A vigil for the victims of Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, Oct. 27, 2018. Photo: Reuters / John Altdorfer.

The House of Representatives Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Anti-Semitism praised the passage on Wednesday of a bipartisan resolution denouncing the Oct. 27 massacre of 11 Jewish worshipers at a synagogue in Pittsburgh by a white supremacist gunman.

The resolution was initiated by Representative Mike Doyle (D-PA), who represents the Squirrel Hill neighborhood where the shooting took place. It was written for the purpose of “condemning the anti-Semitic attack on the building housing three congregations, Tree of Life, Dor Hadash, and New Light, honoring the memory of the victims of the attack, and offering condolences to and expressing support for their families, friends, and community.”

On Wednesday, the co-chairs of the task force — Representatives Nita Lowey (D-NY), Chris Smith (R-NJ), Eliot Engel (D-NY), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Ted Deutch (D-FL), Kay Granger (R-TX), Marc Veasey (D-TX) and Peter Roskam (R-IL) — said in a statement, “We are glad to see this resolution pass the House unanimously, which reaffirms the House’s commitment to fighting anti-Semitism in all its forms here at home and around the world. Just yesterday, the FBI released its 2017 hate crime statistics, showing a 37 percent increase in anti-Semitic incidents in the U.S. from 2016. We will carry the memory of those lost in the Tree of Life synagogue building attack, the deadliest anti-Semitic incident in U.S. history, and work to ensure that all Americans are free to worship in peace and security.”