Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) and James Lankford (R-Okla.), co-chairs of the Senate task force on fighting Jew-hatred, introduced the Jewish American Security Act, which would increase security funding for houses of worship, on Tuesday.
If passed, the bill would raise Nonprofit Security Grant Program funding to $1 billion amid growing security needs, in the wake of violent, antisemitic acts across the country, which have left some communities vulnerable, including at Jewish community centers, day schools and nonprofits.
All religious institutions are eligible for the funding.
“Jewish Americans are being targeted, attacked and killed simply because of who they are,” Rosen stated. “This alarming trend demands a comprehensive, bipartisan approach that addresses both the seeds and the impacts of this vile hatred.”
“From social media to college campuses, we’ve seen how this bigotry manifests into real-world violence against Jews,” she added. “That’s why we must take concrete steps to understand the extent of antisemitism, both online and offline, and ensure that Jewish communities have access to robust security resources and government protections.”
Lankford lamented that U.S. Jews “have faced an unprecedented surge in antisemitism—Jewish students targeted on campuses, synagogues vandalized, people attacked in the streets simply for their faith.”
“That is not who we are as a nation,” he stated. “We unequivocally condemn antisemitism in all its forms. Every American deserves to live their faith freely, and that is worth fighting for.”
The Jewish Federations of North America, one of many Jewish groups to back the bill, hosted a press conference with Rosen in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing room on Tuesday to introduce the legislation alongside members and officials from synagogues affected by terror attacks.
Rosen said that the legislative path to passing the bill was “not going to be easy.”
One feature of the legislation sought by Jewish groups that might prove difficult for fiscal hawks in Congress is that it removes restrictions on how much of the funding can go towards hiring security guards, as opposed to the physical security improvements that the grant program was originally designed to support.
Eric Fingerhut, president and CEO of the Federation, told JNS that the government’s security spending requirements would be far greater had the Hezbollah-inspired terrorist who rammed an explosive-laden car into Temple Israel of West Bloomfield, Mich., in March succeeded in killing scoring of Jews.
“Over time, the members of the Congress, both houses, both parties, are going to understand that this is a cost that is not only affordable but absolutely a necessary investment,” Fingerhut said.
“If it wasn’t for those inches that kept the truck from getting to those 123 children, we would be in a different country today,” he told JNS. “We would be spending what it takes to protect our people and our places of worship. Let’s not wait for that to happen.”
Jen Lader, senior rabbi at Temple Israel, was among the speakers at the press conference announcing the legislation, alongside Zach Shemper, president of the Beth Israel Congregation of Jackson, Miss., which was set on fire in an attack in January.
The Anti-Defamation League stated that the legislation comes at a pivotal time, with its data showing a record-high 203 antisemitic assaults against American Jews last year. More than 30 of those incidents involved a deadly weapon, and three people were killed.
Antisemitic incidents were recorded at a daily rate of 17, more than twice the average between 2020 and 2022.
College campus Jew-hatred dropped slightly from 2024 but remained above historical trends.
Nathan Diament, executive director of the Orthodox Union Advocacy Center, stated that the OU “strongly supports the Jewish American Security Act.”
“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,” he said.
The new bill would require every regional civil rights office at the U.S. Education Department to provide five years of annual anti-discrimination training to federally funded recipients.
It would also be called upon to launch a public awareness campaign explaining students’ rights and schools’ responsibilities under federal non-discrimination law, in Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
It would also create a dedicated Jew-hatred coordinator at the Education Department and other proactive measures for addressing antisemitism in K-12 schools.
The legislation authorizes the U.S. Justice Department to award grants to state and local law enforcement for increased protective patrols of religious institutions and for security training.
Social media platforms with at least 50 million active monthly U.S. users would be required to publish public, biannual transparency reports to the Federal Trade Commission, detailing their moderation practices and approaches to antisemitic content.
An annual congressional report promoting policy recommendations and identifying trends on the connection between online Jew-hatred and real-world violence would also be mandated.
Agudath Israel of America, which represents Charedim, among the most visible Jews and therefore the most targeted, endorsed the bill. “Jewish Americans face antisemitism wherever they turn: at school, at synagogue and even at home, thanks to the cesspool of unabashed antisemitism that is growing exponentially online,” stated Rabbi A.D. Motzen, national Agudah director of government affairs.
The new measure “addresses all of these forms of hate in one comprehensive bill and serves to be enacted by Congress as soon as possible,” he stated.
Ted Deutch, CEO of the American Jewish Committee, endorsed the legislation.
“We are at an inflection point. Surging antisemitism is not just a threat to the Jewish community,” he stated. “It is a crisis for our democracy and the values we cherish as Americans: pluralism, religious freedom and the promise of equal protection.”
Reps. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) and Chris Smith (R-N.J.) are expected to introduce companion legislation in the House.
