Nevada Week | Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) on antisemitism, aid for veterans | Season 6 | Episode 18 | PBS

We begin with U.S.

Senator Jacky Rosen, who in a recent interview shared which veterans’ issues are top of mind for her this Veterans Day, while addressing how a rise in anti-Semitism is impacting her personally.

-So first off, Senator, how are you and your family doing following the threats that were reportedly made on your life simply because you are Jewish?

(Senator Jacky Rosen) Well, thank you for asking that question.

My family and I, we’re doing fine.

I’m grateful to law enforcement, Department of Justice, for apprehending this individual and getting him off the streets.

But I will tell you that this is just a fraction of what Jewish people around the country and in some cases around the world are feeling right now.

As ADL has reported a rise, almost a 400%, in anti-Semitic incidences over the same time last year.

So people are feeling less safe.

They’re feeling threatened in their communities.

And no one is more threatened right now than our college students.

And I want to take one moment to talk about that, because as a mother, that’s what struck me the most when my daughter called me and she had heard of the threats.

And I realized, through her eyes, how it– how it felt.

And that’s when I realized the enormity of it.

I know as a mother as well, when you send your kids to college, sometimes the first time they’re away from home, they’re away from their support systems, all students should feel safe on campus.

It’s a university’s responsibility.

And I did call Secretary of Education Cardona to reiterate these guidance for universities about doing that.

Just today, he did do that.

It is the university’s responsibility.

He’s going to call together a task force to talk about these issues, qualified individuals, all the stakeholders, and there will be consequences if we don’t keep our students safe.

-And what do you think those consequences should be?

-Well, I’m going to let the taskforce determine that.

But it is, whether you’re a Jewish student, it is their responsibility, Jewish student or any other student.

Parents send their children to school.

They want them to have a robust education, to make friends, and to feel safe.

And so whatever that is, universities need to do that.

So we’re going to let the taskforce the Department of Education will put together, that will be what they determine is appropriate.

And they’re going to issue their guidance, and we’ll see what comes out from that.

-As you mentioned, the Department of Education is responding.

They have reportedly mentioned that federal funding could be at stake if these colleges and universities fail to protect their Jewish students.

In that letter that you wrote to the Department of Education, you said, quote, Schools have a legal responsibility to protect their students from discrimination.

Yet many university presidents and administrators have failed to forcefully condemn anti-Semitic speech and incidents on campuses in the wake of Hamas’ terrorist attack.

Why do you think these university presidents are not forthcoming with their condemnations?

-Well, I can’t speak to each university president, but what I can tell you is that they need to stand up for all their students.

And today, it’s a terrorist attack.

Hamas, a terrorist organization, brutally went into Israel, killing over 1,000 people.

Still almost 240 people, I think by current estimates, hostages still in Gaza.

And so whether it’s Jewish students or any other event, university presidents need to stand up and be strong to protect their students.

That’s what’s disappointing to me.

Why are they withholding those statements against a terrorist organization?

So we’re going to work on that with the Secretary of Education, perhaps federal funding, perhaps there’s other sanctions that we can do.

But I believe, as well as everyone else, and I say– I speak not just as senator, but as a mother– we need to keep our college students safe from harm.

-You mentioned the dramatic rise in anti-Semitic incidents following Hamas’ attack on Israel.

At the same time, the Council on American Islamic Relations is reporting a spike in hate incidents against Muslim Americans.

What is your message to your Muslim American constituents right now?

-Well, I can tell you hate in all forms is unacceptable.

Now, in America, we have a beautiful right to free speech, but that doesn’t give you the right to threaten or to intimidate or to incite violence.

And so the President put together a task force to combat anti-Semitism.

He’s, again, just this last week or so, putting together that task force to combat Islamophobia.

But I would argue that there is no place for hate in this country.

There’s no place that we want to tolerate threats or intimidation based on your race, your ethnicity, or your religion.

And so that’s what we’re going to continue to work on with everyone.

We can have an open dialogue, but we can’t threaten each other.

-I’d like to transition to Veterans Day now.

You are so involved in many veteran related bills and projects.

Of the issues that they face right now, what’s top of mind for you?

-Well, I can tell you healthcare is top of mind for our veterans.

I would say healthcare, business opportunities, and just the benefits that they’ve earned.

And so I’m the daughter of a World War II veteran.

But my grandfather and my grandmother, her three brothers, everyone served in the war.

And I have so many friends who are veterans, and actually we have many veterans on my team.

And so it’s important that we let veterans know that they have earned the benefits.

They deserve their benefits.

So what’s the first one we’re talking about?

About a year ago, the PACT Act that gave veterans expanded access to health care.

What if you were exposed to Agent Orange, toxic burn pits, high levels of radiation?

You need and deserve the care to take care of your symptoms, your illnesses, whatever they may be.

To that end, you know in Southern Nevada, we’re blessed to have one of the largest VA hospitals in the nation.

And in Northern Nevada, I asked the President to include a new VA hospital in Reno, because that VA Hospital is old and out of date.

He agreed to that.

So we’re going to see expanded access to care up in Northern Nevada as well.

So healthcare, number one.

-And then in September, your office helped secure almost $1 million for the city of Reno Housing Authority to help homeless veterans access housing.

On the topic of housing, you recently helped introduce the VA Home Loan Awareness Act.

Why is that needed?

-Well, again, veterans need to know the benefits that they have out there.

And sometimes, you know, you separate from the military, you come back home, you’re busy getting your life back, maybe going to school, going back to work, and then you want to buy a home.

Well, you’ve forgotten that one- or two-day course you had and all the benefits that were coming to you.

So we want to be sure for the VA home loan, only about 13% of veterans are taking advantage of that.

I want to be sure that every veteran takes advantage of that.

That helps with housing.

Housing helps with health care, your mental health, your physical health, your financial health, you have a stable place to live.

And this is, again, a benefit that they’ve earned.

And I’m very proud too.

I’m going to add one more thing we’ve done.

A lot of veterans want to open small businesses, and I fought for Veterans Business Outreach Center.

I’m on the Small Business Committee.

First ever in Nevada.

It’s going to have two locations: one in Reno, one in Las Vegas.

Ribbon cutting will be coming up pretty soon.

And we’ll let you know about that.

-How soon do you think?

I think there are veterans out there excited for that.

And how were you made aware of the need for this?

-Well, you know, our state, 99% of businesses in Nevada are small businesses.

People think of Nevada, and they think about the Las Vegas Strip with our giant casinos and the like.

But honestly, 99% of our businesses are small business– women owned, veteran owned, minority owned.

They support our tourism industry, not just on the Las Vegas Strip.

I’ll tell you, our outdoor tourism industry, multibillion dollar economic impact in our state.

In fact, I’m chair of the Tourism, Trade, and Export Promotion subcommittee, and we’ve been talking about this just in the hearing earlier today.

And so it’s really important that veterans have this ability to, again, use the SBA resources and take advantage of everything that they’ve earned and that they deserve.

So bringing this to Nevada to support our few hundred thousand veterans, it’s really important to have locations up and down the state.

Also important and, of course, I’m sure there’ll be doing things on webinars as well so they can get to everybody.

It matters, and I want our veterans to thrive in Nevada.

-U.S.

Senator Jacky Rosen, thank you so much for joining Nevada Week.

-Well, thank you so much for having me.

And Happy Veterans Day to everyone.