Florida Rep. Vern Buchanan (R) is answering the call for greater action to combat anti-Semitism, and to honor the 75th anniversary of Auschwitz’s liberation, he’s started the week by passing the ’Never Again’ Holocaust Education Bill.
The bill would provide federal grants that would provide resources for teachers, so they can train students to learn important lessons of the Holocaust.
A 2018 Jewish Telegraphic Agency survey reported that 22 percent of U.S. millennials have not heard of the Holocaust. And, if they haven’t heard of it, they’re unsure of the horrible atrocities that were committed.
In a statement, Rep. Buchanan commented that “as we honor the liberation of Auschwitz today, it’s vital to recognize that anti-Semitism is not only alive but growing in the U.S. and Europe.” He added that “this cannot be allowed to continue and must be met with strong action.”
Rep. Buchanan is a member of bipartisan Congressional taskforce whose aim is to combat anti-Semitism, which experienced a rise in 2018. According to the Anti-Defamation League, there were 1,879 recorded attacks against Jewish institutions and Jewish people. It marked the third-highest year on record since the ADL began recording information in the 1970s.
Moreover, Buchanan is a co-sponsor of the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act, which calls for the Department of Education to clarify and update the definition of anti-Semitism. This would allow colleges to more easily investigate and combat reports of anti-Semitism.
