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The Senate has cleared a bill aimed at bolstering the Department of Education's ability to investigate anti-Semitic attacks on college campuses.
The proposal, known as the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act, passed the upper chamber by unanimous consent two days after it was introduced. It codifies what qualifies as anti-Semitism, using a definition adopted by the State Department.
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“This legislation will help the Department of Education investigate incidents of discrimination motivated by anti-Semitism in our schools," Sen. Bob Casey
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Lindsey Olin GrahamGOP lawmaker: Every white suburban district in the country will be a swing district this year The Hill's Morning Report — Trump to GOP: I will carry you GOP senator: 'Real likelihood' Dems win the House 'by 10 or 12 more seats than they need' MORE (R-S.C.) and Michael Bennet
Michael Farrand BennetNFL player wears 'Immigrants made America great' hat mocking Trump US farmers shouldn't be collateral damage in free-traders' crusade Harley stunner spikes tension with Trump over trade policy MORE (D-Colo.). It still needs to be passed by the House before it can be sent to President Obama's desk.
Timothy (Tim) Eugene ScottFive takeaways from Ohio's too-close-to-call special election Trump-backed candidate wins Michigan GOP Senate primary Tougher Russia sanctions face skepticism from Senate Republicans MORE (R-S.C.), Ron WydenRonald (Ron) Lee WydenTreasury releases proposed rules on major part of Trump tax law Rubio slams Google over plans to unveil censored Chinese search engine Hillicon Valley: GOP leader wants Twitter CEO to testify on bias claims | Sinclair beefs up lobbying during merger fight | Facebook users experience brief outage | South Korea eyes new taxes on tech MORE (D-Ore.), Lindsey GrahamLindsey Olin GrahamGOP lawmaker: Every white suburban district in the country will be a swing district this year The Hill's Morning Report — Trump to GOP: I will carry you GOP senator: 'Real likelihood' Dems win the House 'by 10 or 12 more seats than they need' MORE (R-S.C.) and Michael BennetMichael Farrand BennetNFL player wears 'Immigrants made America great' hat mocking Trump US farmers shouldn't be collateral damage in free-traders' crusade Harley stunner spikes tension with Trump over trade policy MORE (D-Colo.). It still needs to be passed by the House before it can be sent to President Obama's desk.According to the legislation, when the Department of Education is trying to determine if a crime violates the Civil Rights Act it should "take into consideration the definition of anti-Semitism as part of the Department's assessment."
Scott called the legislation an "important clarification" to help the Department of Education.
"[It] will provide the necessary direction to assist officials and administrators to understand when anti-Semitic activities are occurring, by clarifying exactly what anti-Semitic is," the South Carolina senator added.
The State Department defines anti-Semitism as a "certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of anti-Semitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, towards Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”
The bill has gotten some pushback over concerns that it's unconstitutional, but both Casey and Scott stressed that the legislation isn't meant to infringe upon First Amendment rights.
According to the 2015 FBI crimes report, nearly 53 percent of religiously motivated hate crimes were due to anti-Jewish beliefs.
