{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=415820", "House reaffirms U.S. support for IsraelSmith backs the Protect Economic and Academic Freedom Act of 2026, stands up for Jewish- and Israeli-American students", "2026-09-03", "2026", "2026-09", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher H. Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", "chrissmith", "https://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentquery.aspx", "scraper", "With Rep. Chris Smith\u2019s (R-NJ) full support and vote, the U.S. House of Representatives today passed the Protect Economic and Academic Freedom Act of 2026 (HR 4795).\n\nHR 4795 blocks federal higher education funding for U.S. colleges and universities that engage in non-expressive commercial boycotts\u2014defined as \u201ccommercial action[s] (including engaging in refusals to deal and terminating business activities) that [are] intended to limit commercial relations\u2026 and [are] not based on a valid business reason\u201d\u2014of Israel, a major strategic partner, and/or prohibit students and faculty from participating in academic programs or exchanges with Israel.\n\n\u201cDespite being a strong ally of the United States, Israel has been unfairly maligned and discriminated against by many of our colleges and universities, who have engaged in non-expressive commercial boycotts of Israel and sought to undermine partnerships with Israeli institutions of higher learning,\u201d said Smith, the Co-Chair of the House Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism.\n\n\u201cHR 4795, which I am proud to support, takes concrete actions to ensure that U.S. funding is not misused to advance and underwrite antisemitism, especially on our college campuses,\u201d continued Smith.\n\n\u201cMany recent actions taken by U.S. colleges and universities towards Israel\u2014including commercial boycotts and the removal of academic programs and opportunities in the country\u2014have created a culture of hostility on our campuses, fanning the flames of antisemitism and putting Jewish-American students at risk.\n\n\u201cThis critical legislation stands up for Jewish- and Israeli-American students, sending a strong message that the United States will no longer subsidize colleges or universities that engage in antisemitic or discriminatory practices against a leading strategic partner, Israel,\u201d Smith concluded.\n\n###", 1, "2026-09-04T09:19:37Z", "2026-09-04T09:20:58Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=415820"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8300831541419029, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}