After passing a $95 billion package last week that included assistance to Israel, Ukraine, the Indo-Pacific, and a bill with measures such as banning TikTok, Congress returns next week from a week-long break.
The House is scheduled to take up seven bills, with the most notable being legislation to combat anti-Semitism on college and university campuses, The Epoch Times has learned.
The Anti-Semitism Awareness Act, introduced by Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), would have the U.S. government adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism, which was in the executive order in applying the definition government-wide as the standard in dealing with anti-Semitic incidents, especially on college and university campuses. (The State Department adopted the definition on its own in 2016 under President Barack Obama.)
There are examples of anti-Semitism under the definition including hatred toward the Jewish state of Israel.
While Jews are technically considered a religious group, which Title VI does not cover, the bipartisan bill states that “discrimination against Jews may give rise to a violation of such title when the discrimination is based on race, color, or national origin, which can include discrimination based on actual or perceived shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics.”
The legislation would allow for colleges and universities to lose federal funding if they fail to address, or insufficiently address, anti-Semitism on their campuses.
The bill comes amid a wave of virulent anti-Semitism on campuses such as Columbia University, Harvard University, and Yale University.
Motion to Vacate?
Republicans have expressed frustration with House Speaker Mike Johnson, who succeeded former Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in October after the latter was stripped of the gavel following a successful motion to vacate.Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) filed a motion to vacate in March after Mr. Johnson put forth a $1.2 trillion bill to fund most of the government. At the time, she said the motion was a warning shot to the speaker.
“Mike Johnson’s speakership is over. He needs to do the right thing to resign and allow us to move forward in a controlled process. If he doesn’t do so, he will be vacated,” Ms. Greene told Fox News on April 21.
However, Democrats have said or suggested they would come to Mr. Johnson’s rescue if he put the package on the House floor.Senate Schedule to be Determined
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has not released a schedule for the upper congressional chamber.Mr. Schumer’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
But in a letter to colleagues on April 5, Mr. Schumer listed agenda items that the Senate has yet to take up.
This includes funding for the Port of Baltimore and the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which collapsed on March 26 when a container ship ran into it.
“It will take bipartisan cooperation for the Senate to act quickly to help reopen the Port of Baltimore, a major artery for commerce, and rebuild the Key Bridge as quickly as possible,” wrote Mr. Schumer.
The Biden administration has not given Congress a specific dollar amount, but has called on Congress to allocate funding to address the situation.
Finally, Mr. Schumer, in his letter, listed other goals including passing legislation dealing with internet safety for children; expanding the child tax credit, which expired at the end of 2021; cannabis banking; internet affordability; combating the fentanyl crisis; lowering the cost of prescription drugs such as insulin, capping that drug at $35; and rail safety in the aftermath of the 2023 East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment.
“There are many important, bipartisan issues this Congress could address this year, and I hope our Senate Republican colleagues don’t allow the ultra-right wing of their party to derail progress on these bipartisan bills,” he wrote.
