Oppose H.R. 6421/s. 10, the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act of 2016

On December 5, 2016, the ACLU sent a letter to the House of Representatives opposing H.R. 6421/S. 10, the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act of 2016. The Senate passed its version of the bill on December 1 by unanimous consent, without a hearing or substantive deliberation. The bill poses a serious threat to the First Amendment free speech rights of those on campus who may hold certain political views. Because the bill has received no hearing and no substantive deliberation, we urged Members of Congress to demand that the appropriate committees of jurisdiction examine the bill’s merits before the full House considers the bill. In the event that does not occur, we also urged Members to oppose H.R. 6421/S. 10 unless its free speech deficiencies are eliminated from the bill.