II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2651 

To authorize the Secretary of Education to make grants to educational 

organizations to carry out educational programs about the Holocaust. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 25, 2006 

Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself and Mr. DEWINE) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of Education to make grants 

to educational organizations to carry out educational programs about the Holocaust. 

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 ‘‘Simon Wiesenthal Hol5 ocaust Education Assistance Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress makes the following 

8 findings: 


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1 (1) The Holocaust was an historical event that 

2 resulted in the systemic, state-sponsored mass mur3 ders by Nazi Germany of approximately 6,000,000 

4 Jews, along with millions of others, in the name of 

5 racial purity. 

6 (2) Six States (California, Florida, Illinois, 

7 Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York) now 

8 mandate that the Holocaust be taught in the edu9 cational curriculum, 11 States (Connecticut, Geor10 gia, Indiana, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Penn11 sylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and 

12 Washington) recommend teaching the Holocaust but 

13 do not provide sufficient funds to assist in the train14 ing and educating of teachers, and 3 States (Ala15 bama, Mississippi, and West Virginia) have estab16 lished councils or commissions that promote Holo17 caust education. 

18 (3) The Holocaust is a sensitive and difficult 

19 issue about which to teach, and to do so effectively, 

20 educators need appropriate teaching tools and train21 ing to increase their knowledge to enhance the edu22 cational experience. 

23 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are the fol24 lowing: 

25 (1) To educate Americans so that they can— 


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1 (A) explore the lessons that the Holocaust 

2 provides for all people; and 

3 (B) be less susceptible to the falsehood of 

4 Holocaust denial and to the destructive mes5 sages of hate that arise from Holocaust denial. 

6 (2) To provide resources and support for edu7 cation programs that— 

8 (A) portray accurate historical information 

9 about the Holocaust; 

10 (B) sensitize communities to the cir11 cumstances that gave rise to the Holocaust; 

12 (C) convey the lessons that the Holocaust 

13 provides for all people; and 

14 (D) by developing curriculum guides and 

15 providing training, help teachers incorporate 

16 into their mainstream disciplines the study of 

17 the Holocaust and its lessons. 

18 SEC. 3. AUTHORITY TO MAKE GRANTS. 

19 From any amounts made available to carry out this 

20 Act, the Secretary may make grants under this Act to edu21 cational organizations to carry out proposed or existing 

22 Holocaust education programs. 

23 SEC. 4. USE OF GRANT AMOUNTS. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—An educational organization re25 ceiving grant amounts under this Act shall use such grant 


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1 amounts only to carry out the Holocaust education pro2 gram for which the grant amounts were provided. 

3 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—An educational organization 

4 receiving grant amounts under this Act shall comply with 

5 the following requirements: 

6 (1) CONTINUATION OF ELIGIBILITY.—The edu7 cational organization shall, throughout the period 

8 that the educational organization receives and uses 

9 such grant amounts, continue to be an educational 

10 organization. 

11 (2) SUPPLEMENTATION OF EXISTING FUNDS.— 

12 The educational organization shall ensure that such 

13 grant amounts are used to supplement, and not sup14 plant, non-Federal funds that would otherwise be 

15 available to the educational organization to carry out 

16 the Holocaust education program for which the 

17 grant amounts were provided. 

18 (c) ADDITIONAL CONDITIONS.—The Secretary may 

19 require additional terms and conditions in connection with 

20 the use of grant amounts provided under this Act as the 

21 Secretary considers appropriate. 

22 SEC. 5. SELECTION CRITERIA. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award grant 

24 amounts under this Act in accordance with competitive 

25 criteria to be established by the Secretary. 


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1 (b) CONSULTATION WITH HOLOCAUST EDU2 CATORS.—In establishing the competitive criteria under 

3 subsection (a), the Secretary shall consult with a variety 

4 of individuals, to be determined by the Secretary, who are 

5 prominent educators in the field of Holocaust education. 

6 SEC. 6. APPLICATION. 

7 The Secretary may award grant amounts under this 

8 Act only to an educational organization that has submitted 

9 an application to the Secretary at such time, in such man10 ner, and containing such information as the Secretary may 

11 require. 

12 SEC. 7. REVIEW AND SANCTIONS. 

13 (a) ANNUAL REVIEW.—The Secretary shall review at 

14 least annually each educational organization receiving 

15 grant amounts under this Act to determine the extent to 

16 which the educational organization has complied with the 

17 provisions of this Act. 

18 (b) IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS.—The Secretary may 

19 impose sanctions on an educational organization for any 

20 failure of the educational organization to comply substan21 tially with the provisions of this Act. The Secretary shall 

22 establish the sanctions to be imposed for a failure to com23 ply substantially with the provisions of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 8. ANNUAL REPORT. 

2 Not later than February 1 of each year, the Secretary 

3 shall submit to the Senate and House of Representatives 

4 a report describing the activities carried out under this 

5 Act and containing any related information that the Sec6 retary considers appropriate. 

7 SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS. 

8 For purposes of this Act, the following definitions 

9 shall apply: 

10 (1) EDUCATIONAL ORGANIZATION.—The term 

11 ‘‘educational organization’’ means an entity— 

12 (A) described in section 501(c)(3) of the 

13 Internal Revenue Code of 1986; 

14 (B) exempt from tax under section 501(a) 

15 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; and 

16 (C) organized and operated for cultural, 

17 literary, or educational purposes. 

18 (2) HOLOCAUST EDUCATION PROGRAM.—The 

19 term ‘‘Holocaust education program’’ means a pro20 gram that— 

21 (A) has as its specific and primary purpose 

22 to improve awareness and understanding of the 

23 Holocaust; and 

24 (B) to achieve such purpose, furnishes one 

25 or more of the following: 

26 (i) Classes, seminars, or conferences. 


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1 (ii) Educational materials. 

2 (iii) Teacher training. 

3 (iv) Any other good or service de4 signed to improve awareness and under5 standing of the Holocaust. 

6 (3) HOLOCAUST.—The term ‘‘Holocaust’’ 

7 means the historical event that resulted in the sys8 temic, state-sponsored mass murders by Nazi Ger9 many of approximately 6,000,000 Jews, along with 

10 millions of others, in the name of racial purity. 

11 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

12 the Secretary of Education. 

13 SEC. 10. REGULATIONS. 

14 The Secretary shall issue any regulations necessary 

15 to carry out this Act. 

16 SEC. 11. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

17 For grants under this Act, there is authorized to be 

18 appropriated to the Secretary $2,000,000 each fiscal year 

19 for five fiscal years, beginning with the first fiscal year 

20 to commence after the date of enactment of this Act, to 

21 remain available until expended. 

Æ 


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