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 pro-
grams or activities. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 25, 2019 
Mr. COLLINS of Georgia (for himself, Mr. BARR, Mrs. RODGERS of Wash-
ington, Mr. BUCK, Mr. GAETZ, Mr. STEUBE, Mr. RATCLIFFE, Mr. 
CHABOT, and Mr. ZELDIN) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Com-
mittee on Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently deter-
mined 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 2019’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
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(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 
the group’s actual or perceived shared ancestry or 
ethnic characteristics’’. 
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(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 
under Title VI on the ground that they also share 
a common faith. These principles apply not just to 
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Jewish students, but also to students from any dis-
crete religious group that shares, or is perceived to 
share, ancestry or ethnic characteristics (e.g., Mus-
lims or Sikhs).’’. 
(8) Anti-Semitism, and harassment on the basis 
of actual or perceived shared ancestry or ethnic 
characteristics with a religious group, remains a per-
sistent, disturbing problem in elementary and sec-
ondary schools and on college campuses. 
(9) Students from a range of diverse back-
grounds, including Jewish, Arab Muslim, and Sikh 
students, are being threatened, harassed, or intimi-
dated in their schools (including on their campuses) 
on the basis of their shared ancestry or ethnic char-
acteristics including through harassing conduct that 
creates a hostile environment so severe, pervasive, or 
persistent so as to interfere with or limit some stu-
dents’ ability to participate in or benefit from the 
services, activities, or opportunities offered by 
schools. 
(10) The 2010 Dear Colleague letter cautioned 
schools that they ‘‘must take prompt and effective 
steps reasonably calculated to end the harassment, 
eliminate any hostile environment, and its effects, 
and prevent the harassment from recurring,’’ but 
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did not provide guidance on current manifestations 
of anti-Semitism, including discriminatory anti-Se-
mitic conduct that is couched as anti-Israel or anti- 
Zionist. 
(11) The definition and examples referred to in 
paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 3 have been valu-
able tools to help identify contemporary manifesta-
tions of anti-Semitism, and include useful examples 
of discriminatory anti-Israel conduct that crosses the 
line into anti-Semitism. 
(12) Awareness of this definition of anti-Semi-
tism will increase understanding of the parameters 
of contemporary anti-Jewish conduct and will assist 
the Department of Education in determining wheth-
er an investigation of anti-Semitism under title VI 
is warranted. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
For purposes of this Act, the term ‘‘definition of anti- 
Semitism’’— 
(1) includes the definition of anti-Semitism 
adopted on May 26, 2016, by the International Hol-
ocaust Remembrance Alliance (referred to in this 
section as ‘‘IHRA’’), of which the United States is 
a member, which definition has been adopted by the 
Department of State; and 
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(2) includes the ‘‘[c]ontemporary examples of 
antisemitism’’ identified in the IHRA definition. 
SEC. 4. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION FOR TITLE VI OF THE 
CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964. 
In reviewing, investigating, or deciding whether there 
has been a violation of title VI of the Civil Rights Act 
of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.) on the basis of race, 
color, or national origin, based on an individual’s actual 
or perceived shared Jewish ancestry or Jewish ethnic char-
acteristics, the Department of Education shall take into 
consideration the definition of anti-Semitism as part of the 
Department’s assessment of whether the practice was mo-
tivated by anti-Semitic intent. 
SEC. 5. ADMINISTRATION. 
The Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights shall admin-
ister and enforce title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 
(42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.) and title IX of the Education 
Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) in a man-
ner that is consistent with the manner of administration 
and enforcement described in the Dear Colleague letter 
issued on September 13, 2004, by the Deputy Assistant 
Secretary for Enforcement of the Department of Edu-
cation, entitled ‘‘Title VI and Title IX Religious Discrimi-
nation in Schools and Colleges’’. 
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SEC. 6. OTHER RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. 
(a) GENERAL RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 
this Act shall be construed— 
(1) to expand the authority of the Secretary of 
Education; 
(2) to alter the standards pursuant to which the 
Department of Education makes a determination 
that harassing conduct amounts to actionable dis-
crimination; or 
(3) to diminish or infringe upon the rights pro-
tected under any other provision of law that is in ef-
fect as of the date of enactment of this Act. 
(b) CONSTITUTIONAL PROTECTIONS.—Nothing in 
this Act shall be construed to diminish or infringe upon 
any right protected under the First Amendment to the 
Constitution of the United States. 
Æ 
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