March 9th, 2015 by WCBC Radio

 

U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the senior Democratic Senator on the Commission for Security and Cooperation in Europe (U.S. Helsinki Commission), has been named as the Special Representative on Anti-Semitism, Racism, and Intolerance for the 57-nation Organization Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Parliamentary Assembly. Among Senator Cardin’s responsibilities in this position will be to raise awareness in and report to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly on the persisting problem of prejudice and discrimination in the OSCE area, including anti-Semitism, other religion- and race-based intolerance and other forms of intolerance.

“No longer content to simmer below the surface, the recent heinous attacks in Paris and Copenhagen have demonstrated the severity and pervasiveness of anti-Semitism and prejudice in the world today,” said Senator Cardin. “Intolerance, expressed by anti-Semitic violence, racism, or xenophobia, takes many forms and wears many faces. I have long fought to shine a spotlight on such activity and supported efforts to address the root causes fueling hate crimes and other forms of discrimination. I am humbled to take on this new and important responsibility within the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. I will use every tool available to raise awareness of this grave issue and push for strong actions to fight back against such gross intolerance."