The HEAL Act requires an audit of Holocaust education programs nationwide, and amassed significant support in the previous congressional session
A bipartisan group of more than 60 House lawmakers is set to reintroduce the HEAL Act, a bipartisan bill examining Holocaust education efforts across the country.
The bill was first introduced at the end of the 2022 congressional session, and reintroduced in 2023, with bipartisan companion legislation in the Senate. The House Education and Workforce Committee incorporated key provisions of the bill into other Holocaust education legislation last year, but the bill never passed the full House. It ultimately amassed 184 sponsors in the House and 11 in the Senate.
The bill, whose title is an acronym for the Holocaust Education and Antisemitism Lessons Act, is led by Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), joined by Reps. Dan Goldman (D-NY), Michael McCaul (R-TX), Haley Stevens (D-MI), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Young Kim (R-CA), and has 56 other co-sponsors.
The legislation, which is set to be reintroduced on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, requires the director of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum to conduct an audit of Holocaust education programs nationwide, including in which states Holocaust education is required, the curricula and standards used and other information, and report to Congress on the results.
According to a press release from the bill’s sponsors, 29 states currently require Holocaust education, while 21 do not have comprehensive or mandatory Holocaust education, even at a time of increasing antisemitism and when studies have shown that knowledge of the Holocaust is fading, particularly among younger generations.
The legislation’s sponsors said that the bill would help identify lapses in Holocaust education across the country and ways it can be improved, and ensure that every student learns about the Holocaust.
Gottheimer said in a statement that the legislation is critical at this moment. “We cannot — and we must not — ever ignore the stunning rise in antisemitism and Holocaust denial — across Europe, around the world, and increasingly, here at home in the United States, including the violent, antisemitic attacks we have experienced in my own home state of New Jersey and around the country.”
He added, “The mounting evidence that knowledge about the Holocaust is beginning to fade should also alarm us all,” and that education can help “heal our communities” and ensure that “‘Never Again’ is not just a phrase, but a reality.”
Fitzpatrick said the “alarming increase in antisemitic rhetoric and violence” at schools “serves as a serious warning about the dangers of allowing history’s most important lessons to fade away.” He said that the Holocaust has “too often been minimized or overlooked in education,” leaving young people “ill-equipped to recognize and confront the insidious forces of hatred and bigotry that threaten our society.”
Stevens said, “The only way to ensure the horrors of the Holocaust are never repeated, is through education, especially given the recent dramatic rise in antisemitism.” She added, “Every student … must learn about this period of history so those who perished are never forgotten and this evil may never happen again.”
Kim called the rising antisemitism seen on college campuses a reminder of “the dire need to ensure the horrors of the Holocaust are taught and stories are passed down for future generations. We cannot allow history to repeat itself.”
McCaul said his father “fought in World War II to end the scourge of antisemitism, and it is now our responsibility to ensure it does not return. With antisemitic incidents on the rise across the nation, it’s imperative that we improve Holocaust education and remind our youth about the horrors of antisemitism.”
A host of Jewish organizations from a range of political and religious orientations are supporting the legislation, including the Anti-Defamation League, American Jewish Committee, B’nai Brith International, Combat Antisemitism Movement, Jewish Federations of North America, Jewish Women International, Orthodox Union, Agudath Israel, National Council of Jewish Women, Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey, Hadassah, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Jewish Council for Public Affairs, Zionist Organization of America and the Union for Reform Judaism.
First-term lawmakers who have joined as co-sponsors of the bill include Reps. Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ), Laura Gillen (D-NY), Sarah McBride (D-DE) and Laura Friedman (D-CA).
