I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4009 

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 

JULY 25, 2019 

Mr. COLLINS of Georgia (for himself, Mr. BARR, Mrs. RODGERS of Washington, Mr. BUCK, Mr. GAETZ, Mr. STEUBE, Mr. RATCLIFFE, Mr. 

CHABOT, and Mr. ZELDIN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

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: 


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1 (1) Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (re2 ferred to in the section as ‘‘title VI’’) is one of the 

3 principal antidiscrimination statutes enforced by the 

4 Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. 

5 (2) Title VI prohibits discrimination on the 

6 basis of race, color, or national origin. 

7 (3) Both the Department of Justice and the 

8 Department of Education have properly concluded 

9 that title VI prohibits discrimination against Jews, 

10 Muslims, Sikhs, and members of other religious 

11 groups when the discrimination is based on the 

12 group’s actual or perceived shared ancestry or ethnic 

13 characteristics or when the discrimination is based 

14 on actual or perceived citizenship or residence in a 

15 country whose residents share a dominant religion or 

16 a distinct religious identity. 

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

18 Attorney General Thomas E. Perez to Assistant Sec19 retary for Civil Rights Russlynn H. Ali stated that 

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

21 on the basis of religion, discrimination against Jews, 

22 Muslims, Sikhs, and members of other groups vio23 lates Title VI when that discrimination is based on 

24 the group’s actual or perceived shared ancestry or 

25 ethnic characteristics’’. 


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1 (5) To assist State and local educational agen2 cies and schools in their efforts to comply with Fed3 eral law, the Department of Education periodically 

4 issues Dear Colleague letters. On a number of occa5 sions, these letters set forth the Department of Edu6 cation’s interpretation of the statutory and regu7 latory obligations of schools under title VI. 

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

9 Education issued a Dear Colleague letter regarding 

10 the obligations of schools (including colleges) under 

11 title VI to address incidents involving religious dis12 crimination. The 2004 letter specifically notes that 

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

14 received complaints of race or national origin harass15 ment commingled with aspects of religious discrimi16 nation against Arab Muslim, Sikh, and Jewish stu17 dents.’’. 

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

19 issued by the Department of Education stated, 

20 ‘‘While Title VI does not cover discrimination based 

21 solely on religion, groups that face discrimination on 

22 the basis of actual or perceived shared ancestry or 

23 ethnic characteristics may not be denied protection 

24 under Title VI on the ground that they also share 

25 a common faith. These principles apply not just to 


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1 Jewish students, but also to students from any dis2 crete religious group that shares, or is perceived to 

3 share, ancestry or ethnic characteristics (e.g., Mus4 lims or Sikhs).’’. 

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

6 of actual or perceived shared ancestry or ethnic 

7 characteristics with a religious group, remains a per8 sistent, disturbing problem in elementary and sec9 ondary schools and on college campuses. 

10 (9) Students from a range of diverse back11 grounds, including Jewish, Arab Muslim, and Sikh 

12 students, are being threatened, harassed, or intimi13 dated in their schools (including on their campuses) 

14 on the basis of their shared ancestry or ethnic char15 acteristics including through harassing conduct that 

16 creates a hostile environment so severe, pervasive, or 

17 persistent so as to interfere with or limit some stu18 dents’ ability to participate in or benefit from the 

19 services, activities, or opportunities offered by 

20 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 


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1 did not provide guidance on current manifestations 

2 of anti-Semitism, including discriminatory anti-Se3 mitic conduct that is couched as anti-Israel or anti4 Zionist. 

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 

21 adopted on May 26, 2016, by the International Hol22 ocaust Remembrance Alliance (referred to in this 

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

24 a member, which definition has been adopted by the 

25 Department of State; and 


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

2 antisemitism’’ identified in the IHRA definition. 

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

4 CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964. 

5 In reviewing, investigating, or deciding whether there 

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

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

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

9 or perceived shared Jewish ancestry or Jewish ethnic char10 acteristics, the Department of Education shall take into 

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

12 Department’s assessment of whether the practice was mo13 tivated by anti-Semitic intent. 

14 SEC. 5. ADMINISTRATION. 

15 The Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights shall admin16 ister and enforce title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 

17 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.) and title IX of the Education 

18 Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) in a man19 ner that is consistent with the manner of administration 

20 and enforcement described in the Dear Colleague letter 

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

22 Secretary for Enforcement of the Department of Edu23 cation, entitled ‘‘Title VI and Title IX Religious Discrimi24 nation in Schools and Colleges’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. OTHER RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. 

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

3 this Act shall be construed— 

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

5 Education; 

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

7 Department of Education makes a determination 

8 that harassing conduct amounts to actionable dis9 crimination; or 

10 (3) to diminish or infringe upon the rights pro11 tected under any other provision of law that is in ef12 fect as of the date of enactment of this Act. 

13 (b) CONSTITUTIONAL PROTECTIONS.—Nothing in 

14 this Act shall be construed to diminish or infringe upon 

15 any right protected under the First Amendment to the 

16 Constitution of the United States. 

Æ 


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