Thirty-three House Democrats joined all but two Republicans on Sept. 3 to pass a bill that would strip federal student aid from colleges and universities that commercially boycott Israel.
The Protect Economic and Academic Freedom Act (HR 4795) passed 237–169.
The bill was written by Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), chairwoman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, and Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.).
It will now head to the Senate.
The bill would amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require colleges to certify that they are not participating in what the legislation calls a nonexpressive commercial boycott of Israel, defined as refusing to deal with or terminating business with the country or Israeli-regulated entities without a valid business reason. …