I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5924 

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 

MAY 23, 2018 

Mr. ROSKAM (for himself, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. COLLINS of Georgia, Mr. NADLER, Mrs. MCMORRIS RODGERS, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Ms. GRANGER, 

Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. VEASEY, Mr. BUCK, and Mr. ENGEL) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the 

Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, 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 2018’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress makes the following findings: 

3 (1) Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (re4 ferred to in the section as ‘‘title VI’’) is one of the 

5 principal antidiscrimination statutes enforced by the 

6 Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. 

7 (2) Title VI prohibits discrimination on the 

8 basis of race, color, or national origin. 

9 (3) Both the Department of Justice and the 

10 Department of Education have properly concluded 

11 that title VI prohibits discrimination against Jews, 

12 Muslims, Sikhs, and members of other religious 

13 groups when the discrimination is based on the 

14 group’s actual or perceived shared ancestry or ethnic 

15 characteristics or when the discrimination is based 

16 on actual or perceived citizenship or residence in a 

17 country whose residents share a dominant religion or 

18 a distinct religious identity. 

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

20 Attorney General Thomas E. Perez to Assistant Sec21 retary for Civil Rights Russlynn H. Ali stated that 

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

23 on the basis of religion, discrimination against Jews, 

24 Muslims, Sikhs, and members of other groups vio25 lates Title VI when that discrimination is based on 


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1 the group’s actual or perceived shared ancestry or 

2 ethnic characteristics’’. 

3 (5) To assist State and local educational agen4 cies and schools in their efforts to comply with Fed5 eral law, the Department of Education periodically 

6 issues Dear Colleague letters. On a number of occa7 sions, these letters set forth the Department of Edu8 cation’s interpretation of the statutory and regu9 latory obligations of schools under title VI. 

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

11 Education issued a Dear Colleague letter regarding 

12 the obligations of schools (including colleges) under 

13 title VI to address incidents involving religious dis14 crimination. The 2004 letter specifically notes that 

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

16 received complaints of race or national origin harass17 ment commingled with aspects of religious discrimi18 nation against Arab Muslim, Sikh, and Jewish stu19 dents.’’. 

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

21 issued by the Department of Education stated, 

22 ‘‘While Title VI does not cover discrimination based 

23 solely on religion, groups that face discrimination on 

24 the basis of actual or perceived shared ancestry or 

25 ethnic characteristics may not be denied protection 


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1 under Title VI on the ground that they also share 

2 a common faith. These principles apply not just to 

3 Jewish students, but also to students from any dis4 crete religious group that shares, or is perceived to 

5 share, ancestry or ethnic characteristics (e.g., Mus6 lims or Sikhs).’’. 

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

8 of actual or perceived shared ancestry or ethnic 

9 characteristics with a religious group, remains a per10 sistent, disturbing problem in elementary and sec11 ondary schools and on college campuses. 

12 (9) Students from a range of diverse back13 grounds, including Jewish, Arab Muslim, and Sikh 

14 students, are being threatened, harassed, or intimi15 dated in their schools (including on their campuses) 

16 on the basis of their shared ancestry or ethnic char17 acteristics including through harassing conduct that 

18 creates a hostile environment so severe, pervasive, or 

19 persistent so as to interfere with or limit some stu20 dents’ ability to participate in or benefit from the 

21 services, activities, or opportunities offered by 

22 schools. 

23 (10) The 2010 Dear Colleague letter cautioned 

24 schools that they ‘‘must take prompt and effective 

25 steps reasonably calculated to end the harassment, 


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1 eliminate any hostile environment, and its effects, 

2 and prevent the harassment from recurring,’’ but 

3 did not provide guidance on current manifestations 

4 of anti-Semitism, including discriminatory anti-Se5 mitic conduct that is couched as anti-Israel or anti6 Zionist. 

7 (11) The definition and examples referred to in 

8 paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 3 have been valu9 able tools to help identify contemporary manifesta10 tions of anti-Semitism, and include useful examples 

11 of discriminatory anti-Israel conduct that crosses the 

12 line into anti-Semitism. 

13 (12) Awareness of this definition of anti-Semi14 tism will increase understanding of the parameters 

15 of contemporary anti-Jewish conduct and will assist 

16 the Department of Education in determining wheth17 er an investigation of anti-Semitism under title VI 

18 is warranted. 

19 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

20 For purposes of this Act, the term ‘‘definition of anti21 Semitism’’— 

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

23 forth by the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat 

24 Anti-Semitism of the Department of State in the 

25 Fact Sheet issued on June 8, 2010; and 


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1 (2) includes the examples set forth under the 

2 headings ‘‘Contemporary Examples of Anti-Semi3 tism’’ and ‘‘What is Anti-Semitism Relative to 

4 Israel?’’ of the Fact Sheet. 

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

6 CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964. 

7 In reviewing, investigating, or deciding whether there 

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

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

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

11 or perceived shared Jewish ancestry or Jewish ethnic char12 acteristics, the Department of Education shall take into 

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

14 Department’s assessment of whether the practice was mo15 tivated by anti-Semitic intent. 

16 SEC. 5. ADMINISTRATION. 

17 The Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights shall admin18 ister and enforce title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 

19 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.) and title IX of the Education 

20 Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) in a man21 ner that is consistent with the manner of administration 

22 and enforcement described in the Dear Colleague letter 

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

24 Secretary for Enforcement of the Department of EduVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:53 Jun 02, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5924.IH H5924

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1 cation, entitled ‘‘Title VI and Title IX Religious Discrimi2 nation in Schools and Colleges’’. 

3 SEC. 6. OTHER RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. 

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

5 this Act shall be construed— 

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

7 Education; 

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

9 Department of Education makes a determination 

10 that harassing conduct amounts to actionable dis11 crimination; or 

12 (3) to diminish or infringe upon the rights pro13 tected under any other provision of law that is in ef14 fect as of the date of enactment of this Act. 

15 (b) CONSTITUTIONAL PROTECTIONS.—Nothing in 

16 this Act shall be construed to diminish or infringe upon 

17 any right protected under the First Amendment to the 

18 Constitution of the United States. 

Æ 


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