Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) led 61 of his colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives in reintroducing the Holocaust Education and Antisemitism Lessons (HEAL) Act to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Monday.
The bill instructs the director of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum to report to Congress on the status of Holocaust education throughout America, including identifying which states call for teaching about the Shoah in their curricula and describing the quality of that education.
Currently, 29 states require Holocaust education in their curricula, according to Echoes and Reflections, a Holocaust education nonprofit.
Gottheimer, who is Jewish, pointed to the global rise in Jew-hatred as demonstrating the need for more education about the Shoah.
“We cannot—and we must not—ever ignore the stunning rise in antisemitism and Holocaust denial—across Europe, around the world, and increasingly, here at home in the United States, including the violent, antisemitic attacks we have experienced in my own home state of New Jersey and around the country,” he stated. “The mounting evidence that knowledge about the Holocaust is beginning to fade should also alarm us all.”
Co-sponsors of the bipartisan bill include Reps. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.), Michael McCaul (R-Texas), Haley Stevens (D-Mich.), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Penn.) and Young Kim (R-Calif.).
The bill also has the endorsement of 16 Jewish organizations, including the Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee, B’nai Brith International, Jewish Federations of North America, the Orthodox Union and the Zionist Organization of America.
“Holocaust education is not just about preserving history; it fosters empathy, underscores the fragility of democracy, teaches about the role of antisemitism as Nazi ideology and the importance of bearing witness,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, the ADL’s CEO and national director.
Previous versions of the bill were introduced in the House and Senate but not voted on.
