department does already have a number of offices that extend “exclusive status” to groups or issues of concern, among them offices on Tibet, Human Trafficking, and women’s rights.

The State Department’s position on the Lantos legislation carries troubling echoes of the past.  The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies has documented how, during the Holocaust, the State Department did its best to downplay the Jewish identity of Hitler’s victims--even though the Nazi regime had clearly singled out Jews for annihilation.   Statements by U.S. officials about Nazi atrocities seldom mentioned the Jews.  This made it harder for the American public to understand what was happening and hindered efforts to rally public support for rescue of Jews from Hitler.

Mr. Secretary, your strong statements at the Berlin conference on anti-Semitism earlier this year gave us hope that our government has learned from the terrible silence of the State Department regarding anti-Semitism in Europe in the 1930s and 1940s.  The Global Anti-Semitism Awareness Act offers an opportunity for your strong words to be translated into policy. 


Sincerely,

Stephen J. Solarz
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, 1975-1993

Prof. David S. Wyman
Author, The Abandonment of the Jews:
America and the Holocaust 1941-1945

Jack F. Kemp
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, 1989-1993
Republican Nominee for Vice President, 1996
Founder and Director, Empower America

Dr. Jeane J. Kirkpatrick
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, 1981-1985;
Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute                                      

Stuart E. Eizenstat
Special U.S. Envoy for Holocaust Issues, 1996-2002;
Deputy Treasury Secretary, U.S. Ambassador to the
European Union, Undersecretary of State for Economic
Affairs, Undersecretary of Commerce, 1993-2001

R. James Woolsey
Director, Central Intelligence Agency, 1993-1995

Anthony Lake
Professor, Georgetown University School of Foreign Service;
National Security Adviser to the President, 1993-1997;
Director of Policy Planning, State Department, 1977-1981

Richard Schifter
Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights
and Humanitarian Affairs, 1985-1992

Rev. Dr. Joseph C. Hough, Jr.
President
Union Theological Seminary

Rev. Dr. Ted Peters
Interim President
Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary
and Professor of Systematic Theology

Dr. Harold W. Attridge
Dean, Yale University Divinity School
and Professor of New Testament

Rev. David L. Bartlett
Dean of Academic Affairs and
Professor of Preaching and Communication
Yale University Divinity School

Maxine Clarke Beach, Ph.D.
Vice President and Dean
Drew University Theological School

Sister Rose Thering O.P., Ph.D.
Professor Emerita, Seton Hall College

Father Richard John Neuhaus
Editor-in-Chief, First Things

Marvin Kalb
Veteran news correspondent and Founding Director of
the Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics
and Public Policy, at Harvard University

Janis Ian
Singer-Songwriter

Rudy Boschwitz
United States Senator, 1978-1991

Miles Lerman
Chairman, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, 1994-2000
                             
Sister Dorothy Peterson, FCJ
Director of Local Church Outreach
Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley

Sister Ruth Lautt, O.P., Esq.
Partner, Vollmer & Tanck, LLP

Cynthia Ozick
Writer

Abraham D. Sofaer
George P. Shultz Distinguished Scholar and
Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution
Legal Adviser to the U.S. Department of State, 1985 -1990

David Brenner
Comedian-Actor-Author

Prof. Robert A. Krieg
Author of Catholic Theologians in Nazi Germany
Professor of Theology, University of Notre Dame

Clifford D. May
President, The Foundation for the Defense of Democracies
Former New York Times correspondent and editor

Rev. Daniel Groody, csc, Ph. D.
Assistant Professor of Theology
Director, Center for Latino Spirituality and Culture
Institute for Latino Studies
University of Notre Dame

Sister Dr. Lorelei F. Fuchs, SA
Associate Director
Graymoor Ecumenical & Interreligious Institute

Prof. Arthur Hertzberg
New York University
                                            
Prof. Susannah Heschel
Chair, Jewish Studies Program, Dartmouth College

Rev. Dr. Frederick J. Streets
Chaplain, Yale University

Rev. Dr. Kathleen J. Rusnak, M. Div., Ph.D.
Pastor, Our Saviour Lutheran Church

Benjamin Brafman, Esq.
Brafman & Ross, PC

James Carroll
Author, Constantine’s Sword                                                  

Michael Novak
Theologian, author, former U.S. Ambassador and White House adviser;
Scholar, American Enterprise Institute

Dr. Garry Wills
Professor of History, Northwestern University;
Winner of the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for Nonfiction

Rev. Mitties M. DeChamplain, Ph.D.
Trinity Church Professor of Preaching
The General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church

Ben Wattenberg
Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute
Moderator, ‘Think Tank’ (PBS), 1994 to present

Rev. Vincent A. Lapomarda, S.J.
Coordinator, Holocaust Collection
College of the Holy Cross

Michael J. Horowitz
Director, Hudson Institute Project for Civil Justice Reform
General Counsel, Office of Management and Budget, 1981-85

Gabriella Lettini, Ph.D.
Visiting Assistant Professor of Theology and Culture
Union Theological Seminary

Dr. Mark Falcoff
Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute
Member, U.S. Delegation to the U.N.Human Rights Commission

Jon D. Fox
Member, U.S. House of Representatives, l995-98
Member, Board of Directors, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council

Sister Dianne Bergant, CSA
Professor of Biblical Studies
Catholic Theological Union, Chicago

Rev. Prof. John A. McGuckin
Priest of the Romanian Orthodox Church
Professor of Early Church History, Union Theological Seminary
Professor of Byzantine Christian Studies, Columbia University

Nina Shea
Director, Center for Religious Freedom
Freedom House

Harvey J. Feldman
U.S. Ambassador, retired
Senior Fellow, The Heritage Foundation
Editor, The Journal of International Security Affairs

Richard Perle
Fellow, American Enterprise Institute
Assistant Secretary of Defense, 1981-1987

Peter Himmelman
Singer-Songwriter

Rev. Richard P. McBrien
Crowley-O'Brien Professor of Theology
University of Notre Dame

Dr. Phyllis Chesler
Emerita Professor and author of The New Anti-Semitism:
The Current Crisis and What We Must Do About It

Sister Carol Rittner RSM, Ph.D.
Distinguished Professor of Holocaust & Genocide Studies,
The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey

Rev. Dr. Eugene Gorski, C.S.C.
Theology Faculty
University of Notre Dame

Jeremy Ben-Ami
former Deputy Domestic Policy Advisor to President Clinton

Prof. Randall C. Zachman
Associate Professor of Reformation Studies
University of Notre Dame

Rev. John T. Pawlikowski, OSM, Ph.D
President, International Council of Christians & Jews

Marc Weiner
Comedian

Rev. Msgr. Guy Massie
Pastor, St. Andrew's R.C. Church
Brooklyn, New York

Mary C. Doak, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Theology
University of Notre Dame

Peter R. Rosenblatt
former U.S. Ambassador;
Heller and Rosenblatt, Washington D.C.

Harrison J. Goldin
New York City Comptroller, 1974-1989
New York State Senator, 1966-1973

Rev. Ivan A. Rogers
Member emeritus, National Christian Leadership Conference for Israel                 

Frank Sullivan
former Spokesman for the Mayor of Chicago

Thane Rosenbaum
Novelist and law professor

Ted Solotaroff
Author, retired editor, Contributing Editor of The Nation

Dr. John Eibner
Assistant to the International President
Christian Solidarity International

Rev. Dr. Keith Roderick
Secretary General
Coalition for the Defense of Human Rights

Dr. Walter Reich
Yitzhak Rabin Memorial Professor of International Affairs,
Ethics and Human Behavior, George Washington University;
Former Director, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

John Loftus
former Justice Department prosecutor;
President, Florida Holocaust Museum

Jules Polonetsky
former New York City Commissioner of Consumer Affairs

Prof. Robert S. Wistrich
Director, The Vidal Sassoon International Center
for the Study of Antisemitism
Hebrew University

Prof. Michael Berenbaum
University of Judaism

Mark Podwal
Artist and Clinical Associate Professor of Dermatology

Prof. Padriac O’Hare
Professor of Religious Studies and
Director, Center for the Study of Jewish-Christian Relations,
Merrimack College

Nathan Lewin, Esq.
Hon. President, American Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists

Prof. Kevin Madigan
Associate Prof. of the History of Christianity
Harvard Divinity School

Prof. Jacob Neusner
Bard College                                                          
Dr. Racelle R. Weiman
Director, Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education,
Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion

Prof. Gary Anderson
Professor of Theology
University of Notre Dame

Prof. Sandra M. Schneiders, IHM
Professor of New Testament and Spirituality
Jesuit School of Theology

Archie Rand
Artist and Presidential Professor of Visual Arts, Brooklyn College

Prof. Euan K. Cameron
Academic Dean
Henry Luce III Professor of Reformation Church History
Union Theological Seminary

William J. Kilberg, P.C.
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP;
former Solicitor, U.S. Department of Labor

Will Eisner
Artist and author of Fagin the Jew and The Plot

Rev. Emilie M. Townes
Carolyn Williams Beaird Professor of Christian Ethics
Union Theological Seminary

Joe Kubert
Artist, editor, and author of Yossel: April 19, 1943

John J. Michalczyk
Chair, Fine Arts Dept., Boston College
Producer, “The Cross and the Star: Jews, Christians and the Holocaust”

Gary E. Erlbaum
Chairman, Greentree Properties

Dr. Carl E. Savage
Associate Director Doctor of Ministry Program
Drew University Theological School

Rivka Haut
Author

Sister Mary C. Boys, S.N.J.M.
Skinner and McAlpin Professor of Practical Theology
Union Theological Seminary

Lance A. Kawesch, Esq.
Partner, Duane Morris LLP                                               
Prof. Lawrence S. Cunningham
John A. O'Brien Professor of Theology
University of  Notre Dame

Prof. Stephen Moore
Professor of New Testament
Drew University Theological School

Ron Rosenbaum
Editor, Those Who Forget the Past: The Question of Anti-Semitism

Neshama Carlebach
Singer-Songwriter

Prof. Christopher Morse
Dietrich Bonhoeffer Professor of Theology and Ethics
Union Theological Seminary

Dr. Mark A. Miller
Instructor of Church Music and Director of Music
Drew Theological School

Prof. Alan Cooper
Professor of Bible
Union Theological Seminary
Jewish Theological Seminary

Prof.  Janet R. Walton
Professor of Worship
Union Theological Seminary

Prof. Edwina Wright
Assistant Professor of Old Testament
Union Theological Seminary

Prof. Richard Landes
Professor of History, Boston University
Director, Center for Millennial Studies

Adam Kubert
Artist, Marvel Comics

Pierre Sauvage
President, Chambon Foundation

Prof. Michael A. Signer
Abrams Professor of Jewish Thought and Culture
Department of Theology
University of Notre Dame

Sister Barbara E. Reid, O.P., Ph.D.
Professor of New Testament Studies
Catholic Theological Union

Dr. Rafael Medoff
Director, The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies


(Institutions listed for identification purposes only.)