Washington, D.C. — The Orthodox Union Advocacy Center (OUA) endorsed the Jewish American Security Act (JASA), new bipartisan legislation introduced by Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and James Lankford (R-OK) to tackle the growing wave of antisemitic violence and threats.

The Jewish American Security Act is a comprehensive bill to strengthen federal efforts to combat antisemitism. Perhaps most importantly, the bill would dramatically boost funding for FEMA’s Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP) to $1 billion — in line with what OU Advocacy has requested.

“OU Advocacy strongly supports the Jewish American Security Act,” said OUA Executive Director Nathan Diament. “The unprecedented wave of antisemitism demands an unprecedented response by our government, including $1 billion for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program that helps religious nonprofits protect their communal buildings. We thank Senators Lankford and Rosen for their leadership on this legislation and look forward to working with them and other allies to have it enacted into law.”

Bill Summary:

• Creates an Antisemitism Coordinator at the Department of Education
• Requires recipients of federal financial assistance from the Department of Education to appoint Title VI Coordinators, establish nondiscrimination policies, and create grievance processes to better handle antisemitic incidents
• Establishes a Title VI Clearinghouse at the Department of Education to collect and share best practices and recommendations from U.S. postsecondary institutions to the benefit of all U.S.-based academic institutions
• Mandates the disaggregation of higher education hate crime data to provide a clearer understanding of which students are experiencing hate
• Directs the Department of Education to conduct Title VI awareness campaigns, offer Title VI training to regional offices of their Office for Civil Rights, and remind recipients of federal financial assistance of their responsibilities under Title VI as it relates to antisemitism

Securing Jewish Communities Authorizes

• $1 billion for FEMA’s Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP) to meet the enormous need of the moment
• Requires a series of reforms to NSGP to improve the program, including to allow the usage of funds for security personnel; to streamline applications; to improve coordination with states; to better clarify uses for funds and allowable costs; to ensure neutral administration; and to increase transparency
• Directs the Attorney General to create a new policing program to support houses of worship
• Mandates the interagency to produce an annual domestic threat assessment and an annual antisemitic transnational violent extremism threat assessment

Documenting Antisemitism Online

• Requires large online platforms to publish transparency reports every 180 days on antisemitic activity on their platforms, the steps they are taking to address this content, and other disclosures to provide critical, missing data on the scourge of antisemitism online
• Failure to publish these reports would be treated as violations under the Federal Trade Commission
• Directs the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and Homeland Security to provide an annual report to Congress on online antisemitism