Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) today blasted the Bush Administration for appointing an open anti-Semite to the State Department’s delegation to the much-anticipated inauguration of Ukrainian President Viktor Yuschenko.

“This is an outrage, and an insult to the entire Jewish people,” Congressman Nadler said. “It’s completely unfathomable that at this moment in history, as the world reflects on the tragedy of Auschwitz, the Administration would send one of this country’s most vocal anti-Semites on an ambassadorial assignment anywhere – much less to a celebration of the triumph of democracy.”

The State Department’s delegation of high-ranking officials such as former Secretary of State Colin Powell and House Speaker Dennis Hastert also included Ukrainian-American activist Myron Kuropas.

According to widespread media reports, Mr. Kuropas has a long and outspoken history of anti-Semitism.  He accuses the Jewish people at large of using the Holocaust to manipulate global sympathy, and of inciting Soviet atrocities in the Ukraine.

“Let the Jews go on the defensive for a change,” the Philadelphia Inquirer quotes Kuropas as saying. “The crimes of their people cannot be explained away easily.”  Kuropas has also made numerous allegations that Jews profit from what he calls the “Holocaust industry.”

“Even leaving aside the Vice President’s embarrassing vesture at the Auschwitz memorial ceremonies yesterday, it’s clear that this Administration needs to get serious about the legacy of the Holocaust,” Nadler added.  “The utter gravity of that genocide is not up for debate, and deserves due consideration in this Administration’s approach.”