Jerusalem Post - 10.13.2004

Jerusalem Post

Congress passes anti-Semitism bill

By Janine Zacharia

The US House and Senate have approved a bill requiring the State Department to create a special office to monitor anti-Semitism worldwide, and to report on it in special sections of two reports submitted annually to Congress. 

The House approved the Global Anti-Semitism Review Act on Friday. The Senate approved it on Sunday, both by unanimous consent. US President George W. Bush has 10 days to sign the bill into law and is expected to do so even though the State Department originally opposed it. 

"It is unlikely the White House would come out against anti-Semitism legislation this close to the election," one congressional aide said. 

In July, a State Department official wrote to Rep. Tom Lantos (D-California), who proposed the main components of the new bill, saying a separate reporting requirement on anti-Semitism "could erode our credibility by being interpreted as favoritism in human rights reporting" and that it would be "inappropriate to create a stand-alone section for one group when so many others involving serious abuses are treated in this established manner, which demonstrates equal respects for all groups." 

An outraged Lantos, the only Holocaust survivor elected to Congress, sent a letter to Secretary of State Colin Powell urging him to disavow the comments of his employee. 

Earlier this year, the Senate approved a lighter version of the anti-Semitism legislation, put forth by Sen. George Voinovich of Ohio, which would have required a one-time report. The new version was approved after the House voted unanimously in favor of the more stringent requirements. 

"If the president signs it, we'll implement it," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Tuesday. "That's all I can tell you." "Our position is that we have been dealing consistently and thoroughly with the issue of anti-Semitism," Boucher added. 

Jewish groups welcomed the bill's passage. "Enactment of this law will provide an additional tool for the United States to continue its leadership efforts to hold governments accountable for failures, but also to encourage and note progress. As more governments take responsibility, strong US reporting on anti-Semitism as a human rights and religious freedom issue is vitally important," the Anti-Defamation League said in a statement. 

NCSJ, an advocacy group on behalf of Jews in Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic states, and Eurasia, also welcomed the bill's passage, as did the David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies, which in September initiated a letter to Powell, signed by 100 former US officials, writers, artists, and academics, protesting the State Department's opposition to the special reporting requirement and the office. 

Lantos said, "Passing a robust measure to reverse the growth of global anti-Semitism has been an uphill battle this year in Congress. Despite that, I am pleased that we have managed to produce a very good bill before the gavel falls on this year's session. Now it is up to President Bush to follow through on this bipartisan effort to combat hatred of Jews around the world."