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 pro-
grams or activities. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 23, 2018 
Mr. ROSKAM (for himself, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. COLLINS of Georgia, Mr. NAD-
LER, 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 Work-
force, 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 anti- 
Semitism for the enforcement of Federal antidiscrimina-
tion laws concerning education programs or activities. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Anti-Semitism Aware-
ness Act of 2018’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (re-
ferred to in the section as ‘‘title VI’’) is one of the 
principal antidiscrimination statutes enforced by the 
Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. 
(2) Title VI prohibits discrimination on the 
basis of race, color, or national origin. 
(3) Both the Department of Justice and the 
Department of Education have properly concluded 
that title VI prohibits discrimination against Jews, 
Muslims, Sikhs, and members of other religious 
groups when the discrimination is based on the 
group’s actual or perceived shared ancestry or ethnic 
characteristics or when the discrimination is based 
on actual or perceived citizenship or residence in a 
country whose residents share a dominant religion or 
a distinct religious identity. 
(4) A September 8, 2010, letter from Assistant 
Attorney General Thomas E. Perez to Assistant Sec-
retary for Civil Rights Russlynn H. Ali stated that 
‘‘[a]lthough Title VI does not prohibit discrimination 
on the basis of religion, discrimination against Jews, 
Muslims, Sikhs, and members of other groups vio-
lates Title VI when that discrimination is based on 
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the group’s actual or perceived shared ancestry or 
ethnic characteristics’’. 
(5) To assist State and local educational agen-
cies and schools in their efforts to comply with Fed-
eral law, the Department of Education periodically 
issues Dear Colleague letters. On a number of occa-
sions, these letters set forth the Department of Edu-
cation’s interpretation of the statutory and regu-
latory obligations of schools under title VI. 
(6) On September 13, 2004, the Department of 
Education issued a Dear Colleague letter regarding 
the obligations of schools (including colleges) under 
title VI to address incidents involving religious dis-
crimination. The 2004 letter specifically notes that 
‘‘since the attacks of September 11, 2001, OCR has 
received complaints of race or national origin harass-
ment commingled with aspects of religious discrimi-
nation against Arab Muslim, Sikh, and Jewish stu-
dents.’’. 
(7) An October 26, 2010, Dear Colleague letter 
issued by the Department of Education stated, 
‘‘While Title VI does not cover discrimination based 
solely on religion, groups that face discrimination on 
the basis of actual or perceived shared ancestry or 
ethnic characteristics may not be denied protection 
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