Bipartisan Legislation Would Establish First-Ever National Coordinator to Counter Antisemitism, Tasked With Overseeing Interagency Task Force
WASHINGTON DC – U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) led a group of Senate and House Republicans and Democrats in introducing the bipartisan Countering Antisemitism Act to take historic action to counter antisemitism in the United States. While antisemitism has been on the rise in the U.S. for years, it has skyrocketed since the terrorist attack on Israel launched by Hamas on October 7, 2023. In the three months following the October 7 attack, ADL found there had been a 360 percent increase in antisemitic attacks in the U.S. as compared to the same period the year before. Senator Rosen’s bipartisan legislation would take comprehensive action to strengthen efforts to combat antisemitism in America, including by establishing a first-ever National Coordinator to Counter Antisemitism, who would oversee federal efforts to counter domestic antisemitism and lead an interagency task force to implement the U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism and future government strategies.
NBC News: Bipartisan group of lawmakers to introduce bill targeting antisemitism
By Julie Tsirkin
Key Points:
- A bipartisan group of lawmakers is looking to address concerns among American Jews that antisemitism is on the rise six months after Hamas’ deadly, surprise Oct. 7 attack on Israel and the subsequent Israeli invasion of Gaza.
- Led by Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., the group introducing the Combating Antisemitism Act on Wednesday aims to tackle discrimination by creating a dedicated position within the White House to advise the president and implement its coordinated strategy to combat the rise of antisemitism, according to text of the legislation first shared with NBC News.
- “Antisemitism has been dramatically rising in the United States in the last several years and skyrocketed in the months since the horrific October 7 terror attack on Israel,” Rosen, the third Jewish woman and first former synagogue president ever to serve in the U.S. Senate, said in a statement. “My bipartisan legislation would establish a National Coordinator to Counter Anti Semitism for the first time ever, and take other much-needed steps across the federal government to fight anti-Jewish hatred, bigotry, and violence in the United States.”
- Under the legislation, the national coordinator would help implement the landmark plan, which outlined over 100 steps that federal agencies have committed to taking since the strategy was released by the White House last May. The coordinator would serve as the president’s key adviser to counter domestic antisemitism and would chair a new task force to coordinate the implementation of the plan across agencies.
CNN: Senators introduce bill to address antisemitism and create federal coordinator
By Nicole Chavez
Key Points:
- A bipartisan pair of senators have introduced legislation aimed at strengthening federal efforts to counter antisemitism.
- Under the legislation, the President would appoint a federal coordinator to oversee efforts to counter domestic antisemitism and create an interagency task force to coordinate the implementation of federal strategies, according to a text of the bill shared with CNN.
- “My bipartisan legislation would establish a National Coordinator to Counter Antisemitism for the first time ever, and take other much-needed steps across the federal government to fight anti-Jewish hatred, bigotry, and violence in the United States,” Rosen said in a statement.
- “There have been countless disturbing stories of Jewish families accosted and assaulted on streets, Jewish businesses and places of worship vandalized and desecrated, and Jewish students threatened at colleges and universities,” Rosen said.
- Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, described the bill as “the most far-reaching antisemitism initiative ever to be introduced in Congress.” The group said it is launching a campaign to gain congressional support for the bill’s passage.
The Hill: Bipartisan group of lawmakers introduce bill targeting antisemitism
By Nick Robertson
Key Points:
- A bipartisan group of Senators and Representatives introduced a pair of bills Wednesday to counter antisemitism, calling for a federal interagency task force against the hate.
- Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) and James Lankford (R-Okla.) led the Senate’s Countering Antisemitism Act, while Reps. Kathy Manning (D-N.C.), Chris Smith (R-N.J.), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), and Randy Weber (R-Texas) brought forward a House version.
- “Antisemitism has been dramatically rising in the United States in the last several years and skyrocketed in the months since the horrific October 7 terror attack on Israel,” Rosen, who is herself Jewish, said in a statement. “There have been countless disturbing stories of Jewish families accosted and assaulted on streets, Jewish businesses and places of worship vandalized and desecrated, and Jewish students threatened at colleges and universities.”
- “My bipartisan legislation would establish a National Coordinator to Counter Antisemitism for the first time ever, and take other much-needed steps across the federal government to fight anti-Jewish hatred, bigotry, and violence in the United States,” she added.
Jewish Insider: Bipartisan bill would create dedicated White House antisemitism coordinator
By Marc Rod
Key Points:
- In January 2021, the State Department’s special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, tasked with tackling antisemitism abroad, was elevated to the rank of ambassador. A year ago, the Biden White House unveiled the country’s first-ever national strategy to combat antisemitism.
- Now, with incidents of antisemitism running at historic levels in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks in Israel, a bipartisan bill introduced on Wednesday would, for the first time, create an official administration position dedicated specifically to combating antisemitism at home, as well as new structures and procedures at various federal agencies.The bill is being sponsored by Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and James Lankford (R-OK) in the Senate, and Reps. Manning, Randy Weber (R-TX), Chris Smith (R-NJ), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Grace Meng (D-NY), Marc Veasey (D-TX) and Ted Lieu (D-CA) in the House. All of the bill’s original cosponsors are co-chairs of the task forces. The Anti-Defamation League, American Jewish Committee, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and Jewish Federations of North America are supporting the bill.
Jerusalem Post: Members of Congress introduce bill calling for coordinated federal efforts to counter antisemitism
By Hannah Sarisohn
Key Points:
- A group of bipartisan, bicameral members of Congress will introduce the “Countering Antisemitism Act” on Wednesday, which aims to increase federal efforts from the White House to the Department of Education to tackle the rise in antisemitism across the country.
- Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV), who spearheaded the bill, said in a statement that since October 7 there have been countless disturbing stories of Jewish families accosted and assaulted on streets, Jewish businesses and places of worship vandalized and desecrated and Jewish students threatened at colleges and universities.
- “My bipartisan legislation would establish a National Coordinator to Counter Antisemitism for the first time ever and take other much-needed steps across the federal government to fight anti-Jewish hatred, bigotry, and violence in the United States,” Rosen said.
JNS: Jewish groups laud bipartisan bill calling for national coordinator countering Jew-hatred
Key Points:
- Two senators and four congressmen, from both sides of the aisle, introduced legislation this week calling for the creation of a national coordinator to counter antisemitism who would run an interagency task force.
- “Antisemitism has been dramatically rising in the United States in the last several years and skyrocketed in the months since the horrific Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel,” said Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), who introduced the Countering Antisemitism Act with Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) and with Reps. Kathy Manning (D-N.C.), Chris Smith (R-N.J.), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) and Rep. Randy Weber (R-Texas).
- “There have been countless disturbing stories of Jewish families accosted and assaulted on streets, Jewish businesses and places of worship vandalized and desecrated, and Jewish students threatened at colleges and universities,” Rosen stated.
KOLO Reno: Rosen helps introduce bill that would create national coordinator to counter antisemitism
By Kevin Sheridan
Key Points:
- U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen is one of four other colleagues introducing a bill that would create a national coordinator to counter antisemitism.
- She, Senator James Lankford (R-OK), and Representatives Kathy Manning (D-NC), Chris Smith (R-NJ), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), and Randy Weber (R-TX) introduced the Countering Antisemitism Act.
- Rosen cited data from the Anti-Defamation League that shows a 360% spike in antisemitism since Hamas’ Oct. 7 on Israel.
Reporter: “Well, this bill would do a lot. And it really is a monumental piece of legislation from a bipartisan group in the House and Senate, led by Jacky Rosen. She is one of the first Jewish women to serve in the Senate. So, certainly, this has symbolic meaning for her. But this bill would create a point person, essentially a strategic adviser to the president of any administration. This doesn’t just tap out with President Biden. It’s supposed to be a role in which this person advises inner agencies, has coordination, not only with the federal government but also the Department of Education, for example, when it comes to antisemitism in higher education. Also coming out with a strategy and implementing that plan online as well. Chris, nine in ten Jewish Americans feel like antisemitism is the highest it’s ever been. That’s according to a new Pew Research poll from last week. This is something that of course has bubbled over after the October 7th Hamas attack on Israel and Israel’s invasion of Gaza since that has claimed many lives.”
KSNV Las Vegas: Rosen introduces bipartisan bill to take historic action to counter antisemitism in the U.S.
Reporter: “Jacky Rosen is joining together with a bipartisan group to fight antisemitism across the country. So we are watching live there in our Capitol, at the Capitol where Rosen, who is Jewish, is leading this coalition here. And reporters in DC are saying it’s called the Combating Antisemitism Act. So Rosen is leading the charge here, and they’re looking to address concerns among American Jews that antisemitism is on the rise right now, six months after Hamas’ deadly surprise October 7th terror attack on Israel and the Israeli invasion of Gaza that followed. So, I’m digging in a little bit here because the bill aims to tackle discrimination. They want to create a dedicated position in the White House to advise the president, implement coordinated strategy to combat the rise of antisemitism.”
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