Reps. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) and Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) plan to introduce the College Oversight and Legal Updates Mandating Bias Investigations and Accountability (COLUMBIA) Act, the congressmen told Jewish Insider.
The bill “would empower the federal Department of Education to impose a third-party antisemitism monitor on any college or university receiving federal funding,” Lawler stated.
“The monitor would be appointed by the secretary of education, the terms and conditions of the monitorship would be set by the secretary and the expenses of the monitorship would be paid by the particular college or university that has been selected for monitorship,” he said. “Failure to comply with the monitorship would result in the loss of federal funds.”
The monitor would release a public “online quarterly report, evaluating in detail the progress that a college or university has made toward combating antisemitism on campus and issuing policy recommendations to Congress, the secretary and state and local regulators as needed,” Lawler added.
“As we have seen over the last half a year since Oct. 7, campus antisemitism is at an all-time high, and American universities are not capable of handling it when left to their own devices,” Torres stated.
