Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) President Morton A. Klein and ZOA Chairman Mark Levenson, Esq. released the following statement:

The Zionist Organization of America congratulated Congressman Andy Biggs (R-AZ) on his election to become the Chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Freedom Caucus. The House Freedom Caucus was previously led by ZOA’s friends Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) and Rep. Jim Jordan, (R-OH).   

Congressman Biggs showed that he is a true mensch with great integrity dedicated to fairness and civility, when ZOA President Morton Klein testified about Islamist antisemitism and hate crimes at a hearing of the U.S. Judiciary Committee this past April.  Part-way through Mr. Klein’s opening remarks, Mr. Klein began speaking about the House leadership’s failure to penalize and condemn Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) for their vicious antisemitic accusations, including Omar’s false accusations that Israel is “evil” and “hypnotizes the world,” and Omar’s false accusations that Jews buy Congress with “the Benjamins” and their support of BDS and their insane comparison of Israel to Nazis. House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY) immediately banged down his gavel and refused to allow Mr. Klein to complete his opening testimony, even though Mr. Klein’s allotted time had not yet expired.  Shortly afterwards, Congressman Biggs ceded all of his own time to Morton Klein, so that Mr. Klein could finish his remarks about the need to remove virulently antisemitic, Israelophobic Congresspersons Omar and Tlaib from their committees.  

These exchanges at the April 9, 2019 Judiciary Committee hearing, including Congressman Biggs’ honorable action, can be viewed on video.  See “Watch: Nadler Gives Jewish Activist 30 Seconds at Hate Crime Hearing, Then Cuts Him Off for Calling Out Omar,” by Caleb Howe, Media-ite, April 9, 2019.

Morton Klein stated:  “Prior to my Congressional testimony in April, I had never had the pleasure of meeting Congressman Biggs.  I was very impressed that Congressman Biggs – who I did not yet know – forewent his own time to give me the opportunity to finish my introductory statement about Islamist antisemitism. I will long remember the Congressman Bigg’s graciousness and sense of decency and fairness.”

ZOA was also impressed with Congressman Biggs’ beautiful Op Ed on the anniversary of 9-11 this past week, urging all Americans to honor the memories of the victims and heroes of 9-11, by uniting this great country, the United States of America.

ZOA wishes Congressman Biggs well in his new position.