{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.scott.senate.gov/press-release/senator-scott-casey%E2%80%99s-bi-partisan-anti-semitism-awareness-act-passes-unanimously", "Senator Scott, Caseys Bi-partisan Anti-Semitism Awareness Act passes unanimously in the Senate", "2016-12-02", "2016", "2016-12", "Republican", "House", "SC", "Tim Scott", "S001184", "www.scott.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Senator Scott, Casey\u2019s Bi-partisan Anti-Semitism Awareness Act passes unanimously in the Senate               \r\n\r\n                  \r\n                    \r\n      \r\n      \r\n      \r\n                                                  \r\n              Dec 2, 2016                        \r\n                  \r\n        \r\n          \n    \n  \n    \n    \n    \nWASHINGTON, DC -\u00a0\u00a0Yesterday, the Senate unanimously passed the bipartisan Anti-Semitism Awareness Act, which was introduced by U.S. Senators Tim Scott (R-SC) and Bob Casey (D-PA) earlier this week. The legislation was initiated in response to the growing number of anti-Semitic incidents that have been reported on college campuses nationwide.\u00a0\nStatistics show there has been a sharp increase in religiously-motivated hate crimes, many specifically involving anti-Jewish sentiments. According to the Anti-Defamation League, in 2015 there were 90 anti-Semitic incidents that were reported across 60 college campuses, while in 2014 there were 47 incidents on 43 campuses.\u00a0\n\u201cThere is simply no place in our country for this kind of intolerance,\u201d said Scott. \u201cIt falls on us to stand up and do more to stamp out anti-Semitism and other forms of religious discrimination. We must hold to the ideals that our nation was founded on and promote freedom of religion. We must protect that freedom and encourage it.\u201d\n\u201cThe rise in incidents of religious discrimination and religiously-motivated hate crimes is completely unacceptable.\u00a0 We have to not only condemn it, but work to stop it,\u201d Senator Casey said. \u201cThis legislation is aimed at a particularly troubling manifestation of the growing problem of anti-Semitism: when anti-Semitic views lead to discrimination against students of Jewish faith or Jewish ancestry. I\u2019m pleased that this legislation moved forward and call on the House of Representatives to quickly send it to the President\u2019s desk.\u201d\u00a0\nIf passed and signed into law by the President, the U.S. Department of Education would be able to use the State Department\u2019s definition of what constitutes an anti-Semitic act to assist in investigating illegal discrimination on college campuses. The law is in no way intended to infringe on any individual right protected under the First Amendment of the Constitution.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "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://www.scott.senate.gov/press-release/senator-scott-casey%E2%80%99s-bi-partisan-anti-semitism-awareness-act-passes-unanimously"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7684738375246525, "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"}