Us Congress 2023-2024 Regular Session

Us Congress Senate Bill SB3141 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	II
2	2	118THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION S. 3141
5	5	To provide for the consideration of a definition of antisemitism set forth
6	6	by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance for the enforce-
7	7	ment of Federal antidiscrimination laws concerning education programs
8	8	or activities, and for other purposes.
9	9	IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
10	10	OCTOBER26, 2023
11	11	Mrs. B
12	12	RITT(for Mr. SCOTTof South Carolina (for himself, Mr. RICKETTS,
13	13	Mrs. B
14	14	RITT, Mr. HAWLEY, Mr. SCOTTof Florida, and Mr. BOOZMAN))
15	15	introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
16	16	Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
17	17	A BILL
18	18	To provide for the consideration of a definition of anti-
19	19	semitism set forth by the International Holocaust Re-
20	20	membrance Alliance for the enforcement of Federal anti-
21	21	discrimination laws concerning education programs or
22	22	activities, and for other purposes.
23	23	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
24	24	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
25	25	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
26	26	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Antisemitism Aware-4
27	27	ness Act of 2023’’. 5
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29	29	•S 3141 IS
30	30	SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 1
31	31	It is the sense of Congress that— 2
32	32	(1) title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 3
33	33	U.S.C. 2000d et seq.), prohibits discrimination on 4
34	34	the basis of race, color, and national origin in pro-5
35	35	grams and activities receiving Federal financial as-6
36	36	sistance; 7
37	37	(2) while such title does not cover discrimina-8
38	38	tion based solely on religion, individuals who face 9
39	39	discrimination based on actual or perceived shared 10
40	40	ancestry or ethnic characteristics do not lose protec-11
41	41	tion under such title for also being members of a 12
42	42	group that share a common religion; 13
43	43	(3) discrimination against Jews may give rise to 14
44	44	a violation of such title when the discrimination is 15
45	45	based on race, color, or national origin, which can 16
46	46	include discrimination based on actual or perceived 17
47	47	shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics; 18
48	48	(4) it is the policy of the United States to en-19
49	49	force such title against prohibited forms of discrimi-20
50	50	nation rooted in antisemitism as vigorously as 21
51	51	against all other forms of discrimination prohibited 22
52	52	by such title; and 23
53	53	(5) as noted in the U.S. National Strategy to 24
54	54	Counter Antisemitism issued by the White House on 25
55	55	May 25, 2023, it is critical to— 26
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57	57	•S 3141 IS
58	58	(A) increase awareness and understanding 1
59	59	of antisemitism, including its threat to America; 2
60	60	(B) improve safety and security for Jewish 3
61	61	communities; 4
62	62	(C) reverse the normalization of anti-5
63	63	semitism and counter antisemitic discrimina-6
64	64	tion; and 7
65	65	(D) expand communication and collabora-8
66	66	tion between communities. 9
67	67	SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 10
68	68	Congress finds the following: 11
69	69	(1) Antisemitism is on the rise in the United 12
70	70	States and is impacting Jewish students in K–12 13
71	71	schools, colleges, and universities. 14
72	72	(2) The International Holocaust Remembrance 15
73	73	Alliance (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘IHRA’’) 16
74	74	Working Definition of Antisemitism is a vital tool 17
75	75	which helps individuals understand and identify the 18
76	76	various manifestations of antisemitism. 19
77	77	(3) On December 11, 2019, Executive Order 20
78	78	13899 extended protections against discrimination 21
79	79	under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to individuals 22
80	80	subjected to antisemitism on college and university 23
81	81	campuses and tasked Federal agencies to consider 24
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83	83	•S 3141 IS
84	84	the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism when 1
85	85	enforcing title VI of such Act. 2
86	86	(4) Since 2018, the Department of Education 3
87	87	has used the IHRA Working Definition of Anti-4
88	88	semitism when investigating violations of that title 5
89	89	VI. 6
90	90	(5) The use of alternative definitions of anti-7
91	91	semitism impairs enforcement efforts by adding mul-8
92	92	tiple standards and may fail to identify many of the 9
93	93	modern manifestations of antisemitism. 10
94	94	(6) The White House released the first-ever 11
95	95	United States National Strategy to Counter Anti-12
96	96	semitism on May 25, 2023, making clear that the 13
97	97	fight against this hate is a national, bipartisan pri-14
98	98	ority that must be successfully conducted through a 15
99	99	whole-of-government-and-society approach. 16
100	100	SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 17
101	101	For purposes of this Act, the term ‘‘definition of anti-18
102	102	semitism’’— 19
103	103	(1) means the definition of antisemitism adopt-20
104	104	ed on May 26, 2016, by the IHRA, of which the 21
105	105	United States is a member, which definition has 22
106	106	been adopted by the Department of State; and 23
107	107	(2) includes the ‘‘[c]ontemporary examples of 24
108	108	antisemitism’’ identified in the IHRA definition. 25
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110	110	•S 3141 IS
111	111	SEC. 5. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION FOR TITLE VI OF THE 1
112	112	CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964. 2
113	113	In reviewing, investigating, or deciding whether there 3
114	114	has been a violation of title VI of the Civil Rights Act 4
115	115	of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.) on the basis of race, 5
116	116	color, or national origin, based on an individual’s actual 6
117	117	or perceived shared Jewish ancestry or Jewish ethnic char-7
118	118	acteristics, the Department of Education shall take into 8
119	119	consideration the definition of antisemitism as part of the 9
120	120	Department’s assessment of whether the practice was mo-10
121	121	tivated by antisemitic intent. 11
122	122	SEC. 6. OTHER RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. 12
123	123	(a) G
124	124	ENERALRULE OFCONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 13
125	125	this Act shall be construed— 14
126	126	(1) to expand the authority of the Secretary of 15
127	127	Education; 16
128	128	(2) to alter the standards pursuant to which the 17
129	129	Department of Education makes a determination 18
130	130	that harassing conduct amounts to actionable dis-19
131	131	crimination; or 20
132	132	(3) to diminish or infringe upon the rights pro-21
133	133	tected under any other provision of law that is in ef-22
134	134	fect as of the date of enactment of this Act. 23
135	135	(b) C
136	136	ONSTITUTIONAL PROTECTIONS.—Nothing in 24
137	137	this Act shall be construed to diminish or infringe upon 25
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139	139	•S 3141 IS
140	140	any right protected under the First Amendment to the 1
141	141	Constitution of the United States. 2
142	142	Æ
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