BUSH SIGNS BILL TO MONITOR GLOBAL ANTI-SEMITISM

Bush inks Jewish bill by Lantos
Washington -- President Bush has sided with Rep. Tom Lantos, D-San Mateo, and signed legislation opposed by the State Department requiring the department to set up an office to "monitor and combat'' global anti-Semitism and to report on anti-Jewish trends annually. Lantos, the sole Holocaust survivor in Congress, pushed the idea amid reports of increased anti-Semitic incidents in Europe and continued propaganda against Jews and Israel in the Arab media.

The State Department had opposed his proposal, saying it would send the wrong signal around the world to single out anti-Semitism for special treatment over other human rights problems and stressing the department was already reporting on the issue.

Lantos, the ranking Democrat on the House International Relations Committee, said the law will provide "spine-stiffening'' for the State Department's efforts against anti-Semitism. "Despite unreasoning opposition from some quarters, the administration has supported this important legislation,'' he said Monday.