I
118THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 6090
To provide for the consideration of a definition of antisemitism set forth
by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance for the enforce-
ment of Federal antidiscrimination laws concerning education programs
or activities, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
OCTOBER26, 2023
Mr. L
AWLER(for himself, Mr. GOTTHEIMER, Mr. MILLERof Ohio, Mr.
M
OSKOWITZ, Mr. KEANof New Jersey, Ms. JACKSONLEE, Mr.
F
ITZPATRICK, Ms. STEFANIK, Mr. KUSTOFF, Mr. NORCROSS, and Ms.
B
ROWN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To provide for the consideration of a definition of anti-
semitism set forth by the International Holocaust Re-
membrance Alliance for the enforcement of Federal anti-
discrimination laws concerning education programs or
activities, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Antisemitism Aware-4
ness Act of 2023’’. 5
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SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 1
It is the sense of Congress that— 2
(1) title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 3
U.S.C. 2000d et seq.), prohibits discrimination on 4
the basis of race, color, and national origin in pro-5
grams and activities receiving Federal financial as-6
sistance; 7
(2) while such title does not cover discrimina-8
tion based solely on religion, individuals who face 9
discrimination based on actual or perceived shared 10
ancestry or ethnic characteristics do not lose protec-11
tion under such title for also being members of a 12
group that share a common religion; 13
(3) discrimination against Jews may give rise to 14
a violation of such title when the discrimination is 15
based on race, color, or national origin, which can 16
include discrimination based on actual or perceived 17
shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics; 18
(4) it is the policy of the United States to en-19
force such title against prohibited forms of discrimi-20
nation rooted in antisemitism as vigorously as 21
against all other forms of discrimination prohibited 22
by such title; and 23
(5) as noted in the U.S. National Strategy to 24
Counter Antisemitism issued by the White House on 25
May 25, 2023, it is critical to— 26
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(A) increase awareness and understanding 1
of antisemitism, including its threat to America; 2
(B) improve safety and security for Jewish 3
communities; 4
(C) reverse the normalization of anti-5
semitism and counter antisemitic discrimina-6
tion; and 7
(D) expand communication and collabora-8
tion between communities. 9
SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 10
Congress finds the following: 11
(1) Antisemitism is on the rise in the United 12
States and is impacting Jewish students in K–12 13
schools, colleges, and universities. 14
(2) The International Holocaust Remembrance 15
Alliance (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘IHRA’’) 16
Working Definition of Antisemitism is a vital tool 17
which helps individuals understand and identify the 18
various manifestations of antisemitism. 19
(3) On December 11, 2019, Executive Order 20
13899 extended protections against discrimination 21
under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to individuals 22
subjected to antisemitism on college and university 23
campuses and tasked Federal agencies to consider 24
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the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism when 1
enforcing title VI of such Act. 2
(4) Since 2018, the Department of Education 3
has used the IHRA Working Definition of Anti-4
semitism when investigating violations of that title 5
VI. 6
(5) The use of alternative definitions of anti-7
semitism impairs enforcement efforts by adding mul-8
tiple standards and may fail to identify many of the 9
modern manifestations of antisemitism. 10
(6) The White House released the first-ever 11
United States National Strategy to Counter Anti-12
semitism on May 25, 2023, making clear that the 13
fight against this hate is a national, bipartisan pri-14
ority that must be successfully conducted through a 15
whole-of-government-and-society approach. 16
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 17
For purposes of this Act, the term ‘‘definition of anti-18
semitism’’— 19
(1) means the definition of antisemitism adopt-20
ed on May 26, 2016, by the IHRA, of which the 21
United States is a member, which definition has 22
been adopted by the Department of State; and 23
(2) includes the ‘‘[c]ontemporary examples of 24
antisemitism’’ identified in the IHRA definition. 25
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SEC. 5. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION FOR TITLE VI OF THE 1
CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964. 2
In reviewing, investigating, or deciding whether there 3
has been a violation of title VI of the Civil Rights Act 4
of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.) on the basis of race, 5
color, or national origin, based on an individual’s actual 6
or perceived shared Jewish ancestry or Jewish ethnic char-7
acteristics, the Department of Education shall take into 8
consideration the definition of antisemitism as part of the 9
Department’s assessment of whether the practice was mo-10
tivated by antisemitic intent. 11
SEC. 6. OTHER RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. 12
(a) G
ENERALRULE OFCONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 13
this Act shall be construed— 14
(1) to expand the authority of the Secretary of 15
Education; 16
(2) to alter the standards pursuant to which the 17
Department of Education makes a determination 18
that harassing conduct amounts to actionable dis-19
crimination; or 20
(3) to diminish or infringe upon the rights pro-21
tected under any other provision of law that is in ef-22
fect as of the date of enactment of this Act. 23
(b) C
ONSTITUTIONAL PROTECTIONS.—Nothing in 24
this Act shall be construed to diminish or infringe upon 25
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any right protected under the First Amendment to the 1
Constitution of the United States. 2
Æ
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