II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1209 

To establish and strengthen postsecondary 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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 9, 2005 

Mr. GREGG introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To establish and strengthen postsecondary 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: 
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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 purpose. 

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 school and secondary school history teach20 ers lack the training necessary to effectively teach 

21 these subjects, due largely to the inadequacy of their 

22 teacher preparation. 

23 (4) Distinguished historians and intellectuals 

24 fear that without a common civic memory and a 

25 common understanding of the remarkable individ-
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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 purposes of this Act are to pro7 mote and sustain postsecondary academic centers, insti8 tutes, and programs that offer undergraduate and grad9 uate courses, support research, sponsor lectures, seminars, 

10 and conferences, and develop teaching materials, for the 

11 purpose of developing and imparting a knowledge of tradi12 tional American history, the American Founding, and the 

13 history and nature of, and threats to, free institutions, or 

14 of the nature, history, and achievements of Western civili15 zation, particularly for— 

16 (1) undergraduate students who are enrolled in 

17 teacher education programs, who may consider be18 coming school teachers, or who wish to enhance their 

19 civic competence; 

20 (2) elementary school, middle school, and sec21 ondary school teachers in need of additional training 

22 in order to effectively teach in these subject areas; 

23 and 
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1 (3) graduate students and postsecondary fac2 ulty who wish to teach about these subject areas 

3 with greater knowledge and effectiveness. 

4 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this Act: 

6 (1) ELIGIBLE INSTITUTION.—The term ‘‘eligi7 ble institution’’ means— 

8 (A) an institution of higher education; 

9 (B) a specific program within an institu10 tion of higher education; and 

11 (C) a non-profit history or academic orga12 nization associated with higher education whose 

13 mission is consistent with the purposes of this 

14 Act. 

15 (2) FREE INSTITUTION.—The term ‘‘free insti16 tution’’ means an institution that emerged out of 

17 Western civilization, such as democracy, constitu18 tional government, individual rights, market econom19 ics, religious freedom and tolerance, and freedom of 

20 thought and inquiry. 

21 (3) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

22 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

23 meaning given the term under section 101 of the 

24 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 
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1 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

2 the Secretary of Education. 

3 (5) TRADITIONAL AMERICAN HISTORY.—The 

4 term ‘‘traditional American history’’ means— 

5 (A) the significant constitutional, political, 

6 intellectual, economic, and foreign policy trends 

7 and issues that have shaped the course of 

8 American history; and 

9 (B) the key episodes, turning points, and 

10 leading figures involved in the constitutional, 

11 political, intellectual, diplomatic, and economic 

12 history of the United States. 

13 SEC. 4. GRANTS TO ELIGIBLE INSTITUTIONS. 

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

15 carry out this Act, the Secretary shall award grants, on 

16 a competitive basis, to eligible institutions, which grants 

17 shall be used for— 

18 (1) history teacher preparation initiatives, 

19 that— 

20 (A) stress content mastery in traditional 

21 American history and the principles on which 

22 the American political system is based, includ23 ing the history and philosophy of free institu24 tions, and the study of Western civilization; and 
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1 (B) provide for grantees to carry out re2 search, planning, and coordination activities de3 voted to the purposes of this Act; and 

4 (2) strengthening postsecondary programs in 

5 fields related to the American founding, free institu6 tions, and Western civilization, particularly 

7 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 
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1 in the area of traditional American history and the prin2 ciples on which the American political system is based, in3 cluding 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 at such time, in such man10 ner, and containing such information as the Secretary may 

11 prescribe by regulation. 

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

13 procedures for reviewing and evaluating grants made 

14 under this Act. 

15 (e) GRANT AWARDS.— 

16 (1) MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM GRANTS.—The 

17 Secretary shall award each grant under this Act in 

18 an amount that is not less than $400,000 and not 

19 more than $6,000,000. 

20 (2) EXCEPTION.—A subgrant made by an eligi21 ble institution under this Act to another eligible in22 stitution shall not be subject to the minimum 

23 amount specified in paragraph (1). 
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1 (f) MULTIPLE AWARDS.—For the purposes of this 

2 Act, the Secretary may award more than 1 grant to an 

3 eligible institution. 

4 (g) SUBGRANTS.—An eligible institution may use 

5 grant funds provided under this Act to award subgrants 

6 to other eligible institutions at the discretion of, and sub7 ject to the oversight of, the Secretary. 

8 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

9 For the purpose of carrying out this Act, there are 

10 authorized to be appropriated— 

11 (1) $140,000,000 for fiscal year 2006; and 

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

13 the succeeding 5 fiscal years. 

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