Former VP Pence to speak at Grove City College conference on antisemitism
WASHINGTON Former Vice President Mike Pence is scheduled to speak at Grove City College next month to talk about fighting antisemitism.
Mr. Pence will deliver the keynote address at the college’s Institute for Faith & Freedom’s 2024 conference on April 11. As vice president, he spoke at the college’s commencement ceremony in 2017.
He sought the 2024 Republican presidential nomination but withdrew at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s leadership conference in October, months before the caucuses and primaries.
And he notably refused to reject the state-certified electoral votes in Pennsylvania and elsewhere that made Joe Biden the next president of the United States, despite being pressured to do by President Donald Trump.
The institute is the conservative research group for Grove City College.
The conference will focus on the increase in antisemitism since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 200 hostages.
“In many quarters, Israel found itself not a source of sympathy, a victim, but a focus of anger and accusations,” said Robert Rider, senior director of the institute. “Protests erupted in many countries, including the United States, often directed at Israel rather than Hamas. Most disturbing, there has been an eruption of protests against Israel on college campuses, accompanied by a troubling rise in antisemitism. It is most certainly something that Christians everywhere should condemn.”
Other speakers include Meir Soloveichik, senior rabbi of Congregation Shearith Israel in New York City; Naomi Schaefer Riley, —writer and senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative research group in Washington; and George Weigel, Catholic theologian, papal biographer, and syndicated columnist.
In other Washington news:
Fetterman defends Rep. Boebert
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman and U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert are as far apart on the political spectrum as any two members of Congress can be.
But when Ms. Boebert’s son was arrested on criminal charges and critics of the Colorado Republican had a field day on social media, Mr. Fetterman rushed to her defense.
“This is a family in crisis and the recreational cruelty I see on social media needs to be out of bounds,” Mr. Fetterman, D-Pa., said on X. “I know the impact this has on children. I’m calling for restraint because cruelty has substantial collateral damage. We can’t ever forget that they didn’t sign up for this.”
Ms. Boebert’s son, Tyler, faces five felony counts, accordingto police in Rifle, Colo.
Mr. Fetterman had his run-ins with social media, which he called an “accelerant” that contributed to his depression and eventual hospitalization. He told NBC’s “Meet the Press” in December that when he went online after the election, he was shocked at the vitriol aimed at him and his family.
“I’ve never noticed anyone to believe that their health — their mental health — has been supported by spending any kind of time on social media,” he said.
GOP’s Biden bash
President Joe Biden’s decision to temporarily block new liquified natural gas export facilities hasn’t set well with House Republicans, who voted to block his decision last month.
With every GOP lawmaker voting yes alongside nine Democrats, the bill passed 224-200. All three Western Pennsylvania Republicans voted yes and both Democrats voted no.
“This deeply concerning decision puts American family-sustaining jobs and the security of our allies and partners around the globe at risk,” said U.S. Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, D-Peters.
U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, RButler, said the moratorium threatened the region’s natural gas industry.
“The president previously campaigned on ending fossil fuels,” he said. “As the saying goes: promises made, promises kept. Except this time, his policy decision is effective immediately and it dramatically threatens Pennsylvania’s flourishing natural gas industry.”
The suspension, expected to last most of 2024, does not affect the eight LNG plants now in operation, the seven being built or the 10 already approved. Rather, it is designed to provide time for the administration to look at the impact of building even more LNG export facilities while trying to curb fossil fuel emissions that contribute to climate change.
The pause was supported by environmentalists, with Sierra Club President Ben Jealous calling it “bold” and “historic.”
“This decision is a major win for communities and advocates that have long spoken out about the dangers of LNG, and makes it clear that the Biden administration is listening to the calls to break America’s reliance on dirty fossil fuels and secure a livable future for us all,” he said.
Even as the Biden administration has encouraged a pivot to renewable energy, the U.S. leads the world in oil and gas exports. In October, the U.S. produced a record 409.9 million barrels of oil a day, according to the Energy Information Administration.