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- 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:27 Aug 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4009.IH H4009 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4009 IH (1) Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (re- 1 ferred to in the section as ‘‘title VI’’) is one of the 2 principal antidiscrimination statutes enforced by the 3 Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. 4 (2) Title VI prohibits discrimination on the 5 basis of race, color, or national origin. 6 (3) Both the Department of Justice and the 7 Department of Education have properly concluded 8 that title VI prohibits discrimination against Jews, 9 Muslims, Sikhs, and members of other religious 10 groups when the discrimination is based on the 11 group’s actual or perceived shared ancestry or ethnic 12 characteristics or when the discrimination is based 13 on actual or perceived citizenship or residence in a 14 country whose residents share a dominant religion or 15 a distinct religious identity. 16 (4) A September 8, 2010, letter from Assistant 17 Attorney General Thomas E. Perez to Assistant Sec- 18 retary for Civil Rights Russlynn H. Ali stated that 19 ‘‘[a]lthough Title VI does not prohibit discrimination 20 on the basis of religion, discrimination against Jews, 21 Muslims, Sikhs, and members of other groups vio- 22 lates Title VI when that discrimination is based on 23 the group’s actual or perceived shared ancestry or 24 ethnic characteristics’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:27 Aug 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4009.IH H4009 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4009 IH (5) To assist State and local educational agen- 1 cies and schools in their efforts to comply with Fed- 2 eral law, the Department of Education periodically 3 issues Dear Colleague letters. On a number of occa- 4 sions, these letters set forth the Department of Edu- 5 cation’s interpretation of the statutory and regu- 6 latory obligations of schools under title VI. 7 (6) On September 13, 2004, the Department of 8 Education issued a Dear Colleague letter regarding 9 the obligations of schools (including colleges) under 10 title VI to address incidents involving religious dis- 11 crimination. The 2004 letter specifically notes that 12 ‘‘since the attacks of September 11, 2001, OCR has 13 received complaints of race or national origin harass- 14 ment commingled with aspects of religious discrimi- 15 nation against Arab Muslim, Sikh, and Jewish stu- 16 dents.’’. 17 (7) An October 26, 2010, Dear Colleague letter 18 issued by the Department of Education stated, 19 ‘‘While Title VI does not cover discrimination based 20 solely on religion, groups that face discrimination on 21 the basis of actual or perceived shared ancestry or 22 ethnic characteristics may not be denied protection 23 under Title VI on the ground that they also share 24 a common faith. These principles apply not just to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:27 Aug 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4009.IH H4009 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 4009 IH Jewish students, but also to students from any dis- 1 crete religious group that shares, or is perceived to 2 share, ancestry or ethnic characteristics (e.g., Mus- 3 lims or Sikhs).’’. 4 (8) Anti-Semitism, and harassment on the basis 5 of actual or perceived shared ancestry or ethnic 6 characteristics with a religious group, remains a per- 7 sistent, disturbing problem in elementary and sec- 8 ondary schools and on college campuses. 9 (9) Students from a range of diverse back- 10 grounds, including Jewish, Arab Muslim, and Sikh 11 students, are being threatened, harassed, or intimi- 12 dated in their schools (including on their campuses) 13 on the basis of their shared ancestry or ethnic char- 14 acteristics including through harassing conduct that 15 creates a hostile environment so severe, pervasive, or 16 persistent so as to interfere with or limit some stu- 17 dents’ ability to participate in or benefit from the 18 services, activities, or opportunities offered by 19 schools. 20 (10) The 2010 Dear Colleague letter cautioned 21 schools that they ‘‘must take prompt and effective 22 steps reasonably calculated to end the harassment, 23 eliminate any hostile environment, and its effects, 24 and prevent the harassment from recurring,’’ but 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:27 Aug 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4009.IH H4009 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 4009 IH did not provide guidance on current manifestations 1 of anti-Semitism, including discriminatory anti-Se- 2 mitic conduct that is couched as anti-Israel or anti- 3 Zionist. 4 (11) The definition and examples referred to in 5 paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 3 have been valu- 6 able tools to help identify contemporary manifesta- 7 tions of anti-Semitism, and include useful examples 8 of discriminatory anti-Israel conduct that crosses the 9 line into anti-Semitism. 10 (12) Awareness of this definition of anti-Semi- 11 tism will increase understanding of the parameters 12 of contemporary anti-Jewish conduct and will assist 13 the Department of Education in determining wheth- 14 er an investigation of anti-Semitism under title VI 15 is warranted. 16 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 17 For purposes of this Act, the term ‘‘definition of anti- 18 Semitism’’— 19 (1) includes the definition of anti-Semitism 20 adopted on May 26, 2016, by the International Hol- 21 ocaust Remembrance Alliance (referred to in this 22 section as ‘‘IHRA’’), of which the United States is 23 a member, which definition has been adopted by the 24 Department of State; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:27 Aug 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4009.IH H4009 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 4009 IH (2) includes the ‘‘[c]ontemporary examples of 1 antisemitism’’ identified in the IHRA definition. 2 SEC. 4. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION FOR TITLE VI OF THE 3 CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964. 4 In reviewing, investigating, or deciding whether there 5 has been a violation of title VI of the Civil Rights Act 6 of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.) on the basis of race, 7 color, or national origin, based on an individual’s actual 8 or perceived shared Jewish ancestry or Jewish ethnic char- 9 acteristics, the Department of Education shall take into 10 consideration the definition of anti-Semitism as part of the 11 Department’s assessment of whether the practice was mo- 12 tivated by anti-Semitic intent. 13 SEC. 5. ADMINISTRATION. 14 The Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights shall admin- 15 ister and enforce title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 16 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.) and title IX of the Education 17 Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) in a man- 18 ner that is consistent with the manner of administration 19 and enforcement described in the Dear Colleague letter 20 issued on September 13, 2004, by the Deputy Assistant 21 Secretary for Enforcement of the Department of Edu- 22 cation, entitled ‘‘Title VI and Title IX Religious Discrimi- 23 nation in Schools and Colleges’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:27 Aug 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4009.IH H4009 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 4009 IH SEC. 6. OTHER RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. 1 (a) GENERAL RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 2 this Act shall be construed— 3 (1) to expand the authority of the Secretary of 4 Education; 5 (2) to alter the standards pursuant to which the 6 Department of Education makes a determination 7 that harassing conduct amounts to actionable dis- 8 crimination; or 9 (3) to diminish or infringe upon the rights pro- 10 tected under any other provision of law that is in ef- 11 fect as of the date of enactment of this Act. 12 (b) CONSTITUTIONAL PROTECTIONS.—Nothing in 13 this Act shall be construed to diminish or infringe upon 14 any right protected under the First Amendment to the 15 Constitution of the United States. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:27 Aug 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4009.IH H4009 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS