The House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed the ‘Antisemitism Awareness Act,’ which requires the Education Department to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism.

“House passes bill to mandate the Education Department to use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism when enforcing federal anti-discrimination laws,” The Recount noted.

The bill passed by a 320-91 vote.

187 Republicans and 133 Democrats voted in favor of the bill.

21 Republicans and 70 Democrats voted against the bill.

“Critics argue this definition of antisemitism is too broad and could lead to censorship, including on college campuses,” The Recount stated.

From the Associated Press:

The House passed legislation Wednesday that would establish a broader definition of antisemitism for the Department of Education to enforce anti-discrimination laws, the latest response from lawmakers to a nationwide student protest movement over the Israel-Hamas war.

The proposal, which passed 320-91 with some bipartisan support, would codify the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism in Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a federal anti-discrimination law that bars discrimination based on shared ancestry, ethnic characteristics or national origin. It now goes to the Senate where its fate is uncertain.

Action on the bill was just the latest reverberation in Congress from the protest movement that has swept university campuses. Republicans in Congress have denounced the protests and demanded action to stop them, thrusting university officials into the center of the charged political debate over Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza. More than 33,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war was launched in October, after Hamas staged a deadly terrorist attack against Israeli civilians.

The bill has faced widespread criticism and opponents say it’s a flagrant violation of the 1st Amendment.

“Today the House will vote on a bill to define antisemitism with the intent to increase prosecutions of activity on campuses. The bill has a problem beyond violating the 1st Amdt: The definition of antisemitism appears no where in the bill! Why?” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) questioned.

“To find the legally adopted definition of antisemitism, one must go to this website below. Not only is the definition listed there, but one also finds specific examples of antisemitic speech. Are those examples made part of the law as well?” Massie continued.

“Do you agree with all of these examples of antisemitism? Should people in America be prosecuted for saying these things in all contexts? I think not. This is a poorly conceived unconstitutional bill and I will vote no,” Massie said.

Massie shared these images from the website:

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“I abhor antisemitism, but this bill is flagrantly unconstitutional and an appalling attack on the First Amendment. This bill would make it illegal to compare Israeli policies to Nazi policies. It would make it illegal to describe Israel as racist. It would make it illegal to accuse an American citizen of being more loyal to Israel than to the United States. All of those behaviors might be stupid or repugnant, but they are indisputably protected by the First Amendment. Yet now, Congressional Republicans are rushing to gut the First Amendment in order to pass a Europe-style ban on supposed ‘hate speech,'” Charlie Kirk said.

“Rioters should be arrested. Unhinged Israel-hating students who take over buildings and refuse to leave should be expelled. But I stand with Rep. Thomas Massie: This bill is an affront to the Constitution and must not pass,” he added.

“The bill is a disgrace and you should seriously question any Republican who supports it. The legislation would in fact label criticism of the Israeli government as ‘antisemitic.’ Any notion that Americans should be legally penalized in any way for criticizing any government — even a foreign government — is just pure madness and un-American in the extreme,” Matt Walsh said.

“The vast majority of Republicans just voted for a bill to criminalize criticisms of the Israeli government. If the bill passes you will be guilty of hate speech if you ‘apply double standards’ to the government of Israel or accuse it of genocide. This is honestly one of the most insane pieces of legislation I’ve ever seen,” Walsh commented.

“Jesus was a Jew. Jesus’s followers were Jews who believed he was Messiah. The people who conspired to have Jesus killed were Jews. The House of Representatives voted yesterday to make that third sentence illegal. It is long past time to reign the government in,” Spike Cohen commented.

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* Images from Spike Cohen X Post *

“I’m proud that my bill, the Antisemitism Awareness Act, just passed the House of Representatives 320 to 91. This bill has broad, bipartisan support and will begin the process of cracking down on the antisemitism we’ve seen run rampant on college campuses across America,” Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), one of the bill’s co-sponsors, said.

WATCH:

“I’m a New Yorker, I’m against antisemitism but for real what the f**k are you doing? Are you trying to have Christian like me jailed? Between the open borders, high inflation and crime don’t you have better things to do?” one critic responded.

“No and those pushing that nonsense are truly idiotic and irrational. The bill does not criminalize Christianity — I’m Catholic. It’s gives contemporary examples of potential antisemitism. Calling all Jews Christ killers is a form of antisemitism. Believing in the gospel is not,” Lawler replied.

“You lie! It is CLEARLY stated in the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition you put into the bill! YOU PUT INTO THE BILL!” Daniel McAdams, the Director of the Ron Paul Institute, commented.

“If you call all Jews Christ Killers, yes, that is an example of something that could be antisemitic. If you use that as a basis to discriminate against Jews or Israel, yes, that is an example of something that could be antisemitic. It in no way bans or criminalizes the Bible,” Lawler replied.

“By the way, while all sensible people find anti-Semitism to be abhorrent, the US government has no authority under the US Constitution to outlaw it. We have First Amendment to protect ALL speech and we have free speech to combat ugly speech. That is what America is all about!” McAdams said.

Per NBC News:

The bill’s prospects in the Senate are unclear.

Asked whether the Senate would take up the legislation, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told reporters earlier Wednesday that “we haven’t seen what the House is sending us yet.”

Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., introduced the bipartisan legislation, which received backing from Democratic moderates who are supporters of Israel amid the country’s war with Hamas.

“In every generation, the Jewish people have been scapegoated, harassed, evicted from their homeland and murdered,” Lawler said in a floor speech before the vote.

“The Jewish people need our support now,” he said. “They need action now.”

Republicans are seeking to launch investigations into antisemitism on college campuses in response to the pro-Palestinian protests. The current version of the legislation was introduced in late October after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel but not brought to the floor until this week.

“When I spoke at Columbia last week, I told administrators that we need deeds, not words, to protect Jewish students,” Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., a co-author of the legislation, said in a statement Wednesday. “This bill is a critical step to take the action we so desperately need to stand against hate.”

In a letter Monday to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., wrote that “there is nothing scheduled on the floor this week that would accomplish the concrete, thoughtful strategies outlined by the Biden administration” to combat antisemitism.

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