Representative Randy Fine (R-FL) has introduced legislation combating the surge in antisemitism seen on college campuses ever since the October 7th, 2023, terror attack in Israel and ensuing war against Hamas.
Specifically, Rep. Fine's Preventing Antisemitic Harassment on Campus Act, which Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) introduced in the Senate, amends the Civil Rights Act of 1965 to include the prohibition of antisemitism in federally funded programs, with defunding a potential punishment for failure.
"In 2025, Jewish students should not be afraid to walk across a college campus, and I’m going to make sure that they’re not. At colleges like Haverford, university administrators coddled and encouraged the savages attacking these Jewish kids," said Rep. Fine in his press release, adding, "My legislation amends the Civil Rights Act to explicitly prohibit antisemitism in federally funded programs and strengthens the Higher Education Act of 1965 to enable crippling punishments on those woke colleges that do not comply. If colleges fail to address antisemitic discrimination, we will shut them down. I largely solved this problem in Florida with my colleagues in the state legislature, and after seeing Muslim terrorists run rampant in the other 49 states, I am proud to join Senator Scott to protect Jewish students nationwide."
Sen. Scott, the bill's Senate sponsor, said, "Following Iran-backed Hamas’s attack on Israel, we saw a drastic rise in antisemitic attacks in the United States with anti-Israel mobs taking over campuses, and we’ve seen an unacceptable failure from leadership at higher education institutions to take action to condemn these mobs and protect Jewish students."
"This week’s disturbing debacle at Columbia University is just one more example of pro-terror mobs blockading Jewish students from going to class and studying for finals, fearful of the violence this lawlessness presents. That can’t happen," Sen. Scott continued, adding, "President Trump is completely right to withhold federal funding from higher education institutions that refuse to enforce the law on their campuses and enable antisemitic hate to flourish, and I’m proud to join my colleague, Rep. Randy Fine, on this bill to build on the president’s efforts. These people must be held accountable."
