APRIL 7 • 2022 | 61
T
he Senate in a voice
vote on March 30
unanimously con-
firmed Deborah Lipstadt,
the Holocaust scholar who
endured delays and a con-
tentious hearing in her nom-
ination to be antisemitism
monitor.
The vote took mere seconds.
“The ayes appear to have it,”
Sen. Tammy Baldwin, the
Wisconsin Democrat who was
presiding over the session,
said after calling for a vote.
“The ayes do have it. The
nomination is confirmed.”
There were no “Nos.”
It was not clear from the
C-Span video, which Georgia
Democrat Jon Ossoff posted
on his Twitter feed, how many
senators were present for the
vote to confirm Lipstadt to the
State Department role.
Still, the fact that none of
Lipstadt’s erstwhile Republican
critics demanded debate or
a headcount — actions that
could have further delayed her
nomination — was in sharp
contrast to the procedural
maneuvers Republicans used
for months to delay her con-
firmation.
Ossoff introduced the
motion to nominate Lipstadt
in part because he represents
Georgia, where Lipstadt teach-
es at Emory University, but he
also noted his Jewish roots in
his 4-minute speech.
“It was U.S. forces who
liberated Dachau and
Buchenwald. and Annie
and Israel, my great-grand-
parents, they got out of
Europe,” Ossoff said. “Many
of my family did not, Madam
President, and they perished
in the Holocaust. This isn’t
ancient history. This is recent
history. And right now as
we speak, the scourge of
antisemitism is rising again,
in this country and around
the world. If we mean the
words ‘never again,’ then at
long last, Madam President,
let’s confirm Deborah
Lipstadt to fight antisemi-
tism on behalf of the United
States.”
Lipstadt is now the first
antisemitism monitor to have
the role of ambassador, under
a law passed by Congress in
2020, which enhances her sta-
tus overseas when she makes
representations to foreign gov-
ernments and allows her more
direct access to the secretary
of state and to the president
should she come across a situ-
ation that she believes requires
executive action.
The fact that the rank of
ambassador means the role
requires Senate confirmation
subjected Lipstadt to scruti-
ny. Her sharp past criticisms
of former President Donald
Trump, and particularly of
Wisconsin Republican Sen.
Ron Johnson, led to delays
and a contentious hear-
ing in February. Only two
Republicans on the Foreign
Relations Committee joined
Democrats earlier this week
in advancing the nomination.
A broad array of Jewish and
pro-Israel groups advocated
on behalf of Lipstadt, includ-
ing groups like the Orthodox
Union and Christians United
for Israel that maintain close
ties with Republicans.
Lipstadt, 75, has been for
years a go-to expert for the
media and for legislators on
Holocaust issues, particularly
on how the genocide’s mean-
ing should be understood in
the 21st century, and whether
it had any cognates among
anti-democratic forces in the
current day.
RON KAMPEAS JTA
SPOTLIGHT
Senate
Unanimously
Confirms
Deborah Lipstadt
as Antisemitism
Monitor
Deborah Lipstadt walks a red carpet for “Denial” during the 11th
Rome Film Festival at Auditorium Parco Della Musica in Rome,
Oct. 17, 2016.
ELISABETTA A. VILLA/WIREIMAGE VIA GETTY IMAGES