114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 10 

AN ACT 

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, 
2 

†S 10 ES

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Anti-Semitism Aware3 ness Act of 2016’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress makes the following findings: 

6 (1) Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (re7 ferred to in the section as ‘‘title VI’’) is one of the 

8 principal antidiscrimination statutes enforced by the 

9 Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. 

10 (2) Title VI prohibits discrimination on the 

11 basis of race, color, or national origin. 

12 (3) Both the Department of Justice and the 

13 Department of Education have properly concluded 

14 that title VI prohibits discrimination against Jews, 

15 Muslims, Sikhs, and members of other religious 

16 groups when the discrimination is based on the 

17 group’s actual or perceived shared ancestry or ethnic 

18 characteristics or when the discrimination is based 

19 on actual or perceived citizenship or residence in a 

20 country whose residents share a dominant religion or 

21 a distinct religious identity. 

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

23 Attorney General Thomas E. Perez to Assistant Sec24 retary for Civil Rights Russlynn H. Ali stated that 

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

26 on the basis of religion, discrimination against Jews, 
3 

†S 10 ES

1 Muslims, Sikhs, and members of other groups vio2 lates Title VI when that discrimination is based on 

3 the group’s actual or perceived shared ancestry or 

4 ethnic characteristics’’. 

5 (5) To assist State and local educational agen6 cies and schools in their efforts to comply with Fed7 eral law, the Department of Education periodically 

8 issues Dear Colleague letters. On a number of occa9 sions, these letters set forth the Department of Edu10 cation’s interpretation of the statutory and regu11 latory obligations of schools under title VI. 

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

13 Education issued a Dear Colleague letter regarding 

14 the obligations of schools (including colleges) under 

15 title VI to address incidents involving religious dis16 crimination. The 2004 letter specifically notes that 

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

18 received complaints of race or national origin harass19 ment commingled with aspects of religious discrimi20 nation against Arab Muslim, Sikh, and Jewish stu21 dents.’’. 

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

23 issued by the Department of Education stated, 

24 ‘‘While Title VI does not cover discrimination based 

25 solely on religion, groups that face discrimination on 
4 

†S 10 ES

1 the basis of actual or perceived shared ancestry or 

2 ethnic characteristics may not be denied protection 

3 under Title VI on the ground that they also share 

4 a common faith. These principles apply not just to 

5 Jewish students, but also to students from any dis6 crete religious group that shares, or is perceived to 

7 share, ancestry or ethnic characteristics (e.g., Mus8 lims or Sikhs).’’. 

9 (8) Anti-Semitism remains a persistent, dis10 turbing problem in elementary and secondary schools 

11 and on college campuses. 

12 (9) Jewish students are being threatened, har13 assed, or intimidated in their schools (including on 

14 their campuses) on the basis of their shared ancestry 

15 or ethnic characteristics including through harassing 

16 conduct that creates a hostile environment so severe, 

17 pervasive, or persistent so as to interfere with or 

18 limit some students’ ability to participate in or ben19 efit from the services, activities, or opportunities of20 fered by schools. 

21 (10) The 2010 Dear Colleague letter cautioned 

22 schools that they ‘‘must take prompt and effective 

23 steps reasonably calculated to end the harassment, 

24 eliminate any hostile environment, and its effects, 

25 and prevent the harassment from recurring,’’ but 
5 

†S 10 ES

1 did not provide guidance on current manifestation of 

2 anti-Semitism, including discriminatory anti-Semitic 

3 conduct that is couched as anti-Israel or anti-Zion4 ist. 

5 (11) The definition and examples referred to in 

6 paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 3 have been valu7 able tools to help identify contemporary manifesta8 tions of anti-Semitism, and include useful examples 

9 of discriminatory anti-Israel conduct that crosses the 

10 line into anti-Semitism. 

11 (12) Awareness of this definition of anti-Semi12 tism will increase understanding of the parameters 

13 of contemporary anti-Jewish conduct and will assist 

14 the Department of Education in determining wheth15 er an investigation of anti-Semitism under title VI 

16 is warranted. 

17 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

18 For purposes of this Act, the term ‘‘definition of anti19 Semitism’’— 

20 (1) includes the definition of anti-Semitism set 

21 forth by the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat 

22 Anti-Semitism of the Department of State in the 

23 Fact Sheet issued on June 8, 2010, as adapted from 

24 the Working Definition of Anti-Semitism of the Eu25 ropean Monitoring Center on Racism and Xeno-
6 

†S 10 ES

1 phobia (now known as the European Union Agency 

2 for Fundamental Rights); and 

3 (2) includes the examples set forth under the 

4 headings ‘‘Contemporary Examples of Anti-Semi5 tism’’ and ‘‘What is Anti-Semitism Relative to 

6 Israel?’’ of the Fact Sheet. 

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

8 CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964. 

9 In reviewing, investigating, or deciding whether there 

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

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

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

13 or perceived shared Jewish ancestry or Jewish ethnic char14 acteristics, the Department of Education shall take into 

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

16 Department’s assessment of whether the alleged practice 

17 was motivated by anti-Semitic intent. 

18 SEC. 5. CONSTITUTIONAL PROTECTIONS. 

19 Nothing in this Act, or an amendment made by this 

20 Act, shall be construed to diminish or infringe upon any 
7 

†S 10 ES

1 right protected under the First Amendment to the Con2 stitution of the United States. 

Passed the Senate December 1, 2016. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 
114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 10 

AN ACT 

To provide for the consideration of a definition of 

grams or activities. antidiscrimination laws concerning education proanti-Semitism for the enforcement of Federal