libertarian party convention. president biden also has been invited to attend but has not responded. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we're funded by these television companies and more, including wow. >> the world has changed. today the fast reliable internet connection is something no one can live without. so wow is there for our customers with speed, reliability, value and choice. now more than ever it all starts with great internet. wow. >> wow. support c-span as a public service among these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> next, a news conference on college protests focused on the israel hamas war with committee chair james comer and other members of the committee. they spoke at george washington

university saying they wanted to ensure student safety while the pro palestinian demonstrations were on the campus. >> can everybody hear me ok? we will be very brief. the oversight committee is here today because as you saw yesterday from mike johnson's press conference this is a priority for the majority of the u.s. house of representatives. we're seeing these protests spring up all across the united states, we're hearing from jewish students that they don't feel safe, we're hearing from university administrators uh that they don't feel like they are equipped to handle these types of protests. there is obviously concern that

any type of protest of this size and nature could get out of hand. we have two roles on the oversight committee in the campus protests. we have legislative jurisdiction over the city of washington, d.c. we've already passed , legislation this year that passed the house passed the the senate and was signed into law by the president that rescinded washington, d.c.'s soft on crime policies. we're going to have an emergency hearing wednesday with the mayor and police chief of washington dcaa >> chanting "hands off dc" >> we want to follow the money trail to see if outside groups are paying for this activity and things like that so we are all going to say a few words and

then we will be happy to answer any questions. i yield to representative lauren boebert. >> [booing] >> this is what the students at gwu are facing each and every day. their learning activities are being disrupted; their finals are being disrupted. it's very disrespectful. we have jewish students who have approached me today who fear for the safety of their lives by the comments are being made.

there are seven students who have been suspended for trespassing. it's time that mayor bowser gets aggressive in keeping safety here on this campus and surrounding perimeter. we stand with israel, our greatest ally in the middle east . we stand for peace in washington -- these people who are shouting, free palestine, i have seen signs here today that say gays for gaza, from the river to the sea, gaza will be free, chinese for palestine. this is not only disgusting -- not only is it disgusting but let me be clear, not only is

this disgusting but let me be clear, every person in this so-called liberated zone would be eviscerated by the very party you were standing here supporting. we stand with israel, we stand for peace and the mayor must , step up and do something to clear this. this is not the summer is of love and we are not bowing to the chaos anymore and -- >> [crowded chanting, yelling over lauren boebert] >> there is a really big

difference between qualified and what we see behind us. there are professional organized protesters that aren't students who are currently inciting what you are seeing at this community right now. there's a big difference between the first amendment and peaceful protests and intentionally preventing people from being able to get an education and intentionally trespassing on property, going around with signs that say final solution, of which you all know is racism. the fact is that here in the united states everyone has the right to ensure their constitutional freedoms are protected. what you are seeing happening in this country showing more division and there are people behind it who don't want us to unify as a country. the people behind us right now are not helping palestinians, if they were, they would be condemning hamas.

right now we encourage the university and faculty to ensure that the students are able to take their finals. if you are parents of students here, contact the university and say thank you because they are doing everything they can right now. >> [chanting, haggling -- heckling] >> calm down, bro. i'm going to talk real quick here. what is happening here is wrong. mayor bowser has let down the students of george washington. she has let down the city of washington, d.c. everybody believes in peaceful protests, but this is trespassing now. gw has asked for help to have the encampment removed because this is private property, and the mayor is weak in the face of foolishness and she won't do her

job of enforcing the law in washington, d.c. we are calling on the mayor to step up and support the president and administration at george washington. all students deserve to be protected and deserve to have their voices heard but you cannot take over a university for your own end. none of you would let it happen to your own house; you would not let your house be overtaken by a group of people, you would call police. sir, i let you talk, calm down, i am talking now. it is no different on private property. mayor bowser needs to step up and lead for once in washington, d.c. and all the people and all the students here at gw. >> i graduated from george washington in 2006 and i went to law school here in 2010.

this is sickening to see thousands of jewish students made to feel uncomfortable and made to feel fear. this is not what george washington is about. and this is because the mayor is weak. in new york you see a strong mayor taking back the city. here in d.c., the mayor has chosen not to enforce the rule of law. the president of george washington has requested mpd's assistance in clearing these trespassers and they refuse to. this has gone on for a week and must be stopped. we have a hearing next wednesday and i can assure you that after it will be stopped. trespassing is not allowed. the rule of law must be enforced. i feel so sad for my jewish friends who go to school here at george washington. we have to reinstate the rule of law. it is past time. >> [shouting, heckling]

>> while we are enjoying this beautiful weather there are , people being held prisoner today in hase -- in gaza by hamas. there were women being raped. if you look into the facts, you know that there is the elite guard and then the citizens of palestine that came in droves and basically did most of the barbaric activities in that area. at the end of the day, this protest should be against what hamas has done and we should be asking for the release of the prisoners in gaza.

>> [shouting] [heckling, chanting] >> help is on the way for george washington university. as i said earlier we rescinded washington dc is soft on crime policy and we expect the rule of law to be upheld and the washington police department is the body that upholds the law. this is trespassing. the university explicitly told us they do not want these encampments on their campus. we expect the encampments to be cleared out. we have a committee hearing wednesday and i would strongly encourage the mayor to have the police here do their job and ensure at the very least there is no trespassing.

peaceful protesting is fine but trespassing is against the law. we will do in -- everything in our ability. [indiscernible] [inaudible] >> i cannot hear what you are saying. >> can you clarify the jurisdiction of the committee? >> the house oversight committee has legislative jurisdiction over washington, d.c. and that is what we do a lot of legislation we in the mayor regularly coming in and we've just passed a bill a few weeks ago to work out a lease agreement for rfk stadium so that commanders can come back.

we rescinded the soft on crime policy and we have reached out to the mayor to schedule this committee hearing. the mayor knows our position. we expect the law to be upheld and right now we have people breaking the law and a lot of us do not look like students. >> the people here breaking the law? >> yes. >> if the mayor does not testify -- >> the mayor will testify. [indiscernible] [inaudible] >> who will make the arrests? >> it should be the metro police department. >> george washington police department has authority to make arrests and hand them over to the metropolitan police department. >> thank you all. >> [shouting]

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