Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., and Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., want the federal government to do more to fight antisemitism at college campuses amid a surge of anti-Israel protests.
Torres and Lawler will introduce the College Oversight and Legal Updates Mandating Bias Investigations and Accountability (COLUMBIA) Act, which would allow the Department of Education to impose a third-party monitor for antisemitic activity on any campus receiving federal funding, according to Jewish Insider.
The legislation comes as anti-Israel protests have engulfed Columbia University, leading to dozens of arrests, and forcing in-person classes to be canceled. Protests have erupted at other campuses, including Emory University, the University of Southern California, and the University of Texas-Austin.
Schools that do not cooperate with the monitoring could lose federal funding, according to Jewish Insider.
The monitor would release quarterly public reports on the progress schools have made in addressing antisemitism and provide recommendations to lawmakers and officials, according to Jewish Insider. The monitors would be appointed by the Department of Education and paid for by the schools being monitored, Jewish Insider said.
"Campus antisemitism is at an all-time high, and American universities are not capable of handling it when left to their own devices," Torres said in a statement to Jewish Insider. "The federal government cannot allow this to continue unchecked."
Torres told Jewish Insider that Jewish students feel abandoned by university administrators.
The House will vote next week on the Antisemitism Awareness Act of 2023, another bill proposed by Lawler, that aims to address the growing prevalence of antisemitism at educational institutions.
Central to the House bill is the adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's definition of antisemitism by the Department of Education for enforcement in fighting discrimination on campuses nationwide.