Hes the u. S. Governments main person for fighting antisemitism abroad and the champion for the rule of law in vulnerable and jewish communities around the world, please welcome to the stage special envoy for monitoring and combatting antisemitism, elan carr. Thank you so much. What an amazing room. I am so pleased and so honored to be with you today. Really, my most Important Message to you is a message of thank you. I owe you a debt of gratitude personally and the United States government owes you a debt of gratitude, because in my work, monitoring and fighting this ancient relentless sickness that is antisemitism, i have no more important address than the adl. There are many fine jewish organizations out there, but there is one organization that is synonymous with the fight against antisemitism and with the fight against ethnic and religious hatred and intolerance. Thats adl. [ applause ] thank you to epstein, thank you to jonathan greenblatt. What amazing leaders you have. Tim jacobson with the adl forever and got an award last night. Youre amazing, so grateful to you. Special shout out to my ae pi brother, cliff, of your National Leadership team. When i tell you adl is a goto address, thats not just a line. I will give you an example, i just got back from eastern and central europe. My first trip that involved bilateral meetings with Foreign Government was a trip to eastern and central europe. For every country i visited, i relied heavily on adls work product. In fact the briefings i received from adl were a key part in my preparation and government resources, a key part of my preparation going to those countries and having specific strategy and specific asks for ways we can improve upon the situation in those countries. I cannot thank you enough. Your work product was felt literally in the last four weeks. Before those visits to those countries in central and Eastern Europe, i want to tell you what else i did. Four weeks ago, 4 1 2 weeks ago, i had the great privilege to participate in the first ever official United States government delegation to march of the living. 6 [ applause ] thats right. Six United States ambassadors. Our ambassadors to poland, israel, germany, the vatican, switzerland, spain, and i, marched arm in arm, shoulder to shoulder. On that terrible walk from auschwitz, we did that with activists, safe leaders, who came to be a witness and came to be accounted for and came to say, never again. Then, hours later we boarded a plain and flew to israel. The very next day, after being in that abyss of death, next to the gas chambers and the crematoria, we againer with arminarm and shoulder to shoulder. But this time dancing and celebrating shebat. It was friday night and dancing and celebrating it with ibs shoulders and dancers and visitors, revving in a celebration of life. In that moment the message was driven home in celebrating the state of israel were celebrating not only a country and not only the birthday of a founding, we are celebrating humanitys greatest response to historys greatest evil. The building out of the ash of 6 million, a country that is decent and just and democratic and free and a beacon of innovation for the world, truly, thats what the state of israel represents. You know what else is a great human answer to injustice . The adl, in 1913, as antisemitism was rising in europe, after the conviction of leo frank, this organization answered in terrifying prussian, that trend by building an organization not only to dedicated to fighting antisemitism, how wonderful it is the organization was dedicated to fighting intolerance and injustice and hatred of all kinds and all stripes. That brings me to today. In central and Eastern Europe i confronted the antisemitic threat of those far right ethnic supremists movements on the rise in parts of europe. We confronted it. We had specific requests of those governments and im happy to report that our interloquitors are making every effort to specific requests i put forward. What i want to put forth today is the Fastest Growing kind of antisemitism. That is the antisemitism that clothes itself in the language of antizionism and israel hatred. This is the antisemitism of the streets and intellectual circles and u. S. College campuses. It is no less dangerous than the other flavors and forms of antisemitism. In my line of work, jew hatred is jew hatred. Whether from one side or the other, we will fight it and confront it. [ applause ] this kind of antisemitism is often called the new antisemitism. Im here to tell you, there is nothing new about it because everything it does and every manifestation that comes out of it is the same old antisemitism from years past, rebranded and repackaged. How about the blade libels . The medieval blood libels against the jewish people. The blood libels are against the jewish state accusing them of preposterous crimes. Genocide and apartheid. How about what weve seen over so many communities over so many decades and so many centuries . Same old thing. The state of israel delegitimize, the same serious question its right to exist undermined. How about terminology . The same old terminology. A European Jewish leader was recently called a dirty zionist as though the substitution of a term might confuse us as to what it really meant. How about the obsessive pathological hatred we again have seen in the traditional antisemitism over so many centuries . It is the same. A kid at a Prestigious University in the United States gave me a math answer sheet, thats right, a math answer sheet. I have it in my possession. It says the integral of soandso of suchandsuch and derivative of suchandsuch is soandso. Then, it say, another day in the occupied palestinian territories occupation forces, zionist forces killing children. Then it goes back to math. The kid who gave me this. You know what he told me . He said to me, with a voice of exhaustion, in math class, i cant get away from this stuff, in math class . The same obsessive hatred. How about justification . Antisemitism over the centuries, over the millennium always found justification, things we supposedly did and things we supposedly are doing, even justified by the assassination of a diplomat by a jew. Not made up, true. We know it wasnt the response to one thing one jew did. It came out of antisemitism. Certainly this new antisemitism is always premised upon and grasped as justification one thing or another the state of israel actually did or said to have done. We all know its not really about israeli policy, it is the same old hatred, obsessive hatred that is seeking justification in israeli policy. Finally, economic isolation. The yuden boycott, those nazi brown shirts holding signs. The german budistad just voted the boycott divestment levels against the state of israel is antisemitism plain and simple. Thats right. Thank you, germany. [ applause ] they also said they also said in this legislation, and they ought to know the bdf movement reminds everybody of the uden boycott of the 1930s. So thats what this socalled new antisemitism is. Why is it so important we unite to fight it with every bit of vigor and every bit of dedication we need to exhibit in our fight against the other kinds of antisemitism, because, my friends, this kind of antisemitism is working. It is working. A recent poll done of American JewishCollege Students shows that jewish students on College Campuses today are less supportive of israel than ever, more inclined to blame israel than ever before, because of the climate on College Campuses in the u. S. I recently spoke at a los angeles festival, and after i spoke, an evangelical kid, a whole group of christian evangelicals there as volunteers. He came up to me and said, i love israel. I asked, matthew, let me ask you a question, is it true young evangelicals are less supportive of israel than ever before . He said, absolutely, thats true. I said, why is it . He said to me, because we also go to college. We also hear whats being said. We also in that same context, the same indoctrination. This is, my friends, a moment of decision for us. What we see in europe and what we see here in the United States is a combustible caldreth of antisemitism from the ethnic supremacist right, the vicious antizionist left and radical islam. They operate together, they borrow each others language and they paint each others symbols on jewish institutions. We have to decide that today, today there is no room for disunity in the jewish world. The times are too urgent, the crisis too great. If we are serious about fighting all antisemitism, now is the time for us to come together, one voice. We are in the final weeks, the final week of the counting of the omar. What is it about . The process of transition from the slaves physically out of egypt to the emotional liberation of the jewish people at mount sinai, 49 days. We count those days to mark increasing levels of spiritual elevation. What is the message . To what end do the jewish people progress in the 49 days until they got to mount sinai . That tells us that it was a journey of unity, and that the prerequisite for the jewish people receiving the tohla at mount sinai was jewish People United more than ever before. That the jewish people stood at mount sinai, one body with one heart, one beating heart. Thats what it took. No less than that is what it took. And today, as we mark 75 years, only 75 years, since the crematoria stopped operating, they have barely cooled, and we see our survival threatened again, in europe of all places and latin america and the middle east and now in the United States. So today i ask of the jewish world and especially you the organization that defines this fight, that we stand together and that we dont weaponize antisemitism, that we dont politicize antisemitism, and that we decide jew hatred is jew hatred and we will fight it everywhere and anywhere it rears its ugly head. If we decide that, my friend, if we decide that, and if we act that way, we will truly build [speaking nonenglish] and we will build that Better Future that our children and our grandchildren so richly deserve. Thank you so much. God bless you. Thank you for everything you do. [ applause ] new developments tonight in texas in the trial of one of the men charged with dragging to death a black man simply because of his race. When i heard my brother, james, died, i came in and supported our family and people ever since have come closer and closer, because were constantly trying to fight this disease out there now, which is hate. I quickly recognized their focus is actually humanity. Their focus is what is the best for everyone. It will make Law Enforcement a lot smarter about fighting hate crime and fighting hate groups than we would otherwise be. There was a period of time when our transgendered community had some concerns with the way we were policing their community and the Antidefamation League was called in to do an evaluation how npd was handling our relationship. I think that type of study from an outside body of the adl in particular and the recommendations that came out of that we implemented have made us a Better Police department. If youre not aware you have these biases, and work on those to keep them in check, then, you could take what otherwise might have been a simple encounter that would end with a handshake into something possibly violent. You get more perspective seeing the pictures, seeing the horror, seeing what people go through, what they went through. Here, you see how even local police were used to help carry out some of the worst crimes in history. I think we learn from that. We can spot it. We can prevent it later on in the future. Theres no comparison what you get from personally seeing it versus hearing about it in the classroom. Just how professional and compassionate they are towards every player thats involved. The Great Research they do on a regular basis, the analysis they provide of whats going on across the country, what our Law Enforcement agencies do and need to do better. First, as a form of prevention, and then secondly, when these things do happen as approach to solve these things and stop them from ever happening again. Adl has been a very Rich Resource to the naacp. For the adl to sit down and strategize for everybody, Police Officers to say, this is what you look for. These are the specific things you go through to look for with hate crimes. Follow these things and there will be no victim swept under the rug anymore. This is a huge thing adl did not only for our family but the whole world and society. And now, to present the william and naomi guurowitz award, please welcome adam gerry. [ applause ] good afternoon, everyone. 25 years ago, ply father, alan gerry had the foresight to work with the adl to create the institute on terrorism and extremism. Named after his parents and my grandparents the gorowitz institute allows the ad tlorks provide resources with resources and expertise to assist protecting the communities they serve. As the tragic event in pittsburgh and sri lanka illustrate, the result has never been more critically needed than it is today. We have prominent members of the Law Enforcement community here today. Before i present the award, i would like to introduce each of them. Peter newsham, metropolitan police department. Ed rosler. [ applause ] ed rosler, Fairfax County police department. Kerry sweeper, assistant director of the federal bureau of investigation. Vince tolucchi, executive Director International association of the chief of police. Dwayne crawford, executive director, National Organization of black Law Enforcement executives. [ applause ] kevin morrison, Deputy DirectorPolice Executive research forum. Blake norton, Senior Vice President , the police foundation. Laura lanham, assistant chief of police. Thank you all. The goritwitz Service Award was set up to recognize leaders serving our nation and in the words of the adl charter, securing fair treatment and justice for all. Those who received the award, you can find the full list in the program are among the most important influential leaders of Law Enforcement. I am particularly honored to recognize today a leader who embodies the spirit of these ideals and public service. The chief of the Houston Police department. [ applause ] with more than 5,000 sworn officers and 1,civilian support personnel, hpd is one of the Largest Police departments in the United States. It serves the nations fourth largest city soon to be the third largest, which is 10 times the size of washington, d. C. , in one of our nations most ethnically and culturally diverse jurisdictions. The chief began his Law Enforcement career among the riots and Gang Violence of East Los Angeles with the california Highway Patrol in 1986. He rose through the ranks and became chps chief after 19 years of distinguished service. He arrived in austin, texas, in 2007, as chief of the Austin Police department at a very difficult time of tension between the city and its minority communities. When he left for houston in 2016, he was ridely praised as a moral and joyous leader, who was the right choice at the right time. Art came to houston as the first Hispanic Police chief with the population booming and Violent Crime going unsolved he found his new Department Struggling for resources. Under the chief leadership, hpd completely changed the way it approaches Violent Crime and saw a dramatic turnaround. Homicides are down 15 since last year. Hpds clearance rate, which is a measurement of solved crimes have gone up 70 , since the chiefs arrival in 2016. [ applause ] success of this nature is almost always a product of a lifelong commitment. Growing up, chief acevedo knew he wanted to uphold the law and serve our nation. He knew first hand what life is like without the rule of law and in the absence of freedom. Chief acevedo was born in cuba and lived through castros evolution as a child. The family brought him to the United States as a refugee at the age of 4. His parents raised him with what the chief describes as a real appreciation of history, and reminded him that constantly freedom is the greatest gift of all. His background also gives rise to unique understanding of the concerns of the Diverse Communities in houston. Chief acevedo is a strong proponent of community policing, or as he prefers to call it, relational policing, which he views every interaction between the Community Members and Police Officers as an opportunity to forge relationships and build trust. Chief acevedo routinely goes on patrol himself as a commitment to both his troops and build emotional capital with the community that he serves. He has made a commitment to his troops the day he cannot do their jobs at the patrol level is the day he will quit. No wonder that a news story noted that those on the street who might otherwise avoid a uniformed officer seemed thrilled to run into the guy they called chief art. At the beginning of this year, chief acevedo became president of the major cities chief association, whose membership is comprised of chiefs and sheriffs of the 69 largest Law Enforcement agencies in the United States and the nine largest in canada. The chief is a graduate of the adls advanced training school, and his department participates in the adls Law Enforcement and Society Program that increases Law Enforcements understanding of their role as protections of American People and of the constitution. Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the Antidefamation League and the gerry family, please join me in welcoming the recipient of the 2009 gerowitz institution award. Chief art acevedo. [ applause ] wow. I feel like im at the Academy Awards or something here. That was amazing. Good afternoon, everybody. Good afternoon. Good afternoon its great to be here. Mr. Gerry adam, thank you for your vision and this cause were here to celebrate. I will accept this on behalf of all our colleagues and all the men and women in Law Enforcement. I think today, you think about the adl, what its done and what its meant. The good news is that the adl exists. The bad news is that the need for the adl and its mission is greater today than it was yesterday, last year, and the decade before. I want you all to think and pause for a minute and stake stock where were at as a nation and as a world, where people are being a targeted for the religion they choose. Theyre being targeted for the person they choose to love. Theyre being targeted for the color of their skin. Theyre being vilified for their nation of birth. Theyre being vilified mothers having their children taken from their bosom. I get vilified because i was raised, do not forget where you came from, i was raised to not forget the blessings you receive. I was raised to reach back and bring people forward. So i just want to tell the folks in this room, thank you for your vigilance, thank you for your commitment, thank you for the fight against hate. And for me, it is personal. Im not jewish, but i love the jewish people. My uncle billy, my greatuncle billy was a french jew. I remember growing up in california, just outside los angeles, my uncle billy would come over. I remember as a young child, asking him about some numbers he had on his arm. I asked uncle billy, what are those numbers about . I might get emotional, but he started talking to me about losing his entire family in world war ii, at the hands of the nazis. Im going to tell you also, im not going to apologize to anyone for making a comparison between the failures of Police Officers and nazi germany then and for the failure of some today to not stand up for hate. [ applause ] for the failure of some the failure of some to not be heard and to not lift up their voices. Im not going to apologize for calling out people when theres gathering of people full of hate in their hearts, saying theres good and bad in a crowd. No, theres a distinct line. Theres a very distinct line between love and hate. Theres a very distinct line between wrong and right. Im proud to say that this chief, this generational police leaders, history will show that, yes, the fbi are the good guys, that, yes, our Intelligence Services are the good guys, that, yes, it is right to stand up against hate. And lastly, i will say there are things we can do about gun violence in this country. [ applause ] through the nra, yep, a little political, but i will tell you something, every time you call me out, what it tells me is youre afraid because you know theres an awakening in this country. God is watching. God delivered the first immigrants and they happened to be jews in the book of exodus. He taught us what immigration is about. He taught us what love is about. I want to close with saying, thank you, adl, we stand with you. History will treat the adl with the respect and the absolute credit you deserve for training us in Law Enforcement to be vigilant, to be aware, and to stand against hate everywhere we see it. God bless you all and thank you for this recognition. Thank you. Our next guest is steadfast in his advocacy in support of israel and against audio lost our next guest is steadfast in his advocacy in support of israel and against antisemitism, hate, and all forms of discrimination. Please welcome to the stage from marylands fifth congressional district, House Majority leader, congressman steny hoyer. Now ive got thicker skin, im a warrior. Thank you. Bon appetite im very proud to stand before you as a strong supporter of adl and its mission. Im glad to be here with my friend, jonathan greenblatt, abe fox. Is abe here . Hes not here. Hes a good friend of mine, and tell him i missed him. Mr. Epstein, moran, elan carr, chief acevedo and vanita gupta speaking after me and i had time to speak with dennis and judy shepard. I did not see the sister of james bird but im sure shes here. In the earliest century, adl was formed to combat bigotry and stamp out hateful defamation. At that time the stressful defamation of the dreyfus case in france was on everybodys minds. The lynching of leo frank mirrored the painful image of other lynchings and violence against africanamericans and indeed other minorities. It was an age of exclusion and division. Of attempts to define america narrowly by race and faith and origin. The slander employed against jewish people dated back to the ages of blood libel expulsion and crusades. But in the modern age, they were used to dehumanize those who sought safety in the only country on earth whose foundational premise was the Human Dignity and the quality of every person. Adl recognized that fundamental truth of history, that as the historian, debra lipsat once wrote, quote antisemitism begins with the jews. But never ends with the jews. That is the single garment of destiny of which dr. Martin luther king wrote. Jewish people are one of the strands pigots try to unravel first. From the very beginning, adl recognized the best way to recognize the safety and rights of jews are to recognize the safety and right of everyone. [ applause ] you have beep on the front lines defending dreamers, migrants and lgbtq people and those who faced hardships as a result of this administrations divisive policies. Thank you. Thank you for that. Today, in the early part of the 21st century, your work has never been more critical. We live in a dangerous moment, when vial time worn hatreds are being give an degree of social acceptance, frankly not seen for decades. When people are being dehumanized once more, for political ends. In the United States and across europe popular political movements thrive on division and exclusion. On scapegoating and fear. To achieve that they give cover to pigots, employ 21st Century Technology to weaponize information and spread centuries old falsehoods. Antisemitism has emerged as one of their tactics to attempt to divide people and pit and group people against one another. Frankly, wherever the altright has infiltrated the mainstream of conservative politics we have seen an increase of hateful attacks, rooted inanity semitism. Islamophobia, misogyny. Transphobia, xenophobia, and of course, racism. Just last week, chancellor Angela Merkel stated, and i quote, there is to this day, not a single synagogue, not a single Daycare Center for jewish children, not a Single School for jewish children that does not need to be guarded by german policemen. How sad. How terrifying. How unacceptable. How wrong. In the country that perpetrated the genocide against the jewish people, less than 80 years ago, jews are being warned that being visibly jewish in public could invite violence by white nationalists and neonazis. Never again. Never now. [ applause ] never again and never now in hungary, the prime ministers far right government and immediate controls regularly pedals its conspiracy theories about jewish domination. Last year, the right wing polish government passed a law that made it criminal offense to allege any polish involvement in the holocaust, a dangerous and dishonest attempt to rewrite history. If we rewrite that history we may well be condemned to relive it. In france, a far right party founded by a convicted holocaust denier won the most french seats in last weeks last weeks european parliamentary election on a platform of nationalism and exclusion. The alarm bells are ringing. In all of these countries where right wing antisemitism has been brought into the mainstream, it has been joined by broad and pervasive antiimmigrant, antimuslim, antilgbtq bigotry as well. Here in america, land of the free and the home of the brave, we hold these truths to be selfevident, here in america, we are witnessing that same phenomena. The same leaders and media figures who rallied against migrants and sought to close our borders have also fueled hatred against muslim communities and pushed discrimination against gay, lesbian and transgender people. Never again, never now. According to the report, adl issued in april, the United States experienced a doubling of antisemitic assaults from 2018 to 2015. Tragically,antisemitic attack n the history of our country. The horrific shooting at tree of life congregation in pittsburgh. The attack on a synagogue outside san diego just hours before your report came out. Amplified the alarm bells that it raised. Meanwhile, the stream of rightwing vitreal aimed at latino immigrants, muslim americans, lgbt people and other minorities has undoubtedly contributed to violence targeting these groups. Weve seen migrant families forcibly separated at the border and children held in cages. Weve seen violent assaults against muslims and a ban on people from certain muslim majority countries coming to the United States. A religious test, if you will. Weve seen Transgender Americans banned from serving in our military and weve seen africanamerican worshippers gunned down in historically black church. Mother emanuel in charleston, south carolina. And the burning of an africanamerican churches there parts of the south. Early in his administration, President Trump brought to the white house people like steve bannon and Sebastian Gorka and others who build their careers on dogwhistling to racists. Antisemites and xenophobes. I understand thats tough language, but these times demand honesty. These times demand tough language. These times demand that we stand up. These times are not for knee in charleston, they chanted, jews will not replace us. Jews will not replace us. In a march that also drew many peaceful counterprotesters. Sadly. President trump declared that there were, quote, very fine people on both sides. If we draw those kinds of parallels, we do so at our own peril. How sad it is that this party of Abraham Lincoln who urged charity toward all and malice toward none is led today by an individual who get s it backwar. [ applause ] in february, we brought a resolution to the house floor condemning hate and passed if with unanimous democratic support. Our resolution condemned antisemiti antisemitism specifically and strongly. It also included a broader condemnation of the other forms of hatred with which antisemitism aligns. Such as racism, xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia. It denounced the horrific islamophobia weve seen in recent years as well. Because, like adl, democrats recognized that every form of hatred is tied together. And we can only win the fight against bigotry, inequality, and intolerance if we stand together. United. [ applause ] i want to thank each of you and all of you and adl for your longstanding efforts to combat islamophobia and what adl has called pernicious conspiracy theories about muslims in our country. Now with threats of violence targeted against muslim members of congress, there may be political or policy disagreements in our country, but threats like these ought never to be acceptable. Period. [ applause ] i want to thank adl for its efforts to make it clear that standing up against antisemitism must always be a nonpartisan act. [ applause ] that neither my party or the Republican Party ought to claim that it, alone, defends the Jewish Community against hate. [ applause ] your letter to congressional leaders in march was on point when it said, and i quote, from war l your letletter, attempts to us antisemitism for political gain both within and between our Political Parties risks undermining efforts to join together to combat antisemitism. To combat antisemitic incidents and violence and other forms of hate. You were absolutely right. Thank you for standing up. Thank you for saying the truth. This must be all of us in this together. Not because of party, but because of principle. [ applause ] and ladies and gentlemen, that is the danger we face in 2019, that too many leaders throughout the world arent just ignoring the reality of 21st century ant antisemiti antisemitism, theyre facilitating it to fuel their politics of division. As has been done to such great harm in history past. And theyre using the fight against antisemitism as a cover to divide even further as weve seen antisemitism is the to canary in the coal mine of hate. The canary in the coal mine of hate. Is aipt semitism. Its incumbent upon leaders of all philosophies and parties to come together to reject the prejudice, to reject hate and make a clear case for the principles upon which our democracies were founded. Justice. Freedom. Tolerance. And equality. And the rights and dignity of every individual irrespective of difference. This fight is part of a larger battle being waged across the world between these who see division as a tool of domination and those who see diversity and inclusion as the politics of success and principle. Im reassuring knowing that all of you will continue working hard to make our country and the world a safer, more tolerant, place for us all. For my three daughters, one of whom is gay. For my three grandchildren and for my four grandchildren. You fight for them. I understand that. And i thank you for it. [ applause ] and you fight especially for those who have participated in adls program for young leaders. If youre a young leader and youre in the adl, thank you, young leader, your country needs you. [ applause ] it these your resolve. Your energy. And your passion for adls mission to educate and to fight back against hate and division. Ark adls mission and advocacy is critical today, i suggest to you, as it has ever been. The fight for equality and the principles upon which this nation was founded are always at issue and must always be defended. Ten years ago, adl was at the forefront of the fight to pass the landmark Matthew Shepherd and james byrd jr. Hate crimes prevention act. I was proud to be a member of the congress of the United States, and i was proud to be the majority leader, as i am now, and i was proud to bring that legislation to the floor. And you were right there when i helped lead the effort to overturn dont ask dont tell. [ applause ] now, in 2019, im proud to work with you to fight back against the administrations ban on Transgender Americans serving in our military. [ applause ] and last month with your help, we passed the equality act. Whether its homophobia, transphobia, islamophobia, xenophobia, racism, or antisemitism, adl is there standing up to hate. [ applause ] and i am prod to ud to be by yo side in that effort. Le i am proud that my democratic colleagues will be at your side in that effort. That is our resolve. That is our promise. And, therefore, when the purveyors of malice ring the bell of bigotry, let none of us ask for whom the bell tolls, but with the poet done, let us know that it tolls for us. And in that conviction, let us all respond accordingly. This is america. Hate is not welcome. God bless you. Thank you very much. Thank you, all. Thank you. Thank you. [ applause ] thank you. Thank you. Thank you. [ applause ] thank you. Please welcome president and chief executive officer of the Leadership Conference on civil and human rights, vanita gupta. I rise up i rise like the day i rise up i rise unafraid this is an amazing room. Good afternoon. 1 30. Im really, really excited to be here today. This san incredible room. I want to thank the Antidefamation League. Its an honor to be here. Really led by jonathan greenblat, incredible staff like erika, and Michael Lieberman, all of you know. So many others. The Antidefamation League has been tirelessly working to protect the jewish people and secure justice and fair treatment for all and i am so grateful for all that you do every single day to advocate for a world free from hate and discrimination. When the founders, a Cross Section of leaders came together in 1950, they knew the fight for justice minority in america was to experience daily indignity and our founders came together not because of terror and tragedy, but really, they came together in spite of it. And they created our coalition not out of common fear but with common purpose. And that was justice for all. Adl served as one of our founding members guided by this deep understanding that the fight against one form of prejudice cannot succeed without battling prejudice in all of its forms. And for nearly 70 years the Leadership Conference and adl have successfully worked together to advance the most ambitious civil rights legislation in our nations history starting with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Fair Housing Act a few years later. As our founders knew, the work of the movement is bigger than any single one of us or any one of our organizations or communities alone. In the months ayears ahead, we have to choose to continue that legacy. Weve got to choose to act out of love instead of bitterness and solidarity instead of surrender. We must choose to see possibility through our pain. My . Because our enduring hope and our enduring belief in the power of coalition and working across community has always fueled our fight for a freer and fairer america. But there is little question that those are incredibly perilous times. The past few years have demanded so much from all of us and from our nation, and im not going to lie to you, there have been moments when it has felt like there simply was no bottom. Moments like the violence in charlottesville where men without hoods yelled jews will not replace us, while the president refused to unequivocally denounce White Supremacists, many of whom were marching in his name. Moments like the start of family separation at our southern border. Children being torn from the arms of their parents. Moment like the rapid rise of threats to womens rights and health care in alabama, in georgia, and missouri, and the list goes on. Moments like last weeks announcement that the administration was deliberately manipulating the 2020 census as new evidence confirmed the Citizenship Question on the census is nothing more than an attempt to silence our communities and seal partisan power for the next decade. Never forget, though, our coalition was created for times like these. And what the beginning, we were forged to fight the intractable together. And weve got to remember our connectedness in the face of violence against our communities. Violence motivated by a resurgence of White Supremacy, antisemitism, antiimmigrant nativism, and antimuslim, antiblack, antilgbtq bigotry. We honor the victims of the horrific attacks on synagogues in california and pennsylvania. The mosques in new zealand, new haven, and more. And the black churches in louisiana. After that awful, horrific, tragedy at the tree of life synagogue in pittsburgh, the Leadership Conference organized over 75 member organizations representing a broad swath of faith and racial justice, womens rights, lgbtq and more groups to take out a fullpage ad in the New York Times simply to do a very simple thing, to express solidarity and unity against hate in a moment of Great National pain. And we also honor the many, many victims of hate who never make the news. No one community can fight hate alone and as people try to divide us and try mightily to divide us, our communities must remain united. Resolute. And committed to meet any act of hate with radical acts of love. That is the legacy i would say actually the mandate of our coalition. This year we commemorate the tenth anniversary of the Matthew Shepherd and james byrd jr. Hate crimes prevention act. The murders of Matthew Shepherd and james byrd jr. Shocked the moral conscience of america in 1998. The details of both scarred the nation. And the investigation into ma matthews death found evidence that his attackers had targeted him because he was gay. In the case of james byrd jr. , the three men responsible for his killing were wellknown White Supremacists. But while the men responsible for the shepherd and byrd killings were later convicted of murder, none of them were prosecuted for committing a hate crime. At the time that these murders were committed, neither wyoming nor texas had a hate crimes law and existing federal hate yims prek crimes protections did not include violent acts against those engaged based on victim Sexual Orientation and actually only covered racial violence against those engaged in federally protected activity such as voting or attending school. This legislation marked a profoundly important expansion of the federal hate crimes laws to include crimes motivated by gender, Sexual Orientation, gender identity and disability, and without having to show that the defendant was engaged in federally protected activity. I want to acknowledge Matthew Shepherds parents and james byrd jr. s sister who are here together and going to be joining Michael Lieberman here shortly. I am grateful for their amazing activism in the face of tragedy that none of us could possibly imagine and the Matthew Shepherd foundation is now a proud member of the Leadership Conference and is working every day to fight hate in communities across the country. I had the great honor, some of you may have read about this in the newspaper earlier this year of attending Matthew Shepherds Memorial Service at the National Cathedral. It was one of the most moving, beautiful, emotional, memorials that i have been to and just to see the National Cathedral honoring him and the fight against hate in that way was so profoundly powerful and important. Now, while it took 13 long years to pass the shepherd byrd hate crimes prevention act, our coalition and the families fought tirelessly, something extraordinary out of strategy. The leadership and commitment of t was crucial to our collective advocacy to advance this legislation over the finish line. And adl played a central role in leading the fight to pass this landmark legislation. Across communities we refused to stay silent in the face of hate and together we spoke out and together we showed as president obama once said that our nation can always be perfected. In my own life, as the daughter of indian immigrants and the wife of a vietnamese refugee, and as a longtime civil rights lawyer, ive seen the profound power of our laws to advance americas promise of equal protection and equal justice for all. In 2014, i began my tenure at the Civil Rights Division and did everything we possibly could to defend peoples rights to live free from violence and discrimination. Rights that formed a bedrock of an open and exclusive society. The shepherd byrd hate crimes prevention act marked the first time the words lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transjends e appeared in the United States code. It enhanced the tool kit that was available to prosecutors and increased the ability of federal Law Enforcement to support and work with state and local Law Enforcement to protect all people from harm. Under this lotion, my team at the Justice Department my team worked to career prosecutors held perpetrators of hatemotivated violence accountable. We helped train thousands of Law Enforcement officials on the law and the importance of a traumainformed response to victims and survivors. We worked with School Districts to prevent bullying which too often is a precursor of haterelated violence. We partnered with affected communities to build bridges and trust with the goal of preventing future violence. That may be why i feel an acute sense of whiplash today. There are too many people in this country who feel unwelcome and unsafe in their own homes. Divisive and often violent rhetoric from our nations highest offices cast on jewish, muslim, immigrant and other marginalized communities and crimes and incidents motivated by hate and prejudice are on the rise. Last fall, the fbi released data showing hate crimes in the United States have jumped 17 in 2017, increasing for the third consecutive year. Adls own Research FoundWhite Supremacists are overwhelmingly responsible for extremist murders. The fourth deadliest year on record for domestic extremistrelated killings since 1970. Adl also found terrifyingly near historic levels of antisemitism in 2018. And the fbi documented a similar increase in hate crimes against africanamericans, latinos, the Lgbtq Community, native americans and muslims in 2017. But the data actually really understate the true violence against communities. At least 91 cities with populations of more than 1,000,0 people didnt report data to the fbi or affirmatively reported zero hate crimes. This means our understanding of the actual magnitude and nature of this crisis is actually quite dangerously limited. Even as the crisis worsens in this country. Make no mistake, which is i am so hopeful about the future. Millions of people have taken up the charge to fight for an america as good as its ideals. Were in boardrooms and at the ballot box and courtrooms and in the streets and the capitol and state legislatures in our communities. In fact, Leadership Conference launched communities against hate, a partnership with Diverse Group of organizations to document hate and demand action. Ro vi p our team connects people to local organizations, Legal Resources and social services. So much of adls own work really models how much we can change and impact change when we fight for our collective future. You are defending the rights of immigrants to make a safe home in america. Youre partnering with Law Enforcement to protect communities from hate and combatting extremism on social media. I said this earlier, but it really bears repeating again. The work of civil and human rights is bigger than any one person. Any one organization or any one community. As history has shown us, the reality is that the Jewish Community cannot fight antisemitism alone. The Muslim Community cannot fight islamophobia alone. The Lgbtq Community cannot fight antilgbtq bigotry alone. The black community cannot fight racism alone. As we witness the resurgence of White Nationalism and White Supremacy, it is no surprise were also witnessing a resurgence of hate whether in politics or policy, on the internet or in childrens classrooms, and, of course, hate is not only prevalent here at home but around the world. In this time of crisis and strain, we have to call on moral leadership at all levels of the government. Our communities must unite in demanding the work, demanding the work to fight hate transcend political partisanship. Elected leaders and Public Officials and those Holding Power must strongly, publicly, consistently, condemn scapegoating, bias crimes, racism and other hate speech. [ applause ] we also have to double down on our power and purpose as a coalition. We got to recognize hate and White Supremacy are harming all vulnerable communities right now and have to affirm our shared vision of america as it should be. Jus inclusive, and fair. One day were going to look back at this moment in history and reflect on what we were doing to save the soul of our country. Wherever you sit, theres a place for you in this movement. Theres no question. Because this is a movement inspired by the masses. Its a movement that is fueled by love. Its a movement that is driven by justice and a demand for the nation that we all deserve. For love of our country, for love of our communities, and for love of each other, we wont back down. Our very fragile progress depends on it. Thank you, all, so much. [ applause ] now please welcome adls washington counsel, Michael Lieberman, judy and dennis shepherd, and luvan harris. Its a Beautiful Day its a Beautiful Day dont let it get away got no destination good afternoon. As the voice of god justlieberm Antidefamation Leagues washington counsel. We wanted to come together this year to celebrate one of the adls signature victories in the last 106 years, the enactment of the Matthew Shepherd and james byrd jr. Hate crimes prevention act almost ten years ago. Its very appropriate to kick off our tenyear Anniversary Commemoration at this most important conference because as many of you will remember, year in and year out, for 13 years, participants at this Leadership Conference went to the hill to lobby for the passage of this bill. Through those years on any number of occasions, members of the house, members of the senate, would come to us and they would say, look, you have substantial support in congress. You have more than 150 groups that are part of a coalition. Every major Law Enforcement organization in the country is supporting it. The conference of mayors, the district attorneys, the International Association of chiefs of police. Many state attorneys general. All you have to do to get this bill passed is to take out two words. Two words in a 4,000word bill. And those two words were, Sexual Orientation. Take out Sexual Orientation, we go to the rose garden. And we said no. Again and again and again. [ applause ] and equally important, our Coalition Partners said no. The International Association of chiefs of police, the naacp, the mayors, the Leadership Conference on civil and human rights. And in the end, we did get Sexual Orientation in this most important federal hate crime law and for the first time, gender identity. [ applause ] our friend our friend and ally, vanita gupta, told you how valuable this law has been in the fight over hate crime over the last ten years. One crucial element in our lobbying campaign was to be able to tell the stories of two horrible, impactful, hate crimes that occurred a few months apart in 1998. But more important than us being able to tell the story was to be able to have the mother and father of 21yearold matt shepherd murdered on october 6th, 1998, because he was gay, and the sisters and brother of 49yearold james byrd jr. , murdered on june 7th, 1998, because he was black, tell their own stories. The willingeness of these two families to push past the pain and the stories and tell their stories of their loved ones helped to bring us to a president ial signing ceremony on october 28th, 2009. [ applause ] and prosecutors prosecutors will have new tools to work with states in order to prosecute to the fullest those who perpetrate such crimes because no one in america should ever be afraid to walk down the Street Holding the hands of the person they love. No one in america should be forced to look over their shoulder because of who they are, because they live with a disability. A group, this isnt just about our laws, this is about who we are as a people, about whether we value one another. Whether we embrace our differences whether than allowing them to become a source of angst. Its hard for any of us to imagine the mindset of someone who would kidnap a young man, beat him to within an inch of his life, tie him to a fence and beat him to death. Its hard for any of us to imagine the twisted mentality of those who offered a neighbor a ride home, attack him, chain him to the back of a truck and drag him for miles until he finally died. But we sense where such cruelty begins. The moment we fail to see in another our common humanity. The very moment when we fail to recognize in a person the same fears and hopes, the same passions and imperfection, the same dreams that we all share. We have for centuriy ies striveo live up to our founding ideal. Of a nation where all are free and equal and able to pursue their own version of happiness. Through conflict and tumult, hatred, divisions of hatred and discord, we have endured and grown stronger and fairer and freer. And at every turn, we make progress not only by change laws but by changing hearts. By our willingness to walk in anothers shoes. By our capacity to love and accept even in the face of rage and bigotry. In april of 1968 just one week after the assassination of Martin Luther king, as our nation mourned in grief and shuddered in anger, president Lyndon Johnson signed landmark civil rights legislation. This was the first time he enshrined into law federal protections of crimes motivated by religious and racial hatred. The law of today. As he signed his name, a difficult moment for our country, president johnson said to this law the bells of freedom ring out a little louder. That is the promise of america. Over the sound of hatred, chaos, over grief and anger, we can still hear those ideals even when they are faint, even when some will try to drown them out. At our best, we seek to make sure those ideals can be heard and felt by americans everywhere. That work did not end in 1968. It certainly does not end today. But because of the efforts of the folks in this room, particularly those family members who are standing behind me, we can be proud that the bell rings et s even louder now each day grows louder still. Thank you very much. God bless you. God bless the United States of america. [ applause ] luvan, judy, dennis, you guys have been associated with this terrible, terrible, brutal, hate crimes. Who would have blamed you if you would have just closed in to family and community, grieved in silence. That has not been your path. And i want to start, luvan, with you. Youve been so generous with your time, working on the texas law. Texas does now have a law, hate crime law. Its called the james byrd jr. Hate crime law. [ applause ] you have been a great partner to dina marks and others in our Houston Office for nearly 20 years. Take us back, please, to that day where the president is signing this legislation. Your hard work to get there. Tell us about how you were feeling at that time. Theres no words to descri describe youre a victim of hate crime because you always go through the world as lost because the person that you love was killed through a senseless death because he was born black. And james was a people person. He loved people. And at that moment, gii just fe i was honoring him. Knowing that his death made a difference and that it would protect others from having to go through what he had to go through because of hate. Because his death was a senseless death and no family should have to go through that. Being the president having signed a federal bill saying, okay, no one will ever have to go through that again, it was for me and my family. The state bill took a long time because of the same scenarios that you mentioned before but we kept fighting until we got everyone covered and no one will have to deal with this as a family. It was an unexplainable for our feeling and our james because i know he would be honored to be part of this bill. Julie, dennis, how did you decide to be involved in this fight . Well, even while matt was still in the hospital, we began to get a lot of communications from parents asking us as accepting parents to please talk about how important it was to keep your children close. They still had the opportunity to welcome their children or whoever they had removed from their life because they were gay to welcome them back. We did not have that opportunity. They were hoping people would rethink that. I think we owed it to matt. Dennis and i, matts boorother, logan, made a pact in the hospital, as long as we had the opportunity to speak out, we would. [ applause ] i dont always carry a copy of the Matthew Shepherd and james byrd jr. Hate crimes prevention act around with me. I think you do. You should. Okay. Actually, i frequently do. But you know because you were at the signing ceremony that in real life, it doesnt look like this. It looks like this. Because even after 13 years of lobbying, the only way to get this law passed was to put it on the one bill that has passed every year for the past 56 years, and so it is division e of the fiscal year 2010 department of Defense Authorization act. You have been part, dennis and judy, louvon, the lgbt arc since then. Almost 20 years since matthew was murdered. Give us a sense of the arc you have seen, the progress that weve made, where were at now. Go ahead. You should do that because i went back to saudi. Okay. Well, when we first got involved, matt was out to us. So that was a really important step. He was out to us. If he hasnt trusted us, im not sure we could have survived it. He was honest and truthful about who he was. We knew little about what the community was facing. Like dennis said, we were living in saudi arabia at the time and prior to that, wyoming, which is like saudi arabia. [ laughter ] we were largely uneducated about what was facing the Gay Community other than the violence and the derogatory around pride parades. So we were on a very steep learning curve. What we found was there was this deepseeded discrimination toward the Gay Community perpetuated, quite honestly, by televangelists on a major scale in the 90s. It became governor richardson in texas used to say you need a common enemy. Then, it was the Gay Community because the berlin wall was down. We thought communism was, like, on the wane. So it became, lets focus on those gay folks. So thats what was going on. Every state legislature, everything was, like, just trying to take things away, take things away, prevent things, adoption, marriage, job protection, military service. It just was across the board. And it was very dis paheartenin and very scary for parents of gay kids then. It was like as a parent, you worry about your kids no matter what, but throw in the gay factor, lesbian, transgender, bisexual, it was just all that much more frightening. There were strong grassroots movements to improve things across the country, and we participated when asked in all of those things. The adl was amazing in the work that they were doing. I became part of the hate crime bill movement. Dennis had gone back to work. I lobbied with the Human Rights Campaign initially. Discovered i was really terrible at it. Because i just pretty much wanted to punch somebody and im pretty sure thats not why i was there. Okay. Dont do that. Dont do that tomorrow. No. Which is why i dont do it now. I went to the hill with the Human Rights Campaign thinking and the adl and so many others, the disability organization, countless other organizations and i just went to the hill thinking, theyre going to do the right thing because its the right thing to do. Thats why theyre there. Well, no, thats really not why theyre there. And always, the Bush Administration and all through the and the end of the clinton administration, it was, like, well, were just not going to do anything for gay folks, you know, they dont count, theyre not equal. And representatives were like, we have to vote for us or we cant do anything for you, then they did nothing for us. And it was just, like, this horrible, horrible cycle. But we knew we knew we would prevail, didnt we . We knew we would revaprevail. Eventu eventually. When we had the next president , he is our hero. Hes our hero. Hes going to fight for us, hes going to make this happen. Hes going to make thing rights. And he did. And he was brilliant. We made such progress in the Obama Administration. Changing the hearts and minds because we take our cues from our leadership. And everything about the Obama Administration was about inclusivity, across the board. All marginalized communities brought into the fold. And it was brilliant. And were not seeing that anymore. Were seeing the exact opposite which is very disheartening for anybody in this room. Everybody in this room. Were were hanging in there. Were better organized now, but were definitely facing a downslide in the Gay Community, the administration has made every effort to remove it from federal pages, on websites, protections in the federal offices, trans folks in the military. Its just, every day its something new. Direct attack on the Gay Community. So what we are now that we werent before is organized raenl and really, really mad and really, really scared. [ applause ] and thats where we are today. Were just trying to hang on until we get another hero in just a little while. [ applause ] i would like to comment on that real quick. For a lot of you who dont know, i was in saudi, but judy was explaining to me what happened. When they called it the hate Crime Prevention act, no one cared. Very quickly. But when you added matts name and james name to it, it put a face to the law. To the act. It gave a reason to vote for it. Plus, we had a very conservat e conservative, republican, western, mormon, senator, and a very liberal eastern catholic senator, gordon smith and ted kennedy. The two religions who were against the lgbtq the most, they were the sponsors and they explained to judy, regardless of our personal beliefs, its whats best for the country, not whats best for us, and we need to go back to that today. [ applause ] so both of your families have set up foundations in the names of your loved ones. Louvon, will you tell us about the work and priorities of the Byrd Foundation for racial healing in jasper . Yes, the foundation was established 1999. We got a lot of calls during that time from different people all over the world saying, what are you all going to do . We found out were not the only one, families that have been suffering from hate crime. We were just fortunate enough that we had the right people in place to get justice. And theres a lot of people didnt get justice for their loved ones. Theyre still fighting for the cause for whatever reason. So we end up being the counseling end of our phone calls rather than the grieving end, and we had to do something about it. And we established the Byrd Foundation for racial healing to bring healing to people whos hurting and fight for justice for each one. And to talk about diversity, to appreciate each other, because often people often hate because they fear each other and they fear because they dont know each other. And we dont know each other because were separated. We dont communicate. So our foundations trying to continue to open dialogues for people to understand the differences and embrace each other because theres only one race and that is the human race. Theres no difference between [ applause ] judy and dennis, can you talk about the work of the Matthew Shepard foundation . [ laughter ] id rather just sit here and look pretty, but the foundation started off really focused on matts community, lgbtq. And judy found out immediately that it involved more than just lgbtq. It was all the marginalized communities. Religious, racial, cultural, whatever it might be. So it expanded and we we traveled the country talking about equality. We traveled the world, actually. Equality, the chance to have the same chance to succeed for these young people. Show that were all different and instead of putting it down, we should be celebrating the fact that were all different and that is not whats happening. So we talked about that and now the one weakness of the byrd shepard act is that it does not require mandatory reporting of hate crimes. So earlier under the last administration, the Justice Department would set up hate crimes training for Law Enforcement, ngos, and just interested citizens to come in and learn about the law, what their rights were, what they needed to do. And in order to get hate crimes reporte reported. That is no longer happening. We would come in as their guest. Now we are trying to find help in the cities we go to to help fund, to bring in federal prosecutors, Law Enforcement, to do to be the speakers and to train local Law Enforcement in those cities about the law and what their duties and rights and responsibilities are. And to try and get some movement because we need to start not only at the local level to have hate crimes reported, but we need to have that done to the state level and from the state level to the federal level. We dont know theres a hate crime. Miami beach, supposedly, has had one hate crime since 2002. Great. Im going to move there. Have a notion it. Yeah. But thats the problem. We dont know where the hate crimes are. We dont know what types of hate crimes we have. And we dont moe what the needs are to educate and eliminate those hate crimes. And were a target. Law enforcement, prosecution, and education. So thats what were doing now. Were trying to really focus on that. Thats our main goal is to educate the nation on the law and what needs to be done to try and get enough movement to get hate crimes made a mandatory, and then the problem with that is you then you have to have a standardized form that says do you think this was a hate crime, what type . So that it can, again, be forwarded and go into the federal government so they can have the statistics and the state can to know where to focus funding and education. So thats our big target right now. So theres a couple tables of Law Enforcement really close to us, but i would say this even if there were no Law Enforcement. Theyre not really touchyfeely types Law Enforcement. So im just wondering, like, how what has been your what has been the reaction of police . I know you have on your staff cynthia deetel, former fbi civil rights chief, my opinion the best hate crime trainer in america. Thats fantastic when Law Enforcement can talk to other Law Enforcement about hate crime training, but you guys have told such compelling stories to Law Enforcement. What has been your sense of the Police Reaction when youre telling this story . 20 years ago. Youve been doing it for that time. What has been your sense of the Police Reaction to this outreach and training . Go ahead. I commend adl because when this happened, they created these cards for Police Officers to guidelines to go by to make sure this crime, the hate crime, to a regular crime. And at the time with james, we didnt have such a thing and i commend them for saying this is out of my league, this is something ive never seen before, to get the fbi involved. So the first thing is to get people involved in the situation, knowing how to approach a hate crime and determine its a hate crime and we go there there. I commend the adl for stepping up and having that for us. They helped us out a lot. And also the police at the time in jasper realized its something that they need to pass on, this is out of their hands. If it werent for that, it probably would have been slid under the rug and no one would have known about it. From that end, i respect it officers were really educated when it came to our hate crime and i hope this continues, so yeah. Judy . We in our own personal experience, the Law Enforcement in wyoming was brilliant. They were kind, professional, compassiona compassionate, and underwent a lifechanging experience from becoming homophobic to really strong supporters of the community, and that was that was nothing less than a miracle for us. Wyoming had no hate crime legislation. Still one of five that still doesnt have any hate crime legislation. So they are an anomaly, actually, in laramie. Nationwide, we meet with mixed reactions at our conferences. We meet young officers who are desperate to learn about it but get no training at the academy or where they are. We also encounter Police Departments where the prosecuting attorney will tell them dont even check that box because i wont prosecute it. So its a mixed bag across the nation of what were going to encounter based on how difficult it is to actually prosecute and prove or that they just they dont even want to take the time to do it. So i sense progress but i also sense resistance based on based on a lot of factors. Where they are. The community, itself. So its a mixed bag of reaction to the things that we do. So i know, louvon, that james byrd jr. s grave site is behind a locked fence and i, too, was privileged, dennis and judy, to be at the National Cathedral for the intering of matthews remains. And i think thats such a sad commentary on so it was such a wonderful ceremony but a sad commentary that you felt like it was difficult to lay matthew to rest until he was in a safe place, and louvon as well. Can you talk about the ceremony at the National Cathedral for a moment . Well, it was it was ill try. We will try. It was beautiful. It was totally unexpected. We also made some presentations to the smithsonian and they came to our house and the gentleman was he knew we still had math matts ashes. We didnt know what to do with them. We were so afraid of vandals in the future because of what louvons family had gone through and knew that was definitely a possibility for us as well. This gentleman said, you considered the National Cathedral . Well, no, because its the National Cathedral. I didnt even know they did anything like that. So he said, think you should think about it. I emailed bishop robinson, a friend of ours. He said, oh my gosh, its perfect. So he set the whole ball rolling and within a couple months it was a done deal. We first thought wed do a family er ceremony. The dean at the cathedral said would you consider a public ceremony . Whos going to come . Its just matts family. We were pleasantly surprised that it was a lot more people than that. But the wonderful thing is its at a place where anyone can go now and see and pay tribute to matts memory if thats what they want. And, because there really was no place other than that before, and we would get a lot of communication asking us where they could go. And matt was now safe. No one was going to harm him now. So it was brilliant. And no protesters this time. The other [ applause ] something thats really special about it is its the National Cathedral, that judy said, and so everybody feels we got comment all around the country that others now feel that they are welcomed within this country. Theyre not really the secondclass citizens theyve been considered because if the National Cathedral would take a gay boy, then it means theyre accepted. Yeah. And [ applause ] the service was almost identical to the one we had in casper 20 years ago, but this time we were able to invite and have all the friends weve made since then who are struggling along with us for equal rights for all the communities to be to share saying goodbye to matt with us. And they said that they had over a million hits that day when they streamed it. And its Still Available if you havent seen it. Just go to the washington National Cathedral website and you can see it. But thats really special. Yeah, its special to us and special to a lot of people out there. Young people, especially, who feel unloved and unwanted no matter where they are. So i want to close by just saying that we at adl have such deep respect and affection for what you have accomplished, what we have accomplished together. And i think one demonstration of how intertwined our Work Together has been wasvideo. We made this video for our 100th anniversary. It was the creation of an alternative universe. What if anne frank had lived, what if Martin Luther king jr. Had lived, what if yosak rabin had lived, and what if james byrd jr. Had livere . What if matt shepard had lived . What would he have been able to accomplish . I think that that telling that story was very important to us. But you know very well, and i know you will agree, that working together, we can do so much more than imagine that World Without hate. We are building it. You are building it. Thank you for what you do. Thank you for what you will do together. Thank you. [ applause ] say what you want to say and let the words scrawl out honestly i want to see you be brave what you want to say and let the words scrawl out now let me welcome back to the Stage National director and ceo jonathan greenblatt. Thank you, guys. Dennis. Thank you so much. I think, as we come to the close of this session and look toward the afternoon, its worth just pausing to reflect for a moment on what weve just heard. I mean, i think this whole session has really been extraordinary. From starting the special envoy car, talking about antisemitism on a global stage, to honoring the remarkable commitment to the public good. To hearing vanita talk about the struggle for civil rights and adls role and then michael bringing it home with louvon and judy and dennis who have suffered, as vanita said, and michael said, who have suffered the unspeakable. But them sharing with us today reminds us how this work is so interconnected. How the hate against directed how hate directed against us or any people is toxic and poisons us all. And how the only way we get through this, the only way we make it to the other side is when we Work Together. As citizens, as americans, as ordinary people, as mothers and fathers and siblings and sons and daughters. The futures thaupg for sharing with us. Thaurpg for being here to hear this. Lets go forward to make it a great afternoon and a great rest of the meeting. Thaupg. [ applause ] national commissioners, please make your way across the hall for the next portion of the program. American history tv tonight here on cspap. And we have an Independence Day address from the linking memorial. Or you can listen live. Former special Counsel Robert Mueller at the house intelligence and judiciary committees to testify about his report into russian interference in the 2016 election. Watch live coverage on cspan 3, online at c span. Org or listen on the radio app. For 40 years cspan has been providing up filtered coverage of congress, the white house, the Supreme Court and Public Policy events from washington, d. C. And reearound the country you can make up your own mind. Cspan is brought to you by your local cable or satellite provider. Cspa cspan your unfiltered view on government. A hearing on how to recruit and retape a diverse congressional staff. An author of three books testified and answered questions from the house modwerization of congress committee