I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6421 

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 1, 2016 

Mr. ROSKAM (for himself, Mr. DEUTCH, Mrs. LOWEY, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, 

Mr. ENGEL, and Mr. ISRAEL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

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 2016’’. 

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 04:29 Dec 02, 2016 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6421.IH H6421

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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 remains a persistent, dis4 turbing problem in elementary and secondary schools 

5 and on college campuses. 

6 (9) Jewish students are being threatened, har7 assed, or intimidated in their schools (including on 

8 their campuses) on the basis of their shared ancestry 

9 or ethnic characteristics including through harassing 

10 conduct that creates a hostile environment so severe, 

11 pervasive, or persistent so as to interfere with or 

12 limit some students’ ability to participate in or ben13 efit from the services, activities, or opportunities of14 fered by schools. 

15 (10) The 2010 Dear Colleague letter cautioned 

16 schools that they ‘‘must take prompt and effective 

17 steps reasonably calculated to end the harassment, 

18 eliminate any hostile environment, and its effects, 

19 and prevent the harassment from recurring,’’ but 

20 did not provide guidance on current manifestation of 

21 anti-Semitism, including discriminatory anti-Semitic 

22 conduct that is couched as anti-Israel or anti-Zion23 ist. 

24 (11) The definition and examples referred to in 

25 paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 3 have been valuVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:29 Dec 02, 2016 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6421.IH H6421

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1 able tools to help identify contemporary manifesta2 tions of anti-Semitism, and include useful examples 

3 of discriminatory anti-Israel conduct that crosses the 

4 line into anti-Semitism. 

5 (12) Awareness of this definition of anti-Semi6 tism will increase understanding of the parameters 

7 of contemporary anti-Jewish conduct and will assist 

8 the Department of Education in determining wheth9 er an investigation of anti-Semitism under title VI 

10 is warranted. 

11 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

12 For purposes of this Act, the term ‘‘definition of anti13 Semitism’’— 

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

15 forth by the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat 

16 Anti-Semitism of the Department of State in the 

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

18 the Working Definition of Anti-Semitism of the Eu19 ropean Monitoring Center on Racism and Xeno20 phobia (now known as the European Union Agency 

21 for Fundamental Rights); and 

22 (2) includes the examples set forth under the 

23 headings ‘‘Contemporary Examples of Anti-Semi24 tism’’ and ‘‘What is Anti-Semitism Relative to 

25 Israel?’’ of the Fact Sheet. 


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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 alleged practice 

11 was motivated by anti-Semitic intent. 

12 SEC. 5. CONSTITUTIONAL PROTECTIONS. 

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

14 Act, shall be construed to diminish or infringe upon any 

15 right protected under the First Amendment to the Con16 stitution of the United States. 

Æ 


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