Bipartisan Senate Legislation to Combat Anti-Semitism on Campus

U.S. Senators Tim Scott (R-SC) and Bob Casey (D-PA) on Tuesday introduced bipartisan legislation to grant the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) the necessary statutory tools at their disposal to investigate anti-Semitic incidents on college campuses.

The Anti-Semitism Awareness Act would codify the definition as one adopted by the U.S. State Department’s Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism.

“It is incredibly important that we work together to stamp out anti-Semitism and other forms of religious discrimination across our country,” Scott said in a statement. “By clarifying exactly what anti-Semitism is, we will leave no question as to what constitutes an anti-Semitic incident.”

A July report by the Amcha Initiative, a nonpartisan group focused on investigating and combating anti-Semitism on college campuses, found that 287 anti-Semitic incidents occurred at 64 schools during the first half of 2016, reflecting a 45% increase from the 198 incidents reported in the first six months of 2015.

According to Casey, “This legislation will help the Department of Education investigate incidents of discrimination motivated by anti-Semitism in our schools, which should be safe environments for students from all backgrounds.”