[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 96 (Wednesday, June 5, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3996-S3997]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      ANTI-SEMITISM AWARENESS ACT

  Mr. CASEY. Madam President, I wanted to move to another subject, and 
the subject is one that I think so many Americans are concerned about: 
It is anti-Semitism across college campuses and in primary and in 
secondary schools but, of course, well beyond the boundaries of any 
school. It is an American problem. It is a problem across our society 
and even across the world.
  Combating anti-Semitism has been a top priority of mine for my entire 
time in the Senate, and I have consistently taken strong actions to 
address this hate, including working to pass the Anti-Semitism 
Awareness Act since 2016.
  Back toward the end of the calendar year 2022, I came to the Senate 
floor to talk about anti-Semitism, mostly through the lens of the 
horror of October of 2018 when a gunman killed 11

[[Page S3997]]

Pittsburghers and injured several others, including police officers, at 
the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. That horrific moment in the 
history of the Jewish people and the history of the American people 
reminded all of us of how pernicious and how widespread anti-Semitism 
is. At that time, I was cataloging the numbers, the exponential rise in 
anti-Semitism up to that point in time, the end of the calendar year 
2022, and how anti-Semitism had grown so substantially in that 
timeframe.
  However, as we all know, since October 7 of 2023, since Hamas 
terrorists attacked the people of Israel and killed over 1,200 Jews in 
Israel, those numbers, which are high and exponentially high before, 
went even higher--an explosion across the country of anti-Semitism. The 
Anti-Defamation League has tracked the highest numbers of anti-Semitic 
incidents ever--ever--in the United States in 2023, and those numbers 
have undoubtedly continued to rise with the ongoing campus protests. 
There were over 8,800 instances, including 2,177 cases of vandalism and 
161 assaults.
  No one in this country, none of us, can tolerate any form of anti-
Semitism, any form of discrimination abroad or at home, on college 
campuses, in the workplace, on the playground, in any setting in 
American life. That is why we must pass the Anti-Semitism Awareness 
Act, a bill that my colleague Senator Tim Scott and I have worked on 
for almost 8 years.
  Our bill would mandate that the Department of Education consider a 
widely accepted definition of anti-Semitism in carrying out its 
enforcement actions, strengthening civil rights enforcement against 
anti-Semitism, just like that same office, the Office of Civil Rights 
in the Department of Education, is charged with investigating incidents 
of racial discrimination or discrimination of any kind on a college 
campus that rises to a level of a hostile environment on that campus.
  The House has already passed its version of the Anti-Semitism 
Awareness Act. They passed that recently. We must find a pathway here 
in the Senate to pass this bill. This bill is cosponsored by 15 
Democrats and 15 Republicans all across the length and breadth of the 
country.
  There are objections to our legislation from individual Senators on 
both sides of the aisle, which so far has blocked unanimous consent, 
but we are confident the legislation would pass if given a vote.
  An additional point on this matter is relevant. I mentioned the 
Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights. That is the office 
that is charged with conducting these investigations of anti-Semitism 
but, as I said, also charged with the obligation to conduct 
investigations of racism on a campus or other forms of discrimination.
  I have a separate bill that would add substantial funding, absolutely 
essential funding, to the Office of Civil Rights in the Department of 
Education. That office has to hire more people to conduct these 
investigations, to initiate an investigation, to expeditiously gather 
evidence, complete the investigation, and make that fundamental 
determination whether there is a hostile environment on a college 
campus for Jewish students, just like it would make a determination 
with regard to a hostile environment for Black students in the case of 
allegations of racial animus on a campus--make that determination of 
hostile environment or not, making that decision. Once they make that 
decision, of course, the college or university would be subjected to 
penalties.

  But the only way that can happen, that those investigations can be 
commenced and be completed, is to have the resources and personnel. The 
Office of Civil Rights needs to hire hundreds more people to do this, 
and I think it is a worthy investment. So I would urge Senators in both 
parties, both sides of the aisle, to work with us to pass that 
legislation.
  I think most of us come to this from a very basic part of our DNA. We 
know that this kind of discrimination, whether it is anti-Semitism or 
racism or other forms of discrimination, is a scourge on the country. 
It is a scourge, and I think it is an insult to our country as a 
country of free people. We have to figure out a way to combat anti-
Semitism, and we can do that by passing the Anti-Semitism Awareness 
Act, but also to take other actions which will stamp out this kind of 
discrimination in our society, throughout our country, and throughout 
the world.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. WELCH. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The Senator from Vermont.

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