[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 354 Engrossed in House (EH)]

<DOC>
H. Res. 354

                In the House of Representatives, U. S.,

                                                      November 3, 2015.
Whereas anti-Semitic rhetoric and acts, including violent attacks on people and 
        places of faith, have increased in frequency, variety, and severity in 
        many countries in Europe;
Whereas the French Service de Protection de la Communaute Juive (Jewish 
        Community Security Service) reported an increase in anti-Semitic acts in 
        France between 2013 to 2014 (from 423 acts to 851), including an 
        increase in violent ones (from 105 acts to 241);
Whereas the Community Security Trust reported an increase in anti-Semitic acts 
        in the United Kingdom between 2013 to 2014 (from 535 acts to 1,168), 
        including an increase in violent ones (from 69 to 81); and the Kantor 
        Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry reported an increase 
        in anti-Semitic acts between 2013 and 2014 in Germany (from 788 acts to 
        1076, including 36 violent acts to 76), Belgium (from 64 acts to 109, 
        including 11 violent acts to 30), Austria (from 137 acts to 255, 
        including 4 violent acts to 9), and Italy (from 45 to 90, including 12 
        violent acts to 23);
Whereas the Federal Bureau of Investigation reported, in its latest available 
        statistics, 870 incidents in 2012 with anti-Jewish bias motivation, 
        including 13 violent incidents, and 625 incidents in 2013 with anti-
        Jewish bias motivation, including four violent incidents;
Whereas anti-Semitic attacks have been increasingly directed at places of 
        ordinary daily life and places of worship, including--

    (1) the violent extremist who pledged his loyalty to the Islamic State 
of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) and attacked a kosher supermarket in Paris, 
France, January 9, 2015, murdering four Jewish patrons; and

    (2) the violent extremist who pledged his loyalty to ISIS and attacked 
the Great Synagogue in Copenhagen, Denmark, during a bat mitzvah 
celebration, February 15, 2015, murdering a member of the Jewish community 
on security duty, and wounding two members of the Danish Police Service;

Whereas anti-Semitic attacks are threats to the fundamental freedoms, rights, 
        security, and diversity of all citizens, societies, and countries in 
        which they occur;
Whereas governments have primary responsibility for the security and safety of 
        all of their citizens and therefore primary responsibility for 
        monitoring, preventing, and responding to anti-Semitic violence;
Whereas Jewish community groups that focus on strengthening safety awareness, 
        crisis management, and preparedness are essential to keeping members of 
        the Jewish community safe, and complement efforts of government and 
        inter-governmental entities;
Whereas keeping members of Jewish communities safe requires government agencies, 
        intergovernmental institutions and agencies, and law enforcement 
        associations, formally recognizing and partnering with Jewish community 
        groups that focus on safety awareness and crisis management and 
        preparedness;
Whereas in the United States, United Kingdom, and France, there are examples of 
        formal recognition, partnership, training, and information-sharing 
        between government entities and Jewish community security groups that 
        have strengthened these countries and contributed to the safety and 
        security of Jewish communities;
Whereas Jewish community groups, consortia, and initiatives, have formed and are 
        forming to focus on safety awareness, crisis management, and 
        preparedness, and partner with law enforcement entities and thought 
        leaders;
Whereas information-sharing and action-focused campaigns, including the national 
        ``If You See Something, Say Something'' campaign of the Department of 
        Homeland Security, which rely on members of the public reporting 
        suspicious activity to law enforcement personnel, are critical to 
        preventing violent attacks on individuals and communities;
Whereas relevant information, research, and analysis is vital to strengthening 
        the preparedness, prevention, mitigation, and response of Jewish 
        communities and law enforcement agencies;
Whereas broader efforts to counter violent extremism, and efforts to counter 
        anti-Semitism, should be integrated with each other as appropriate and 
        share best practices;
Whereas in the Berlin Declaration of April 29, 2004, participating States of the 
        Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) condemned 
        anti-Semitism and committed themselves to specific actions to combat it, 
        and to collect and maintain reliable information and statistics about 
        anti-Semitic crimes;
Whereas, on December 6, 2013, the Ministerial Council of the OSCE, which is 
        composed of the Foreign Ministers of participating States, adopted 
        Decision number 3/13 entitled ``Freedom of Thought, Conscience, 
        Religion, or Belief'', emphasizing ``the link between security and full 
        respect for the freedom of thought'', and committing member governments 
        to adopt ``policies to promote respect and protection for places of 
        worship and religious sites, religious monuments, cemeteries and shrines 
        against vandalism and destruction'', among other specific actions;
Whereas, on December 5, 2014, the Ministerial Council of the OSCE adopted 
        Declaration number 8, the Basel Declaration, on ``Enhancing Efforts to 
        Combat Anti-Semitism'', in which members of the Council stated, ``We 
        express our concern at the disconcerting number of anti-Semitic 
        incidents that continue to take place in the OSCE area and remain a 
        challenge to stability and security'' and ``We stress the importance of 
        States collaborating with civil society through effective partnerships 
        and strengthened dialogue and co-operation on combating anti-Semitism''; 
        and
Whereas in 2004, Congress passed the Global Anti-Semitism Review Act, which 
        established an Office to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, headed by a 
        Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) urges the United States Government to work closely with European 
        governments and their law enforcement agencies, the Organization for 
        Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the European Union, Europol, 
        and Interpol, encouraging them to--
                    (A) formally recognize, partner, train, and share 
                information with Jewish community security groups to strengthen 
                preparedness, prevention, mitigation, and response related to 
                anti-Semitic attacks and to support related research 
                initiatives;
                    (B) consider the formal partnerships in the United States, 
                the United Kingdom, and France, between government entities and 
                Jewish community security groups, as examples of partnership, 
                training, and information-sharing;
                    (C) support assessments of the--
                            (i) general environment in which anti-Semitic 
                        attacks occur;
                            (ii) data on types of crimes committed and the 
                        response from law enforcement;
                            (iii) relationships of Jewish community groups with 
                        local law enforcement agencies, including joint training 
                        opportunities and information sharing;
                            (iv) preparedness, including emergency response 
                        plans, of Jewish community groups; and
                            (v) response of local law enforcement systems to 
                        anti-Semitic attacks, including incident reporting, 
                        initial response, and the prioritization and prosecution 
                        of those crimes;
                    (D) utilize these assessments to help make adjustments to 
                their strategies and efforts to combat anti-Semitism as needed;
                    (E) help Jewish communities develop common, baseline safety 
                standards;
                    (F) consider developing a standardized pan-European 
                information-sharing and alerting system that can include 
                governmental and non-governmental agencies, as well as Jewish 
                communities;
                    (G) develop safety-awareness and suspicious activity 
                reporting campaigns;
                    (H) integrate, as appropriate, efforts to combat violent 
                extremism and efforts to combat anti-Semitism;
                    (I) ensure law enforcement personnel are effectively trained 
                to monitor, prevent, and respond to anti-Semitic violence, and 
                to partner with Jewish communities;
                    (J) reaffirm and work for the implementation of the OSCE 
                declarations, decisions, and other commitments focusing on anti-
                Semitism; and
                    (K) ensure senior officials, with commensurate authority and 
                resources, have been appointed or designated to combat anti-
                Semitism and collaborate with governmental and inter-
                governmental agencies, law enforcement agencies, Jewish 
                community groups, and other civil society groups;
            (2) reaffirms its support for the mandate of the United States 
        Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism as part of the broader 
        policy priority of fostering international religious freedom; and
            (3) urges the Secretary of State to continue robust United States 
        reporting on anti-Semitism by the Department of State and the Special 
        Envoy to Combat and Monitor Anti-Semitism.
            Attest:

                                                                          Clerk.