Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., speaking with ABC News’ Selina Wang on Thursday afternoon outside the Capital Jewish Museum, called for the White House to increase funding for the Office for Civil Rights at the Department of Education as well as for nonprofit security, in the wake of the shooting Wednesday that killed two staff members of the Israeli Embassy.
“The Trump administration should be making sure that we increase funding for the Office of Civil Rights, that there needs to be more investigation funding available to hold universities and colleges accountable, but we also need to make sure we increase funding for nonprofit security grants,” to support security apparatuses and personnel for institutions like the Capital Jewish Museum, Wasserman Schultz said.
Wasserman Schultz had earlier joined fellow Jewish members of Congress in a news conference outside the museum.
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She said that the Trump administration “needs to stop freezing funds” appropriated by Congress that are meant to keep people safe.
“When we see that two young people could be murdered in cold blood as a result of an act of antisemitic hate, I don’t know how much more evidence you need to you need to be clear that we need to increase that funding and make sure that no one has to worry about their life ending when they’re attending an event at any institution,” she said.
Asked what Democrats are doing right now to fight for that, Wasserman Schultz said she and colleagues are working to increase that funding and to “balance expression of free speech alongside making sure that we can help stop antisemitic attacks in their tracks” and make sure students feel safe attending university.
-ABC News’ Oren Oppenheim, Selina Wang and Hannah Demissie
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