Two New York representatives are considering a bill that would send “antisemitism monitors” to visit college and university campuses that receive federal funding.
Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) and Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) are set to introduce the College Oversight and Legal Updates Mandating Bias Investigations and Accountability (COLUMBIA) Act, according to Jewish Insider.
Under the bill, the Department of Education would be allowed to send a third-party antisemitism monitor, paid for by the colleges and universities, to university and college campuses that receive funding from the federal government.
The antisemitism monitor would publish a quarterly report regarding how universities and colleges have addressed antisemitism on campuses and would also make recommendations to federal, state, and local lawmakers.
Schools that do not cooperate would potentially be faced with losing federal funding.
“As we have seen over the last half a year since October 7, 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.
The Antisemitism Awareness Act will help put a stop to the antisemitic intimidation of Jewish students on campus once and for all. I’m glad this bipartisan legislation will be coming up for a vote next week and I urge all my colleagues to support it. pic.twitter.com/G5mrBYPFnv
— Congressman Mike Lawler (@RepMikeLawler) April 26, 2024
Last Wednesday, an anti-Israel encampment was established on the lawn of Columbia University. Since then, anti-Israel encampments and protests have spread to campuses such as Yale University, New York University, Harvard University, George Washington University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Since the protests and encampments have started, students have been suspended, protesters have been arrested, and graduation ceremonies have been canceled.
Torres added that the encampment at Columbia University was not “an isolated incident” and added that it was “the straw that has broken the camel’s back – and I am prepared to do something about it.”
The New York lawmaker continued:
Jewish students have told my office that they feel completely abandoned by their university administrators and they view Congress as the only avenue for accountability and safety.
On October 7, 2023, terrorists from Hamas, a U.S.-designated Islamic terror group, attacked Israel by land, sea, and air, leaving 1,200 people dead and more than 200 people taken as hostages.
In the aftermath of this attack, Israel launched a self-defense operation in the Hamas-controlled territory of Gaza.
Antisemitic incidents rose 360% in the United States in the three months after Hamas’s attack, according to a January report released by the Anti-Defamation League.