WASHINGTON, Oct 18 (AFP) - The US State Department pledged Monday to carry out faithfully the requirements of a new law mandating that it monitor global anti-Semitism and rate countries annually on their treatment of Jews despite its initial opposition to the legislation.
Department officials would not say that their original stance against the bill had changed, but stressed they would comply with its provisions since US President George W. Bush signed it into law over the weekend.
"Now that the bill is law, we look forward to carrying out the legislation," spokesman Richard Boucher told AFP, noting that the department already had a long record in leading global efforts against anti-Semitism.
The law requires the State Department to produce an annual report on anti-Semitism around the world and to form a specific office headed by a special envoy to document anti-Semitic abuses and design strategies to combat them.
It also requires the department to document acts of physical violence against Jews, their property, cemeteries and places of worship abroad, as well as local governments' responses to them and take note of instances of anti-Jewish propaganda.
Bush signed the law on Saturday over the objections of the department which had been concerned that singling out one religion for special treatment might leave Washington open to charges of bias, particularly in the Arab and Muslim world.
Jewish groups had criticized the State Department's stance and in September, more than 100 prominent Americans signed a letter to US Secretary of State Colin Powell saying the position was flawed.
Bush announced he had signed the bill as he campaigned in the key battleground state of Florida ahead of his looming November 2 election showdown with John Kerry. Florida's Jewish population is the third largest in the world after Israel and New York.
The bill, known as the Global Anti-Semitism Awareness Act, was introduced by California Democratic Representative Tom Lantos, the only Holocaust survivor in the US Congress, in response to recent acts of anti-Semitism in Europe and the Middle East.
Boucher said the department was aware of how strongly Lantos felt about the issue and said it looked "forward to continuing our effective coordination with Congressman Lantos and the Congress against anti-Semitism."