II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 963 

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 

MARCH 22, 2007 

Mr. MENENDEZ 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: 

9 (1) The Holocaust was an historical event that 

10 resulted in the systemic, state-sponsored mass murVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:35 Mar 26, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S963.IS S963

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1 ders by Nazi Germany of approximately 6,000,000 

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

3 racial purity. 

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

5 Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York) now 

6 mandate that the Holocaust be taught in the edu7 cational curriculum, 11 States (Connecticut, Geor8 gia, Indiana, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Penn9 sylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and 

10 Washington) recommend teaching the Holocaust but 

11 do not provide sufficient funds to assist in the train12 ing and educating of teachers, and 3 States (Ala13 bama, Mississippi, and West Virginia) have estab14 lished councils or commissions that promote Holo15 caust education. 

16 (3) The Holocaust is a sensitive and difficult 

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

18 educators need appropriate teaching tools and train19 ing to increase their knowledge to enhance the edu20 cational experience. 

21 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are the fol22 lowing: 

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

24 (A) explore the lessons that the Holocaust 

25 provides for all people; and 


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1 (B) be less susceptible to the falsehood of 

2 Holocaust denial and to the destructive mes3 sages of hate that arise from Holocaust denial. 

4 (2) To provide resources and support for edu5 cation programs that— 

6 (A) portray accurate historical information 

7 about the Holocaust; 

8 (B) sensitize communities to the cir9 cumstances that gave rise to the Holocaust; 

10 (C) convey the lessons that the Holocaust 

11 provides for all people; and 

12 (D) by developing curriculum guides and 

13 providing training, help teachers incorporate 

14 into their mainstream disciplines the study of 

15 the Holocaust and its lessons. 

16 SEC. 3. AUTHORITY TO MAKE GRANTS. 

17 From any amounts made available to carry out this 

18 Act, the Secretary may make grants under this Act to edu19 cational organizations to carry out proposed or existing 

20 Holocaust education programs. 

21 SEC. 4. USE OF GRANT AMOUNTS. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—An educational organization re23 ceiving grant amounts under this Act shall use such grant 

24 amounts only to carry out the Holocaust education pro25 gram for which the grant amounts were provided. 


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1 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—An educational organization 

2 receiving grant amounts under this Act shall comply with 

3 the following requirements: 

4 (1) CONTINUATION OF ELIGIBILITY.—The edu5 cational organization shall, throughout the period 

6 that the educational organization receives and uses 

7 such grant amounts, continue to be an educational 

8 organization. 

9 (2) SUPPLEMENTATION OF EXISTING FUNDS.— 

10 The educational organization shall ensure that such 

11 grant amounts are used to supplement, and not sup12 plant, non-Federal funds that would otherwise be 

13 available to the educational organization to carry out 

14 the Holocaust education program for which the 

15 grant amounts were provided. 

16 (c) ADDITIONAL CONDITIONS.—The Secretary may 

17 require additional terms and conditions in connection with 

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

19 Secretary considers appropriate. 

20 SEC. 5. SELECTION CRITERIA. 

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

22 amounts under this Act in accordance with competitive 

23 criteria to be established by the Secretary. 

24 (b) CONSULTATION WITH HOLOCAUST EDU25 CATORS.—In establishing the competitive criteria under 


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

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

3 prominent educators in the field of Holocaust education. 

4 SEC. 6. APPLICATION. 

5 The Secretary may award grant amounts under this 

6 Act only to an educational organization that has submitted 

7 an application to the Secretary at such time, in such man8 ner, and containing such information as the Secretary may 

9 require. 

10 SEC. 7. REVIEW AND SANCTIONS. 

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

12 least annually each educational organization receiving 

13 grant amounts under this Act to determine the extent to 

14 which the educational organization has complied with the 

15 provisions of this Act. 

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

17 impose sanctions on an educational organization for any 

18 failure of the educational organization to comply substan19 tially with the provisions of this Act. The Secretary shall 

20 establish the sanctions to be imposed for a failure to com21 ply substantially with the provisions of this Act. 

22 SEC. 8. ANNUAL REPORT. 

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

24 shall submit to the Senate and House of Representatives 

25 a report describing the activities carried out under this 


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1 Act and containing any related information that the Sec2 retary considers appropriate. 

3 SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS. 

4 For purposes of this Act, the following definitions 

5 shall apply: 

6 (1) EDUCATIONAL ORGANIZATION.—The term 

7 ‘‘educational organization’’ means an entity— 

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

9 Internal Revenue Code of 1986; 

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

11 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; and 

12 (C) organized and operated for cultural, 

13 literary, or educational purposes. 

14 (2) HOLOCAUST EDUCATION PROGRAM.—The 

15 term ‘‘Holocaust education program’’ means a pro16 gram that— 

17 (A) has as its specific and primary purpose 

18 to improve awareness and understanding of the 

19 Holocaust; and 

20 (B) to achieve such purpose, furnishes one 

21 or more of the following: 

22 (i) Classes, seminars, or conferences. 

23 (ii) Educational materials. 

24 (iii) Teacher training. 


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1 (iv) Any other good or service de2 signed to improve awareness and under3 standing of the Holocaust. 

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

5 means the historical event that resulted in the sys6 temic, state-sponsored mass murders by Nazi Ger7 many of approximately 6,000,000 Jews, along with 

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

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

10 the Secretary of Education. 

11 SEC. 10. REGULATIONS. 

12 The Secretary shall issue any regulations necessary 

13 to carry out this Act. 

14 SEC. 11. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

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

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

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

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

19 remain available until expended. 

Æ 


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