II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 634 

To develop and disseminate a civic education curriculum and oral history 

resources regarding certain political ideologies, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 2, 2023 

Mr. KENNEDY (for himself and Mr. SCOTT of Florida) 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 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 ‘‘Crucial Communism 

5 Teaching Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

7 The purposes of this Act are the following: 

8 (1) To help families, civic institutions, local 

9 communities, local educational agencies, high 


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1 schools, and State educational agencies to prepare 

2 high school students to be civically responsible and 

3 knowledgeable adults. 

4 (2) To ensure that high school students in the 

5 United States— 

6 (A) learn that communism has led to the 

7 deaths of more than 100,000,000 victims world8 wide; 

9 (B) understand the dangers of communism 

10 and similar political ideologies; and 

11 (C) understand that 1,500,000,000 people 

12 still suffer under communism. 

13 SEC. 3. DEVELOPMENT AND DISSEMINATION OF CIVIC EDU14 CATION CURRICULUM AND ORAL HISTORY 

15 RESOURCES. 

16 The independent entity created under section 

17 905(b)(1)(B) of the FRIENDSHIP Act (Public Law 103– 

18 199; 107 Stat. 2331), also known as the ‘‘Victims of Com19 munism Memorial Foundation’’, shall— 

20 (1) develop a civic education curriculum for 

21 high school students that— 

22 (A) includes a comparative discussion of 

23 certain political ideologies, including com24 munism and totalitarianism, that conflict with 

25 the principles of freedom and democracy that 


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1 are essential to the founding of the United 

2 States; 

3 (B) is accurate, relevant, and accessible, so 

4 as to promote the understanding of such polit5 ical ideologies; and 

6 (C) is compatible with a variety of courses, 

7 including social studies, government, history, 

8 and economics classes; 

9 (2) develop oral history resources that may be 

10 used alongside the curriculum described in para11 graph (1) and that include personal stories, titled 

12 ‘‘Portraits in Patriotism’’, from diverse individuals 

13 who— 

14 (A) demonstrate civic-minded qualities; 

15 (B) are victims of the political ideologies 

16 described in paragraph (1)(A); and 

17 (C) are able to compare the political 

18 ideologies described in paragraph (1)(A) with 

19 the political ideology of the United States; and 

20 (3) engage with State and local educational 

21 leaders to assist high schools in using the curriculum 

22 described in paragraph (1) and the resources de23 scribed in paragraph (2). 


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1 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

2 The terms in section 8101 of the Elementary and 

3 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801) shall 

4 apply to this Act. 

Æ 


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