(JTA) – Members of Congress and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) criticized President Donald Trump’s budget proposal that denied a funding increase request by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. A bipartisan group of 64 lawmakers signed a letter asking Trump not to reject the $3 million funding increase request, The Hill reported. “In our view, the mission of the museum has never been more important, particularly as the number of antisemitic attacks around the world rises,” read the letter, which was spearheaded by Reps. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla., Carlos Curbelo R-Fla., John Katko, R-N.Y. and Kyrsten Sinema D-Ariz. “Now is not the time to cut funding for this national treasure,” continued the letter to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies.
The ADL also denounced the proposed budget. “The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum is the most important American institution preserving the memory of the six million Jews who were murdered by the Nazis and educating future generations about the importance of combating hate and bigotry,” the group’s national director, Jonathan Greenblatt, said in a June 9 statement. “In these divided times, with increasing numbers of hate crimes against Jews and other religious minorities, this museum’s mission is as critical as ever. We call on Congress to fully fund the Holocaust Museum.”
In January, the president came under fire for issuing a statement for International Holocaust Remembrance Day that did not mention Jews. In April, however, he pledged to combat antisemitism and Holocaust denials in a speech praised by Jewish groups.