Bipartisan legislation will be introduced to place federally sanctioned “antisemitism monitors” on certain college campuses. Representatives Ritchie Torres (D-NY) and Mike Lawler (R-NY) introduced the bill “College Oversight and Legal Updates Mandating Bias Investigations and Accountability Act – or COLUMBIA Act.”
The legislation would have the Department of Education send a “third-party antisemitism monitor” to colleges that receive federal funding and evaluate “the progress that a college or university has made toward combating antisemitism.”
If colleges don’t comply, funding will be revoked.
“My office and I have spoken with countless Jewish students from campuses across America who feel deeply unsafe, purely as a result of their religious and ethnic identity,” Torres said in a statement.
Anti-Israel protests have erupted at numerous U.S. colleges, most notably at Columbia University, where several protesters have already been arrested.
Just The News reports that despite the arrests, protests resumed and the university’s president decided to move classes online on Monday to protect Jewish students. After setting deadlines for the encampments to be removed, the university president backed down each time, saying that negotiations with the protesters were continuing.
However, the protesters said they had reached an impasse in the negotiations on Friday, and planned to keep their encampment until their demands are met, namely that the university cut all financial ties to Israel, according to The Associated Press.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) is against the legislation, arguing that it is unconstitutional:
“Some of my colleagues are introducing legislation to create federally sanctioned ‘antisemitism monitors’ at colleges,” Massie wrote on the social media platform, X. “I’ll vote No. Policing speech, religion, and assembly is not the role of the federal government. In fact it’s expressly prohibited by the U.S. Constitution.”
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Author: Sara Carter Staff
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