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.