Crucial Communism Teaching Act

103 S1001 IS: Crucial Communism Teaching Act U.S. Senate 2025-03-12 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain. II 119th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 1001 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES March 12, 2025 Mr. Kennedy (for himself, Mr. Scott of Florida , and Mr. Schmitt ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To develop and disseminate a civic education curriculum and oral history resources regarding certain political ideologies, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Crucial Communism Teaching Act . 2. Purposes The purposes of this Act are the following: (1) To help families, civic institutions, local communities, local educational agencies, high schools, and State educational agencies to prepare high school students to be civically responsible and knowledgeable adults. (2) To ensure that high school students in the United States— (A) learn that communism has led to the deaths of more than 100,000,000 victims worldwide; (B) understand the dangers of communism and similar political ideologies; and (C) understand that 1,500,000,000 people still suffer under communism. 3. Development and dissemination of civic education curriculum and oral history resources The independent entity created under section 905(b)(1)(B) of the FRIENDSHIP Act ( Public Law 103–199 ; 107 Stat. 2331), also known as the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation , shall— (1) develop a civic education curriculum for high school students that— (A) includes a comparative discussion of certain political ideologies, including communism and totalitarianism, that conflict with the principles of freedom and democracy that are essential to the founding of the United States; (B) is accurate, relevant, and accessible, so as to promote the understanding of such political ideologies; and (C) is compatible with a variety of courses, including social studies, government, history, and economics classes; (2) develop oral history resources that may be used alongside the curriculum described in paragraph (1) and that include personal stories, titled Portraits in Patriotism , from diverse individuals who— (A) demonstrate civic-minded qualities; (B) are victims of the political ideologies described in paragraph (1)(A); and (C) are able to compare the political ideologies described in paragraph (1)(A) with the political ideology of the United States; and (3) engage with State and local educational leaders to assist high schools in using the curriculum described in paragraph (1) and the resources described in paragraph (2). 4. Definitions The terms in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 ( 20 U.S.C. 7801 ) shall apply to this Act.