(The Center Square) – In a Republican-majority chamber, Democratic U.S. Rep. Kathy Manning of North Carolina is calling on her chamber’s leadership for a floor vote on legislation to counter antisemitism in America.
Manning filed the Countering Antisemitism Act on April 10 as encampments and protests connected to the Middle East war between Hamas and Israel escalated. Manning says 60 bipartisan cosponsors are in place, along with 61 national Jewish organizations in support.
She took to social media last week “calling on House leadership to bring the bill to the House floor for a vote.” It was parked in five committees, and a subcommittee of one, upon introduction and hasn’t moved since.
Manning, born to Jewish parents in Michigan just over 67 years ago about a decade after the Holocaust, is cochairwoman of the Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism.
Speaking on May 1 in support of her bill and another, the Antisemitism Awareness Act, she said, “We’ve witnessed an explosion of antisemitism across the country, particularly on college campuses, where Jewish students are being harassed, intimidated, and prevented from engaging in the full range of campus life. The antisemitism we are seeing goes well beyond campuses; it is in K-12 schools, online, and throughout society. Congress must do everything possible to counter this growing hatred.”
Manning’s proposal, however, has languished. The day of its introduction, it was referred to five committees in the chamber – Judiciary; Education and the Workforce; Homeland Security; Oversight and Accountability; and Transportation and Infrastructure. Homeland Security, the same day, referred it to a subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, and Intelligence.
Manning is on the Education and the Workforce panel, chaired by Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has sway on how long the bill stays with respective committees.
Within the bill, Manning proposes a requirement for the FBI, Department of Homeland Security, and the National Counterterrorism Center to “jointly produce an annual threat assessment of antisemitic violent extremism.” It also takes aim at discrimination in higher education, and seeks to establish within the White House a national coordinator to counter antisemitism, serving as the principal advisor to the president.
