I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2336

To amend the Higher Education Act to establish and strengthen post-secondary programs and courses in the subjects of traditional American 

history, free institutions, and Western civilization, available to students 

preparing to teach these subjects, and to other students. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 4, 2003

Mr. PETRI (for himself, Mr. RAHALL, Mr. DREIER, Mr. WICKER, and Mr. 

GARRETT of New Jersey) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL

To amend the Higher Education Act to establish and 

strengthen post-secondary programs and courses in the 

subjects of traditional American history, free institutions, 

and Western civilization, available to students preparing 

to teach these subjects, and to other students.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Higher Education for 

5 Freedom Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
2

•HR 2336 IH 

1 (1) Given the increased threat to American 

2 ideals in the trying times in which we live, it is im3 portant to preserve and defend our common heritage 

4 of freedom and civilization and to ensure that future 

5 generations of Americans understand the importance 

6 of traditional American history and the principles of 

7 free government on which this Nation was founded 

8 in order to provide the basic knowledge that is es9 sential to full and informed participation in civic life 

10 and to the larger vibrancy of the American experi11 ment in self-government, binding together a diverse 

12 people into a single Nation with a common purposes. 

13 (2) However, despite its importance, most of 

14 the Nation’s colleges and universities no longer re15 quire United States history or systematic study of 

16 Western civilization and free institutions as a pre17 requisite to graduation. 

18 (3) In addition, too many of our Nation’s ele19 mentary and secondary history teachers lack the 

20 training necessary to effectively teach these sub21 jects—due largely to the inadequacy of their teacher 

22 preparation. 

23 (4) Distinguished historians and intellectuals 

24 fear that without a common civic memory and a 

25 common understanding of the remarkable individ-
3

•HR 2336 IH 

1 uals, events, and ideals that have shaped our Nation 

2 and its free institutions, the people in the United 

3 States risk losing much of what it means to be an 

4 American, as well as the ability to fulfill the funda5 mental responsibilities of citizens in a democracy. 

6 (b) PURPOSES.—The purpose of this act is to pro7 mote and sustain post-secondary academic centers, insti8 tutes, and programs that offer undergraduate and grad9 uate courses, support research, and develop teaching ma10 terials for the purpose of developing and imparting a 

11 knowledge of traditional American history, the American 

12 Founding, the history and nature of, and threats to, free 

13 institutions, or of the nature, history and achievements of 

14 Western Civilization, particularly for—

15 (1) undergraduate students enrolled in teacher 

16 education programs, or who may consider becoming 

17 school teachers, or who wish to enhance their civic 

18 competence; 

19 (2) elementary, middle, and high school teach20 ers in need of additional training in order to effec21 tively teach in these subject area; and 

22 (3) graduate students and post-secondary fac23 ulty who wish to teach about these subject areas 

24 with greater knowledge and effectiveness. 
4

•HR 2336 IH 

1 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

2 For purposes of this Act: 

3 (1) ELIGIBLE INSTITUTION.—For the purposes 

4 of this Act: 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘eligible in6 stitution’’ means—

7 (i) an institution of higher education; 

8 (ii) a specific program within an insti9 tution of higher education; and 

10 (iii) a non-profit history or academic 

11 organization associated with higher edu12 cation whose mission is consistent with the 

13 purposes of this Act. 

14 (B) SPECIAL RULE.—An eligible institu15 tion within the meaning of subparagraph (A) 

16 may apply to award subgrants to other such eli17 gible institutions at the discretion of, and sub18 ject to the oversight of, the Secretary. 

19 (2) FREE INSTITUTION.—The term ‘‘free insti20 tution’’ means institutions that emerged out of 

21 Western Civilization, such as democracy, individual 

22 rights, market economics, religious freedom and tol23 erance, and freedom of thought and inquiry. 

24 (3) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

25 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the same 
5

•HR 2336 IH 

1 meaning given that term under section 101 of the 

2 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 

3 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

4 the Secretary of Education. 

5 (5) TRADITIONAL AMERICAN HISTORY.—The 

6 term ‘‘traditional American history’’ means the sig7 nificant constitutional, political, intellectual, eco8 nomic, and foreign policy trends and issues that 

9 have shaped the course of American history; and the 

10 key episodes, turning points and leading figures, in11 volved in the constitutional, political, intellectual, 

12 diplomatic, and economic history of the United 

13 States. 

14 SEC. 4. GRANTS TO ELIGIBLE INSTITUTIONS. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—From amounts appropriated to 

16 carry out this Act, the Secretary shall provide, on a com17 petitive basis, grants to eligible institutions, which shall 

18 be used for—

19 (1) History Teacher Preparation Initiatives, 

20 that—

21 (A) stress content mastery in traditional 

22 American history and the principals on which 

23 the American political system is based, includ24 ing the history and philosophy of free institu25 tions, and the study of Western civilization; and 
6

•HR 2336 IH 

1 (B) provide for grantees to carry out re2 search, planning, and coordination activities de3 voted to the purposes of this Act. 

4 (2) Grants to Strengthen Post-Secondary Pro5 grams in fields related to the American founding, 

6 free institutions, and Western civilization, particu7 larly through—

8 (A) the design and implementation of 

9 courses, lecture series and symposia, the devel10 opment and publication of instructional mate11 rials, and the development of new, and sup12 porting of existing, academic centers; 

13 (B) research supporting the development 

14 of relevant course materials; 

15 (C) the support of faculty teaching in un16 dergraduate and graduate programs; and 

17 (D) the support of graduate and post18 graduate fellowships and courses for scholars 

19 related to such fields. 

20 (b) SELECTION CRITERIA.—In selecting eligible insti21 tutions for grants under this section for any fiscal year, 

22 the Secretary shall establish criteria by regulation, which 

23 shall, at a minimum, consider the education value and rel24 evance of the institution’s programming to carrying out 

25 the purposes of this Act and the expertise of key personnel 
7

•HR 2336 IH 

1 in the area of traditional American history and the prin2 cipals on which the American political system is based, 

3 including the political and intellectual history and philos4 ophy of free institutions, the American Founding, and 

5 other key events that have contributed to American free6 dom and the study of Western civilization. 

7 (c) GRANT APPLICATION.—An eligible institution 

8 that desires to receive a grant under this Act shall submit 

9 to the Secretary an application therefor at such time or 

10 times, or in such manner, and containing such information 

11 as the Secretary may prescribe by regulation. 

12 (d) GRANT REVIEW.—The Secretary shall establish 

13 procedures for reviewing and evaluating grants and con14 tracts made or entered into under such programs. 

15 (e) GRANT AWARDS.—

16 (1) MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM GRANTS.—For the 

17 purposes of this Act, the Secretary shall award 

18 grants of not less than $400,000 and not more than 

19 $6,000,000 to eligible institutions. 

20 (2) EXCEPTION.—A subgrant by an eligible in21 stitution to another eligible institution is not subject 

22 to the minimum amount specified in paragraph (1). 

23 (f) MULTIPLE AWARDS.—For the purposes of this 

24 Act, the Secretary may award more than one grant to an 

25 eligible institution. 
8

•HR 2336 IH 

1 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 (a) For the purpose of carrying out this Act, there 

3 are authorized to be appropriated—

4 (1) $140,000,000 for fiscal year 2004; and 

5 (2) such sums as may be necessary for each of 

6 the succeeding 5 fiscal years. 

7 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

8 This Act shall take effect on September 1, 2003.

Æ