Congress: 119 · Status: active · Israel/Palestine classification: pro-Israel
Data (JSON) — machine-readable record of this bill (identifiers, sponsor, classification, actions, and the member-by-member vote breakdown).
Official record on Congress.gov — full text, actions, and cosponsor history for S 4576.
Sponsor: Rosen, Jacky (D-Nevada)
This bill strengthens federal efforts to counter antisemitism through multiple mechanisms: it directs the Department of Education to enforce Title VI civil rights protections for Jewish students on campus, adopts the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism and its 11 contemporary examples as the standard for federal civil rights enforcement, establishes grant programs for Jewish community security and campus safety, requires federal agencies to document online antisemitism, and mandates Holocaust education initiatives. The IHRA definition treats certain forms of Israel criticism—such as calling Israel 'a racist endeavor,' drawing comparisons to Nazi Germany, or holding Israel to different standards than other nations—as antisemitic.
This bill embeds the IHRA definition into federal civil rights enforcement, making it a legal standard for Title VI complaints at educational institutions. That means Jewish students could file federal complaints alleging discrimination based on pro-Palestine speech or activism that falls within the IHRA's 'contemporary examples'—effectively using civil rights law to regulate campus speech about Israel. This is distinct from hate-crime statutes; it creates an enforcement mechanism for speech restriction in federally funded institutions, which shapes the stakes of Israel/Palestine debate on American campuses.