H.R. 4087 — Define to Defeat Act of 2025

This section states congressional findings on the prevalence of antisemitism in the United States—recognizing Jews as a targeted minority with rising hate incidents—and the value of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism as an objective, widely adopted standard that enhances enforcement, awareness, and policymaking (while noting it is non-exhaustive).

This section requires the head of each federal department or agency to include the definition of antisemitism under section 7 in any anti-discrimination training and education materials or modules made available by the department or agency.

This section requires each federal department and agency, in reviewing, investigating, or deciding potential violations of covered civil rights laws on the basis of race, religion, color, ethnicity, or national origin due to an individual's actual or perceived connection to an aspect of Jewish identity, to consider whether the violation was motivated, in whole or in part, by antisemitism.

This section provides rules of construction clarifying that nothing in the Act may be construed (1) to expand the authority of the head of any federal department or agency to enforce or implement a covered civil rights law, (2) to alter the standards for determining violations of such a law, or (3) to diminish rights protected under other laws in effect on the date of enactment. The section further specifies that nothing in the Act may be construed to diminish or infringe First Amendment rights.

This section defines, for purposes of the Act, (1) "antisemitism" as having the meaning given by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance on May 26, 2016, including the examples set forth therein; and (2) "covered civil rights law" to include Title I of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10301 et seq.), Titles II, III, IV, VI, or VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000a et seq.), Section 1977 of the Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1981), the Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974 (20 U.S.C. 1701–1758), and 18 U.S.C. 249 (i.e., the federal hate crimes statute prohibiting willful bodily injury motivated by bias against protected characteristics).