115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 672 
AN ACT 
To require continued and enhanced annual reporting to Con-
gress in the Annual Report on International Religious 
Freedom on anti-Semitic incidents in Europe, the safety 
and security of European Jewish communities, and the 
efforts of the United States to partner with European 
governments, the European Union, and civil society 
groups, to combat anti-Semitism, and for other purposes. 
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 ‘‘Combating European 
Anti-Semitism Act of 2017’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) During the past decade, there has been a 
steady increase in anti-Semitic incidents in Europe, 
resulting in European Jews being the targets of 
physical and verbal harassment and even lethal ter-
rorist attacks, all of which has eroded personal and 
communal security and the quality of daily Jewish 
life. 
(2) According to reporting by the European 
Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), be-
tween 2005 and 2014, anti-Semitic incidents in-
creased in France from 508 to 851; in Germany 
from 60 to 173; in Belgium from 58 to 130; in Italy 
from 49 to 86; and in the United Kingdom from 459 
to 1,168. 
(3) Anti-Zionism has at times devolved into 
anti-Semitic attacks, prompting condemnation from 
many European leaders, including French Prime 
Minister Manuel Valls, British Prime Minister David 
Cameron, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. 
(4) Since 2010, the Department of State has 
adhered to the working definition of Anti-Semitism
by the European Monitoring Center on Racism and 
Xenophobia (EUMC). Some contemporary examples 
of anti-Semitism include the following: 
(A) Calling for, aiding, or justifying the 
killing or harming of Jews (often in the name 
of a radical ideology or an extremist view of re-
ligion). 
(B) Making mendacious, dehumanizing, 
demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about 
Jews as such, or the power of Jews as a collec-
tive, especially, but not exclusively, the myth 
about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews 
controlling the media, economy, government, or 
other societal institutions. 
(C) Accusing Jews as a people of being re-
sponsible for real or imagined wrongdoing com-
mitted by a single Jewish person or group, the 
State of Israel, or even for acts committed by 
non-Jews. 
(D) Accusing the Jews as a people, or 
Israel as a state, of inventing or exaggerating 
the Holocaust. 
(E) Accusing Jewish citizens of being more 
loyal to Israel, or to the alleged priorities of
Jews worldwide, than to the interest of their 
own countries. 
(5) On October 16, 2004, the President signed 
into law the Global Anti-Semitism Review Act of 
2004. This law provides the legal foundation for a 
reporting requirement provided by the Department 
of State annually on anti-Semitism around the 
world. 
(6) In November 2015, the House of Rep-
resentatives passed H. Res. 354 by a vote of 418– 
0, urging the Secretary of State to continue robust 
United States reporting on anti-Semitism by the De-
partment of State and the Special Envoy to Combat 
and Monitor Anti-Semitism. 
(7) In 2016, the International Holocaust Re-
membrance Alliance (IHRA), comprised of 31 mem-
ber countries, adopted a working definition of anti- 
Semitism which stated: ‘‘Anti-Semitism is a certain 
perception of Jews, which may be expressed as ha-
tred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical mani-
festations of anti-Semitism are directed toward Jew-
ish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, 
toward Jewish community institutions and religious 
facilities.’’.
(8) The IHRA further clarified that manifesta-
tions of anti-Semitism might also target the State of 
Israel, conceived of as a Jewish collectivity. Anti- 
Semitism frequently charges Jews with conspiring to 
harm humanity, and it is often used to blame Jews 
for ‘‘why things go wrong’’. It is expressed in 
speech, writing, visual forms, and action, and em-
ploys sinister stereotypes and negative character 
traits. 
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of Congress that— 
(1) it is in the national interest of the United 
States to combat anti-Semitism at home and abroad; 
(2) anti-Semitism is a challenge to the basic 
principles of tolerance, pluralism, and democracy, 
and the shared values that bind Americans and Eu-
ropeans together; 
(3) there is an urgent need to ensure the safety 
and security of European Jewish communities, in-
cluding synagogues, schools, cemeteries, and other 
institutions; 
(4) the United States should continue to em-
phasize the importance of combating anti-Semitism 
in multilateral bodies, including the United Nations,
European Union institutions, and the Organization 
for Security and Cooperation in Europe; 
(5) the Department of State should continue to 
thoroughly document acts of anti-Semitism and anti- 
Semitic incitement that occur around the world, and 
should continue to encourage other countries to do 
the same, and share their findings; and 
(6) the Department of State should continue to 
work to encourage adoption by national government 
institutions and multilateral institutions of a work-
ing definition of anti-Semitism similar to the one 
adopted in the International Holocaust Remem-
brance Alliance context. 
SEC. 4. ANNUAL REPORTING ON THE STATE OF ANTI-SEMI-
TISM IN EUROPE. 
Paragraph (1) of section 102(b) of the International 
Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6412) is 
amended by adding at the end the following new subpara-
graph: 
‘‘(G) ANTI-SEMITISM IN EUROPE.—In ad-
dition to the information required under clause 
(vii) of subparagraph (A), with respect to each 
European country in which verbal or physical 
threats or attacks are particularly significant 
against Jewish persons, places of worship,
schools, cemeteries, and other religious institu-
tions, a description of— 
‘‘(i) the security challenges and needs 
of European Jewish communities and Eu-
ropean law enforcement agencies in such 
countries to better protect such commu-
nities; 
‘‘(ii) to the extent practicable, the ef-
forts of the United States Government 
over the reporting period to partner with 
European law enforcement agencies and 
civil society groups regarding the sharing 
of information and best practices to com-
bat anti-Semitic incidents in Europe; 
‘‘(iii) European educational program-
ming and public awareness initiatives that 
aim to collaborate on educational curricula 
and campaigns that impart shared values 
of pluralism and tolerance, and showcase 
the positive contributions of Jews in cul-
ture, scholarship, science, and art, with 
special attention to those segments of the 
population that exhibit a high degree of 
anti-Semitic animus; and
‘‘(iv) efforts by European govern-
ments to adopt and apply a working defini-
tion of anti-Semitism.’’. 
Passed the House of Representatives May 17, 2017. 
Attest: 
Clerk.
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 672 
AN ACT 
To require continued and enhanced annual report-
ing to Congress in the Annual Report on Inter-
national Religious Freedom on anti-Semitic inci-
dents in Europe, the safety and security of Euro-
pean Jewish communities, and the efforts of the 
United States to partner with European govern-
ments, the European Union, and civil society 
groups, to combat anti-Semitism, and for other 
purposes.