II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 852 

To provide for the consideration of a definition of anti-Semitism for the 

enforcement of Federal antidiscrimination laws concerning education programs or activities. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 14, 2019 

Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina (for himself, Mr. CASEY, Mr. RUBIO, and Mr. 

ISAKSON) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To provide for the consideration of a definition of antiSemitism for the enforcement of Federal antidiscrimination laws concerning education programs or activities. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Anti-Semitism Aware5 ness Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (re9 ferred to in the section as ‘‘title VI’’) is one of the 


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1 principal antidiscrimination statutes enforced by the 

2 Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. 

3 (2) Title VI prohibits discrimination on the 

4 basis of race, color, or national origin. 

5 (3) Both the Department of Justice and the 

6 Department of Education have properly concluded 

7 that title VI prohibits discrimination against Jews, 

8 Muslims, Sikhs, and members of other religious 

9 groups when the discrimination is based on the 

10 group’s actual or perceived shared ancestry or ethnic 

11 characteristics or when the discrimination is based 

12 on actual or perceived citizenship or residence in a 

13 country whose residents share a dominant religion or 

14 a distinct religious identity. 

15 (4) A September 8, 2010, letter from Assistant 

16 Attorney General Thomas E. Perez to Assistant Sec17 retary for Civil Rights Russlynn H. Ali stated that 

18 ‘‘[a]lthough Title VI does not prohibit discrimination 

19 on the basis of religion, discrimination against Jews, 

20 Muslims, Sikhs, and members of other groups vio21 lates Title VI when that discrimination is based on 

22 the group’s actual or perceived shared ancestry or 

23 ethnic characteristics’’. 

24 (5) To assist State and local educational agen25 cies and schools in their efforts to comply with FedVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:01 Mar 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S852.IS S852

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1 eral law, the Department of Education periodically 

2 issues Dear Colleague letters. On a number of occa3 sions, these letters set forth the Department of Edu4 cation’s interpretation of the statutory and regu5 latory obligations of schools under title VI. 

6 (6) On September 13, 2004, the Department of 

7 Education issued a Dear Colleague letter regarding 

8 the obligations of schools (including colleges) under 

9 title VI to address incidents involving religious dis10 crimination. The 2004 letter specifically notes that 

11 ‘‘since the attacks of September 11, 2001, OCR has 

12 received complaints of race or national origin harass13 ment commingled with aspects of religious discrimi14 nation against Arab Muslim, Sikh, and Jewish stu15 dents.’’. 

16 (7) An October 26, 2010, Dear Colleague letter 

17 issued by the Department of Education stated, 

18 ‘‘While Title VI does not cover discrimination based 

19 solely on religion, groups that face discrimination on 

20 the basis of actual or perceived shared ancestry or 

21 ethnic characteristics may not be denied protection 

22 under Title VI on the ground that they also share 

23 a common faith. These principles apply not just to 

24 Jewish students, but also to students from any dis25 crete religious group that shares, or is perceived to 


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1 share, ancestry or ethnic characteristics (e.g., Mus2 lims or Sikhs).’’. 

3 (8) Anti-Semitism, and harassment on the basis 

4 of actual or perceived shared ancestry or ethnic 

5 characteristics with a religious group, remains a per6 sistent, disturbing problem in elementary and sec7 ondary schools and on college campuses. 

8 (9) Students from a range of diverse back9 grounds, including Jewish, Arab Muslim, and Sikh 

10 students, are being threatened, harassed, or intimi11 dated in their schools (including on their campuses) 

12 on the basis of their shared ancestry or ethnic char13 acteristics including through harassing conduct that 

14 creates a hostile environment so severe, pervasive, or 

15 persistent so as to interfere with or limit some stu16 dents’ ability to participate in or benefit from the 

17 services, activities, or opportunities offered by 

18 schools. 

19 (10) The 2010 Dear Colleague letter cautioned 

20 schools that they ‘‘must take prompt and effective 

21 steps reasonably calculated to end the harassment, 

22 eliminate any hostile environment, and its effects, 

23 and prevent the harassment from recurring,’’ but 

24 did not provide guidance on current manifestations 

25 of anti-Semitism, including discriminatory anti-SeVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:01 Mar 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S852.IS S852

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1 mitic conduct that is couched as anti-Israel or anti2 Zionist. 

3 (11) The definition and examples referred to in 

4 paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 3 have been valu5 able tools to help identify contemporary manifesta6 tions of anti-Semitism, and include useful examples 

7 of discriminatory anti-Israel conduct that crosses the 

8 line into anti-Semitism. 

9 (12) Awareness of this definition of anti-Semi10 tism will increase understanding of the parameters 

11 of contemporary anti-Jewish conduct and will assist 

12 the Department of Education in determining wheth13 er an investigation of anti-Semitism under title VI 

14 is warranted. 

15 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

16 For purposes of this Act, the term ‘‘definition of anti17 Semitism’’— 

18 (1) includes the definition of anti-Semitism 

19 adopted on May 26, 2016, by the International Hol20 ocaust Remembrance Alliance (referred to in this 

21 section as ‘‘IHRA’’), of which the United States is 

22 a member, which definition has been adopted by the 

23 Department of State; and 

24 (2) includes the ‘‘[c]ontemporary examples of 

25 antisemitism’’ identified in the IHRA definition. 


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1 SEC. 4. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION FOR TITLE VI OF THE 

2 CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964. 

3 In reviewing, investigating, or deciding whether there 

4 has been a violation of title VI of the Civil Rights Act 

5 of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.) on the basis of race, 

6 color, or national origin, based on an individual’s actual 

7 or perceived shared Jewish ancestry or Jewish ethnic char8 acteristics, the Department of Education shall take into 

9 consideration the definition of anti-Semitism as part of the 

10 Department’s assessment of whether the practice was mo11 tivated by anti-Semitic intent. 

12 SEC. 5. ADMINISTRATION. 

13 The Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights shall admin14 ister and enforce title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 

15 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.) and title IX of the Education 

16 Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) in a man17 ner that is consistent with the manner of administration 

18 and enforcement described in the Dear Colleague letter 

19 issued on September 13, 2004, by the Deputy Assistant 

20 Secretary for Enforcement of the Department of Edu21 cation, entitled ‘‘Title VI and Title IX Religious Discrimi22 nation in Schools and Colleges’’. 

23 SEC. 6. OTHER RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. 

24 (a) GENERAL RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

25 this Act shall be construed— 


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1 (1) to expand the authority of the Secretary of 

2 Education; 

3 (2) to alter the standards pursuant to which the 

4 Department of Education makes a determination 

5 that harassing conduct amounts to actionable dis6 crimination; or 

7 (3) to diminish or infringe upon the rights pro8 tected under any other provision of law that is in ef9 fect as of the date of enactment of this Act. 

10 (b) CONSTITUTIONAL PROTECTIONS.—Nothing in 

11 this Act shall be construed to diminish or infringe upon 

12 any right protected under the First Amendment to the 

13 Constitution of the United States. 

Æ 


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