II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2137

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 1, 2000

Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mr. DEWINE, Mrs. BOXER, Mr. DURBIN, Mr.

LAUTENBERG, Mr. MOYNIHAN, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. SMITH of Oregon,

and Mr. WELLSTONE) 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 ‘‘Holocaust Education

5 Assistance Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress makes the following

8 findings:
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1 (1) The Holocaust was an historical event that

2 resulted in the systemic, state-sponsored mass mur3 ders by Nazi Germany of 6,000,000 Jews, along

4 with millions of others, in the name of racial purity.

5 (2) Five States (California, Florida, Illinois,

6 New Jersey, and New York) now mandate that the

7 Holocaust be taught in the educational curriculum,

8 and 11 States (Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Mas9 sachusetts, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania,

10 South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wash11 ington) recommend teaching the Holocaust but do

12 not provide sufficient funds to assist in the training

13 and educating of teachers.

14 (3) The Holocaust is a sensitive and difficult

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

16 educators need appropriate teaching tools and train17 ing to increase their knowledge to enhance the edu18 cational experience.

19 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are the fol20 lowing:

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

22 (A) explore the lessons that the Holocaust

23 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 designed

2 to improve awareness and understanding

3 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 6,000,000 Jews, along with millions of oth8 ers, 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.

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