A bipartisan push to create legislation aimed at securing Jewish institutions and fighting antisemitism is proceeding through the House, following the failure of the Antisemitism Awareness Act to pass the Senate last year despite support from Jewish groups.

Introduced by Reps. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) and Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) Wednesday, the proposed companion bill to the Senate’s Jewish American Security Act will accomplish the following:

• The bill will increase funding to $1 billion for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which provides funds to secure institutions, and will extend that funding to Jewish institutions and law enforcement.
• The Department of Education will appoint an antisemitism coordinator.
• The bill will force social media platforms to account for their online management of antisemitism.

Jewish groups threw their support behind the bill, joining Lawler and Goldman at a press conference in Washington, D.C., with representatives from such well-known organizations as the Anti-Defamation League, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs and the American Jewish Committee.

CEO and president of the Jewish Federations of North America Eric Fingerhut expressed his support for the bill in a statement.

“Jewish communities across the United States are facing a real and growing security crisis, and the federal government has a responsibility to ensure that all Americans can gather, worship, and live openly and safely as who they are,” he said.

Goldman pointed to the car-ramming attack against Temple Israel in Detroit, Mich., last March to explain the importance of the bill, saying that it should not be the responsibility of synagogues to pay for their own security.

“We should not have to pay a Jewish tax to be able to go to synagogue, and this will not only increase the funding, but it also expands the range of areas that can be funded by the Nonprofit Security Grant to include, very clearly, security personnel and other types of security that have not currently been included and that are now clearly essential,” he said.

Lawler concurred, pointing out that he never has to worry about security at his church.

“I can walk into my church without passing a security guard stationed outside,” the Catholic lawmaker said. “Jewish Americans don’t have that luxury, and it’s outrageous, and it should anger each and every one of us.”