S. 558 — Antisemitism Awareness Act of 2025

This section expresses the sense of Congress that (1) Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin in programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance; (2) such protections apply to individuals facing discrimination based on actual or perceived shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics, even if they share a common religion; (3) discrimination against Jews based on race, color, national origin, or actual or perceived shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics violates Title VI; (4) it is U.S. policy to enforce Title VI against antisemitism-based discrimination as vigorously as against other prohibited forms; and (5) as noted in the U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism (May 25, 2023), it is critical to increase awareness of antisemitism, improve safety for Jewish communities, reverse its normalization, and expand inter-community collaboration.

This section states congressional findings on the rise of antisemitism in the United States, particularly impacting Jewish students in K–12 schools, colleges, and universities; the value of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism as a tool for identifying antisemitism; its use by the Department of Education since 2018 and pursuant to Executive Order 13899 (December 11, 2019) in enforcing title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; the impairment caused by alternative definitions; and the U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism (May 25, 2023).

This section defines antisemitism for purposes of this Act as the definition adopted on May 26, 2016, by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA)—of which the United States is a member and which has been adopted by the Department of State—including the contemporary examples identified in that definition.

This section directs the Department of Education, when reviewing, investigating, or deciding title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 violations (i.e., prohibiting race, color, or national origin discrimination in federally funded programs) based on an individual's actual or perceived shared Jewish ancestry or ethnic characteristics, to consider the definition of antisemitism in assessing whether the practice was motivated by antisemitic intent.

This section establishes rules of construction clarifying that nothing in the Act may be construed (1) to expand the authority of the Secretary of Education; (2) to alter the standards used by the Department of Education to determine that harassing conduct amounts to actionable discrimination; or (3) to diminish or infringe upon rights protected under other laws in effect as of the date of enactment. The section further clarifies that nothing in the Act may be construed to diminish or infringe upon rights protected under the First Amendment to the Constitution.