Anti-Semitism Awareness Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 852 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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 14, 2019 Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina (for himself, Mr. CASEY, Mr. RUBIO, and Mr. ISAKSON) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 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- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Anti-Semitism Aware- 4 ness Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress makes the following findings: 7 (1) Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (re- 8 ferred to in the section as ‘‘title VI’’) is one of the 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:01 Mar 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S852.IS S852 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 852 IS principal antidiscrimination statutes enforced by the 1 Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. 2 (2) Title VI prohibits discrimination on the 3 basis of race, color, or national origin. 4 (3) Both the Department of Justice and the 5 Department of Education have properly concluded 6 that title VI prohibits discrimination against Jews, 7 Muslims, Sikhs, and members of other religious 8 groups when the discrimination is based on the 9 group’s actual or perceived shared ancestry or ethnic 10 characteristics or when the discrimination is based 11 on actual or perceived citizenship or residence in a 12 country whose residents share a dominant religion or 13 a distinct religious identity. 14 (4) A September 8, 2010, letter from Assistant 15 Attorney General Thomas E. Perez to Assistant Sec- 16 retary for Civil Rights Russlynn H. Ali stated that 17 ‘‘[a]lthough Title VI does not prohibit discrimination 18 on the basis of religion, discrimination against Jews, 19 Muslims, Sikhs, and members of other groups vio- 20 lates Title VI when that discrimination is based on 21 the group’s actual or perceived shared ancestry or 22 ethnic characteristics’’. 23 (5) To assist State and local educational agen- 24 cies and schools in their efforts to comply with Fed- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:01 Mar 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S852.IS S852 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 852 IS eral law, the Department of Education periodically 1 issues Dear Colleague letters. On a number of occa- 2 sions, these letters set forth the Department of Edu- 3 cation’s interpretation of the statutory and regu- 4 latory obligations of schools under title VI. 5 (6) On September 13, 2004, the Department of 6 Education issued a Dear Colleague letter regarding 7 the obligations of schools (including colleges) under 8 title VI to address incidents involving religious dis- 9 crimination. The 2004 letter specifically notes that 10 ‘‘since the attacks of September 11, 2001, OCR has 11 received complaints of race or national origin harass- 12 ment commingled with aspects of religious discrimi- 13 nation against Arab Muslim, Sikh, and Jewish stu- 14 dents.’’. 15 (7) An October 26, 2010, Dear Colleague letter 16 issued by the Department of Education stated, 17 ‘‘While Title VI does not cover discrimination based 18 solely on religion, groups that face discrimination on 19 the basis of actual or perceived shared ancestry or 20 ethnic characteristics may not be denied protection 21 under Title VI on the ground that they also share 22 a common faith. These principles apply not just to 23 Jewish students, but also to students from any dis- 24 crete religious group that shares, or is perceived to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:01 Mar 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S852.IS S852 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 852 IS share, ancestry or ethnic characteristics (e.g., Mus- 1 lims or Sikhs).’’. 2 (8) Anti-Semitism, and harassment on the basis 3 of actual or perceived shared ancestry or ethnic 4 characteristics with a religious group, remains a per- 5 sistent, disturbing problem in elementary and sec- 6 ondary schools and on college campuses. 7 (9) Students from a range of diverse back- 8 grounds, including Jewish, Arab Muslim, and Sikh 9 students, are being threatened, harassed, or intimi- 10 dated in their schools (including on their campuses) 11 on the basis of their shared ancestry or ethnic char- 12 acteristics including through harassing conduct that 13 creates a hostile environment so severe, pervasive, or 14 persistent so as to interfere with or limit some stu- 15 dents’ ability to participate in or benefit from the 16 services, activities, or opportunities offered by 17 schools. 18 (10) The 2010 Dear Colleague letter cautioned 19 schools that they ‘‘must take prompt and effective 20 steps reasonably calculated to end the harassment, 21 eliminate any hostile environment, and its effects, 22 and prevent the harassment from recurring,’’ but 23 did not provide guidance on current manifestations 24 of anti-Semitism, including discriminatory anti-Se- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:01 Mar 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S852.IS S852 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 852 IS mitic conduct that is couched as anti-Israel or anti- 1 Zionist. 2 (11) The definition and examples referred to in 3 paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 3 have been valu- 4 able tools to help identify contemporary manifesta- 5 tions of anti-Semitism, and include useful examples 6 of discriminatory anti-Israel conduct that crosses the 7 line into anti-Semitism. 8 (12) Awareness of this definition of anti-Semi- 9 tism will increase understanding of the parameters 10 of contemporary anti-Jewish conduct and will assist 11 the Department of Education in determining wheth- 12 er an investigation of anti-Semitism under title VI 13 is warranted. 14 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 15 For purposes of this Act, the term ‘‘definition of anti- 16 Semitism’’— 17 (1) includes the definition of anti-Semitism 18 adopted on May 26, 2016, by the International Hol- 19 ocaust Remembrance Alliance (referred to in this 20 section as ‘‘IHRA’’), of which the United States is 21 a member, which definition has been adopted by the 22 Department of State; and 23 (2) includes the ‘‘[c]ontemporary examples of 24 antisemitism’’ identified in the IHRA definition. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:01 Mar 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S852.IS S852 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 852 IS SEC. 4. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION FOR TITLE VI OF THE 1 CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964. 2 In reviewing, investigating, or deciding whether there 3 has been a violation of title VI of the Civil Rights Act 4 of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.) on the basis of race, 5 color, or national origin, based on an individual’s actual 6 or perceived shared Jewish ancestry or Jewish ethnic char- 7 acteristics, the Department of Education shall take into 8 consideration the definition of anti-Semitism as part of the 9 Department’s assessment of whether the practice was mo- 10 tivated by anti-Semitic intent. 11 SEC. 5. ADMINISTRATION. 12 The Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights shall admin- 13 ister and enforce title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 14 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.) and title IX of the Education 15 Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) in a man- 16 ner that is consistent with the manner of administration 17 and enforcement described in the Dear Colleague letter 18 issued on September 13, 2004, by the Deputy Assistant 19 Secretary for Enforcement of the Department of Edu- 20 cation, entitled ‘‘Title VI and Title IX Religious Discrimi- 21 nation in Schools and Colleges’’. 22 SEC. 6. OTHER RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. 23 (a) GENERAL RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 24 this Act shall be construed— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:01 Mar 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S852.IS S852 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 852 IS (1) to expand the authority of the Secretary of 1 Education; 2 (2) to alter the standards pursuant to which the 3 Department of Education makes a determination 4 that harassing conduct amounts to actionable dis- 5 crimination; or 6 (3) to diminish or infringe upon the rights pro- 7 tected under any other provision of law that is in ef- 8 fect as of the date of enactment of this Act. 9 (b) CONSTITUTIONAL PROTECTIONS.—Nothing in 10 this Act shall be construed to diminish or infringe upon 11 any right protected under the First Amendment to the 12 Constitution of the United States. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:01 Mar 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S852.IS S852 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS