Legislation that would allow federally mandated “antisemitism monitors” to be installed on specific college campuses will be introduced in republican policy. The bill, titled” College Oversight and Legal Updates Mandating Bias Investigations and Accountability Act– or COLUMBIA Act,” was introduced by representatives Ritchie Torres ( D- NY ) and Mike Lawler ( R- NY).
The proposed legislation would require the Department of Education to deliver a” third-party hatred check” to schools that receive federal funding and assess” the development that a college or university has made in the fight against racism.”
If universities do n’t agree, money may be revoked.
In a declaration, Torres said,” My business and I have spoken with many Jewish students from schools across America who feel deeply unwelcome, solely because of their religious and racial identity.”
Anti- Israel rallies have erupted at various U. S. universities, most importantly at Columbia University, where many protesters have already been arrested.
According to Just The News, the school’s president decided to move groups online on Monday to protect Jewish learners despite the prosecutions, and protests resumed despite the prosecutions. The college president backed down each time after setting timelines for the outposts to be removed, claiming that discussions with the protesters were ongoing.
The activists claimed they had reached an impasse in the conversations on Friday and planned to keep their camp until their demands were satisfied, namely that the school cut all economic relations to Israel, according to The Associated Press.
Rep. Thomas Massie ( R- KY ) is against the legislation, arguing that it is unconstitutional:
On the social media platform X, Massie wrote,” Some of my colleagues are introducing legislation to create federally sanctioned’antisemitism monitors’ at colleges.”  ,” 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”.
