Us Congress 2023-2024 Regular Session

Us Congress Senate Bill SB4127 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	II
2	2	118THCONGRESS
3	3	2
4	4	DSESSION S. 4127
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	APRIL16, 2024
11	11	Mr. S
12	12	COTTof South Carolina (for himself, Mr. CASEY, Mr. LANKFORD, Ms.
13	13	R
14	14	OSEN, Mr. SCOTTof Florida, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. MORAN, Mr. BENNET,
15	15	Mr. B
16	16	OOZMAN, Ms. CORTEZMASTO, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. COONS, Mr.
17	17	C
18	18	RAPO, Ms. SINEMA, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. HAWLEY,
19	19	Mr. H
20	20	ICKENLOOPER, Mrs. BRITT, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. RICKETTS,
21	21	Mr. F
22	22	ETTERMAN, Mr. BARRASSO, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. COTTON, Mr.
23	23	M
24	24	ANCHIN, Mr. CORNYN, Ms. HASSAN, Mrs. CAPITO, and Ms. CANTWELL)
25	25	introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
26	26	Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
27	27	A BILL
28	28	To provide for the consideration of a definition of anti-
29	29	semitism set forth by the International Holocaust Re-
30	30	membrance Alliance for the enforcement of Federal anti-
31	31	discrimination laws concerning education programs or
32	32	activities, and for other purposes.
33	33	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
34	34	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
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37	37	•S 4127 IS
38	38	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1
39	39	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Antisemitism Aware-2
40	40	ness Act of 2024’’. 3
41	41	SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 4
42	42	It is the sense of Congress that— 5
43	43	(1) title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 6
44	44	U.S.C. 2000d et seq.), prohibits discrimination on 7
45	45	the basis of race, color, and national origin in pro-8
46	46	grams and activities receiving Federal financial as-9
47	47	sistance; 10
48	48	(2) while such title does not cover discrimina-11
49	49	tion based solely on religion, individuals who face 12
50	50	discrimination based on actual or perceived shared 13
51	51	ancestry or ethnic characteristics do not lose protec-14
52	52	tion under such title for also being members of a 15
53	53	group that share a common religion; 16
54	54	(3) discrimination against Jews may give rise to 17
55	55	a violation of such title when the discrimination is 18
56	56	based on race, color, or national origin, which can 19
57	57	include discrimination based on actual or perceived 20
58	58	shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics; 21
59	59	(4) it is the policy of the United States to en-22
60	60	force such title against prohibited forms of discrimi-23
61	61	nation rooted in antisemitism as vigorously as 24
62	62	against all other forms of discrimination prohibited 25
63	63	by such title; and 26
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66	66	•S 4127 IS
67	67	(5) as noted in the U.S. National Strategy to 1
68	68	Counter Antisemitism issued by the White House on 2
69	69	May 25, 2023, it is critical to— 3
70	70	(A) increase awareness and understanding 4
71	71	of antisemitism, including its threat to America; 5
72	72	(B) improve safety and security for Jewish 6
73	73	communities; 7
74	74	(C) reverse the normalization of anti-8
75	75	semitism and counter antisemitic discrimina-9
76	76	tion; and 10
77	77	(D) expand communication and collabora-11
78	78	tion between communities. 12
79	79	SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 13
80	80	Congress finds the following: 14
81	81	(1) Antisemitism is on the rise in the United 15
82	82	States and is impacting Jewish students in K–12 16
83	83	schools, colleges, and universities. 17
84	84	(2) The International Holocaust Remembrance 18
85	85	Alliance (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘IHRA’’) 19
86	86	Working Definition of Antisemitism is a vital tool 20
87	87	which helps individuals understand and identify the 21
88	88	various manifestations of antisemitism. 22
89	89	(3) On December 11, 2019, Executive Order 23
90	90	13899 extended protections against discrimination 24
91	91	under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to individuals 25
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94	94	•S 4127 IS
95	95	subjected to antisemitism on college and university 1
96	96	campuses and tasked Federal agencies to consider 2
97	97	the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism when 3
98	98	enforcing title VI of such Act. 4
99	99	(4) Since 2018, the Department of Education 5
100	100	has used the IHRA Working Definition of Anti-6
101	101	semitism when investigating violations of that title 7
102	102	VI. 8
103	103	(5) The White House released the first-ever 9
104	104	United States National Strategy to Counter Anti-10
105	105	semitism on May 25, 2023, making clear that the 11
106	106	fight against this hate is a national, bipartisan pri-12
107	107	ority that must be successfully conducted through a 13
108	108	whole-of-government-and-society approach. 14
109	109	SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 15
110	110	For purposes of this Act, the term ‘‘definition of anti-16
111	111	semitism’’— 17
112	112	(1) means the definition of antisemitism adopt-18
113	113	ed on May 26, 2016, by the IHRA, of which the 19
114	114	United States is a member, which definition has 20
115	115	been adopted by the Department of State; and 21
116	116	(2) includes the ‘‘[c]ontemporary examples of 22
117	117	antisemitism’’ identified in the IHRA definition. 23
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120	120	•S 4127 IS
121	121	SEC. 5. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION FOR TITLE VI OF THE 1
122	122	CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964. 2
123	123	In reviewing, investigating, or deciding whether there 3
124	124	has been a violation of title VI of the Civil Rights Act 4
125	125	of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.) on the basis of race, 5
126	126	color, or national origin, based on an individual’s actual 6
127	127	or perceived shared Jewish ancestry or Jewish ethnic char-7
128	128	acteristics, the Department of Education shall take into 8
129	129	consideration the definition of antisemitism as part of the 9
130	130	Department’s assessment of whether the practice was mo-10
131	131	tivated by antisemitic intent. 11
132	132	SEC. 6. OTHER RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. 12
133	133	(a) G
134	134	ENERALRULE OFCONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 13
135	135	this Act shall be construed— 14
136	136	(1) to expand the authority of the Secretary of 15
137	137	Education; 16
138	138	(2) to alter the standards pursuant to which the 17
139	139	Department of Education makes a determination 18
140	140	that harassing conduct amounts to actionable dis-19
141	141	crimination; or 20
142	142	(3) to diminish or infringe upon the rights pro-21
143	143	tected under any other provision of law that is in ef-22
144	144	fect as of the date of enactment of this Act. 23
145	145	(b) C
146	146	ONSTITUTIONAL PROTECTIONS.—Nothing in 24
147	147	this Act shall be construed to diminish or infringe upon 25
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151	151	any right protected under the First Amendment to the 1
152	152	Constitution of the United States. 2
153	153	Æ
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