[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6806 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 6806
To direct the Attorney General to establish within the Department of
Justice the Office of the National Coordinator to Counter Antisemitism,
and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 17, 2025
Mr. Nadler (for himself, Ms. DeLauro, Ms. Balint, and Mr. Frost)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Education and
Workforce, Homeland Security, and Transportation and Infrastructure,
for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case
for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of
the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Attorney General to establish within the Department of
Justice the Office of the National Coordinator to Counter Antisemitism,
and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Antisemitism Response and Prevention
Act of 2025''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Antisemitic incidents in the United States have reached
historic levels, with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
documenting 1,938 antisemitic incidents in 2024, representing a
73 percent increase from 2022 and the highest number recorded
since the FBI began tracking hate crimes in 1991, with Jews--
comprising only 2 percent of the United States population--
accounting for 69 percent of all religion-based hate crimes.
(2) Following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel,
multiple tracking organizations documented a 360 to 388 percent
increase in antisemitic incidents during the 3-month period
from October 7, 2023, to January 7, 2024, with FBI Director
Christopher Wray testifying that antisemitism has reached
``historic levels'' in the United States.
(3) Academic research has documented severe deterioration
of campus climates for Jewish students, with Brandeis
University finding hostility rates approximately twice as high
as 2016 baseline measurements.
(4) The May 2023 United States National Strategy to Counter
Antisemitism represented a landmark, gold-standard, and
comprehensive approach to addressing antisemitism, developed
with extensive input from Jewish institutions and individuals
across the political spectrum, emphasizing that combating
antisemitism requires protecting democratic institutions, civil
liberties, and coalition-building across diverse communities,
and establishing coordination mechanisms across over 30 Federal
agencies.
(5) Despite the real and documented crisis of antisemitism,
there has been a systematic pattern of weaponizing antisemitism
accusations by the Trump Administration to pursue ideological
and partisan political objectives unrelated to protecting
Jewish communities from discrimination and hatred, including
attacks on educational institutions for political
disagreements, suppression of constitutionally protected
speech, and enforcement of ideological conformity.
(6) The Department of Education has launched investigations
into approximately 60 institutions of higher education, not
primarily to protect Jewish students from discrimination, but
to use the false premise of antisemitism accusations as pretext
for forcing the elimination of academic programs related to
diversity and Middle Eastern studies, threatening to withdraw
Federal funding to compel ideological conformity, and
undermining the autonomy and academic freedom of such
institutions, with common patterns including lack of due
process, conflation of criticism of Israeli government policies
with antisemitism, and targeting of protected speech and
academic inquiry.
(7) The Trump administration has inappropriately
appropriated the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance
(IHRA) definition of antisemitism as a tool for immigration
enforcement and deportation proceedings, applying a non-legally
binding educational tool in punitive legal contexts for which
it was never intended, with the Department of Homeland Security
announcing in April 2025 that it would screen social media
activity for antisemitism using the IHRA definition to guide
determinations.
(8) Multiple documented cases demonstrate the systematic
targeting of students and legal residents for deportation based
solely on their pro-Palestinian activism, including peaceful
protests, academic inquiry, and political organizing, with
every case that has reached Federal court resulting in release
orders and findings of likely constitutional violations,
including Federal judges ruling that the Trump administration
is in continued violation of the First Amendment to the
Constitution by detaining individuals for protected speech.
(9) The Trump administration has sought to tie nonprofit
security grants, which fund critical houses of worship and
religious community center security measures (including
synagogues and Jewish Community Centers), to compliance with
administration positions on immigration enforcement and
diversity policies, with the Department of Homeland Security
imposing conditions in April 2025 mandating that recipients
cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
officials and prohibiting any programs that ``advance or
promote DEI'', effectively holding Jewish community safety
hostage to unrelated political objectives.
(10) Federal judges have blocked enforcement of these
conditions through permanent injunctions in multiple
jurisdictions, ruling that conditions were ``arbitrary and
capricious'' and ``unconstitutional'', with nearly 70 religious
organizations and over 120 faith leaders signing a letter
rejecting these conditions and stating they are ``unified in
refusing to capitulate to conditions that would require us to
sacrifice the safety and dignity of our community members''.
(11) The Heritage Foundation's ``Project Esther: A National
Strategy to Combat Antisemitism'', released on October 7, 2024,
has served as a blueprint for the administration's antisemitism
policies, but rather than genuinely combating antisemitism, it
weaponizes accusations of antisemitism to pursue partisan
political objectives, including dismantling diversity programs,
suppressing pro-Palestinian advocacy, defunding educational
institutions, attacking nonprofit organizations, and
undermining academic freedom.
(12) The New York Times investigation published in May 2025
found that ``the second Trump administration had called for or
acted upon more than half of Project Esther's proposals'', with
Heritage Foundation officials stating there are ``clear
parallels'' between their recommendations and administration
actions.
(13) Project Esther's development was led by predominantly
Christian nationalist individuals with minimal Jewish
organizational support, is tied to Christian Zionism theology
and beliefs that Jewish presence in the Holy Land will
precipitate End Times, and focuses exclusively on left-wing
critics of Israel while ignoring antisemitism from white
supremacists and other far-right groups, making no mention of
Proud Boys, white supremacist militias, neo-Nazi groups, the
Charlottesville violence, the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, or
other far-right antisemitic violence.
(14) Effective antisemitism prevention and response
requires comprehensive, evidence-based approaches that
strengthen rather than undermine democratic institutions, with
research and experience demonstrating that approaches are most
effective when they address antisemitism as connected to other
forms of hatred and extremism, strengthen democratic
institutions and civil liberties, build broad coalitions across
diverse communities, focus enforcement on clear cases of
discrimination while protecting political expression, and
invest in education and prevention rather than relying solely
on punitive measures.
(15) History demonstrates that Jewish communities are
safest in robust democracies with strong civil liberties, equal
protection under the law, and inclusive pluralistic cultures,
and most vulnerable when these democratic foundations are
eroded, and that weaponizing antisemitism for partisan
political purposes not only fails to protect Jewish communities
but actively breeds more antisemitism by associating Jewish
safety with the suppression of civil liberties and the
targeting of political dissent.
(16) Congress has a responsibility to ensure that Federal
efforts to combat antisemitism are effective, evidence-based,
and consistent with democratic values, and to prevent the
weaponization of antisemitism concerns for ulterior political
objectives, requiring substantial Federal investment in
education initiatives, civil rights enforcement, community
security programs, and other evidence-based approaches to
combating antisemitism and related forms of extremism and hate.
SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY AND SENSE OF CONGRESS.
(a) Statement of Policy.--It is the policy of the United States--
(1) to raise awareness and educate the United States public
about the history of Jewish Americans and antisemitism in all
of its forms and various manifestations;
(2) to use all available authorities to oppose
antisemitism;
(3) not to use the fight against antisemitism as grounds or
motive to pursue ulterior political agendas, including attacks
on educational institutions for alleged political
disagreements, suppression of constitutionally protected
speech, or enforcement of ideological conformity;
(4) to ensure that all Federal antisemitism policies and
programs are developed with meaningful input from diverse
Jewish communities and are consistent with democratic values;
(5) to address antisemitism as connected to other forms of
hatred and extremism through coalition-building and
comprehensive prevention efforts; and
(6) to protect the autonomy and academic freedom of
educational institutions while ensuring vigorous enforcement of
civil rights protections against actual discrimination and
harassment.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) as articulated in the Biden Administration's May 2023
United States National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism there
are several definitions of antisemitism which serve as valuable
tools to raise awareness and increase understanding of
antisemitism, including the non-legally binding definitions of
antisemitism adopted in 2016 by the 31 member states of the
International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, the Nexus
Document, and other such efforts; and all of the definitions
are valuable tools to raise awareness and increase
understanding of antisemitism, and should be utilized by
Federal, State, and local agencies;
(2) the definitions are non-legally binding educational
tools and should not be applied in punitive legal contexts,
including immigration enforcement, deportation proceedings, or
criminal prosecutions, for which they were never intended;
(3) criticism of Israeli government policies, when not
motivated by or expressed through antisemitic tropes or
discrimination against Jews, is a form of political speech
protected by the First Amendment and does not constitute
antisemitism;
(4) combating antisemitism requires protecting rather than
undermining democratic institutions, civil liberties, academic
freedom, and the rights of all communities; and
(5) the weaponization of antisemitism accusations to pursue
partisan political agendas undermines genuine efforts to
protect Jewish communities and breeds additional antisemitism.
SEC. 4. DESIGNATION OF A TITLE VI COORDINATOR AND DUTIES.
(a) Amendment.--Section 487(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965
(20 U.S.C. 1094(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(30) The institution will--
``(A) designate at least 1 employee to coordinate
institutional compliance with title VI of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.), including
investigation of any complaint alleging--
``(i) noncompliance with such title; or
``(ii) any actions prohibited by such
title; and
``(B) conduct a public awareness campaign, directly
or through a contract with a nonprofit organization
that specializes in public awareness communications,
that--
``(i) is updated annually and is provided
to students, faculty, and staff of the
institution, including physical posting in one
or more high traffic public places at the
institution, such as a student center, and
digital posting on one or more high traffic web
pages of the institution, such as a student
services web page;
``(ii) includes appealing visual and
auditory elements; and
``(iii) utilizes methods and materials
necessary to maximize student accessibility to
the campaign;
``(C) annually submit a report to the Secretary,
and make such report publicly available on the website
of the institution (subject to clause (ii)), that--
``(i) includes all complaints described in
subparagraph (A) and all public awareness
campaign efforts made under subparagraph (B);
``(ii) with respect to the version of the
report made available to the public, may
include redacted information with respect to
the names, contact information, or identifying
information of victims or minors involved in
complaints described in subparagraph (A); and
``(iii) with respect to the version of the
report submitted to the Secretary, may not
included any redacted information;
``(D) provide annual notice to students, faculty,
and staff of--
``(i) the name, email address, office
address, and telephone number of the employee
designated under subparagraph (A) to coordinate
compliance with title VI of the Civil Rights
Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.);
``(ii) the publically available report
under subparagraph (C);
``(iii) the enforcement policies of the
institution with respect to such title VI; and
``(iv) the institutional procedures for
reporting and investigating complaints under
such title VI; and
``(E) in carrying out this paragraph, take such
steps as may be necessary to distinguish between
discrimination and harassment prohibited by title VI of
the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.)
and political expression protected by the First
Amendment to the Constitution.''.
(b) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in the amendment made by this
section shall be construed to require an institution of higher
education to restrict constitutionally protected speech or academic
inquiry, or to enforce ideological conformity.
SEC. 5. OFFICE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION.
(a) In General.--For each of the fiscal years 2027 through 2032,
there is authorized to be appropriated $280,000,000 to the Office for
Civil Rights of the Department of Education, as established under
section 203 of the Department of Education Organization Act (20 U.S.C.
3413), to carry out the activities authorized by such section.
(b) Certification on Regional Offices.--Beginning on the date that
is 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, and every 90 days
thereafter, the Secretary of Education shall issue a certification
that--
(1) all regional offices of the Office for Civil Rights of
the Department of Education that were closed, consolidated, or
transferred on or after January 20, 2025, and before the date
of enactment of this Act, have been reopened and remain open,
and that such offices maintain adequate staffing to handle the
volume of civil rights complaints received and to provide
technical assistance to institutions of higher education with
respect to civil rights complaints; and
(2) no regional offices of such Office for Civil Rights
were closed, consolidated, or transferred on or after the date
of enactment of this Act.
(c) Report.--
(1) Requirement.--If the Secretary of Education does not
issue a complete and timely certification required under
subsection (b), the Secretary shall, not later than 30 days
after the date on which such certification was due, submit a
report to the appropriate Congressional committees that
identifies any regional office described in paragraph (1) or
(2) of subsection (b) that has not been reopened, and provide
justification for the failure to reopen such regional office.