I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6592 

To authorize the Secretary of Education to provide grants to local educational 

agencies to cover the costs of challenges to determinations not to discontinue the use of specific instructional materials, or the availability 

of specific school library materials, in public elementary and secondary 

schools, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 5, 2023 

Mr. FROST (for himself, Mr. RASKIN, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Ms. ADAMS, 

Mr. AGUILAR, Mr. BERA, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. BOWMAN, Ms. BROWN, 

Mr. CARSON, Mr. CASAR, Mr. CASTEN, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mr. CASTRO of Texas, Mrs. CHERFILUS-MCCORMICK, Ms. CLARKE of New York, 

Ms. CROCKETT, Ms. LOIS FRANKEL of Florida, Mr. ROBERT GARCIA of 

California, Mr. GOLDMAN of New York, Mr. HORSFORD, Mr. IVEY, Ms. 

JACKSON LEE, Ms. JACOBS, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. KHANNA, Ms. 

LEE of California, Ms. LEE of Pennsylvania, Mr. MOSKOWITZ, Ms. NORTON, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. PETERS, Ms. PETTERSEN, 

Mr. POCAN, Ms. PORTER, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mrs. RAMIREZ, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. SEWELL, Mr. SOTO, Ms. STANSBURY, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. 

THANEDAR, Ms. TITUS, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. TOKUDA, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Ms. 

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia, and Mr. MFUME) introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of Education to provide grants 

to local educational agencies to cover the costs of challenges to determinations not to discontinue the use of 

specific instructional materials, or the availability of speVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:03 Dec 12, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H6592.IH H6592

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cific school library materials, in public elementary and 

secondary schools, 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 ‘‘Fight Book Bans Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. GRANTS TO REIMBURSE CERTAIN COSTS OF CHAL6 LENGES TO CONTINUED USE OF INSTRUC7 TIONAL AND LIBRARY MATERIALS. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 

9 (1) APPLICABLE PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘appli10 cable program’’ means any program for which the 

11 Secretary of Education has administrative responsi12 bility as provided by law or by delegation of author13 ity pursuant to law. 

14 (2) COVERED LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.— 

15 The term ‘‘covered local educational agency’’ means 

16 a local educational agency that has the duty and re17 sponsibility under law— 

18 (A) to select and provide instructional ma19 terials and school library materials for students 

20 attending public elementary schools or public 

21 secondary schools under the jurisdiction of the 

22 agency; 

23 (B) to provide, or participate in, a proc24 ess— 


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1 (i) to provide for resolution of an ob2 jection by a parent or other person to— 

3 (I) the use of a specific instruc4 tional material; or 

5 (II) the availability of a specific 

6 school library material; and 

7 (ii) to discontinue the use of the in8 structional material, or the availability of 

9 the school library material, for any grade 

10 level or age group if the local educational 

11 agency determines that the material is in12 appropriate or unsuitable; and 

13 (C) to provide, or participate in, a process 

14 (including any administrative proceeding or 

15 court case) under which a parent or other per16 son who disagrees with a determination made 

17 by the covered local educational agency pursu18 ant to subparagraph (B)(ii) to discontinue or 

19 not to discontinue the use of an instructional 

20 material, or the availability of a school library 

21 material, may appeal, or otherwise request re22 consideration of, the determination. 

23 (3) ESEA TERMS.—The terms ‘‘elementary 

24 school’’, ‘‘parent’’, ‘‘secondary school’’, and ‘‘Sec25 retary’’ have the meaning given those terms in secVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:03 Dec 12, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6592.IH H6592

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1 tion 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu2 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

3 (4) INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIAL.—The term ‘‘in4 structional material’’ means instructional content 

5 that is provided to a student, regardless of its for6 mat, including printed or representational materials, 

7 audio-visual materials, and materials in electronic or 

8 digital formats (such as materials accessible through 

9 the Internet). The term does not include academic 

10 tests or academic assessments. 

11 (5) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 

12 ‘‘local educational agency’’ means a public elemen13 tary school, public secondary school, school district, 

14 or local board of education that is the recipient of 

15 funds under an applicable program. 

16 (6) SCHOOL LIBRARY MATERIAL.—The term 

17 ‘‘school library material’’ means any material avail18 able to a student via the student’s school library, re19 gardless of its format, including printed or represen20 tational materials, audio-visual materials, and mate21 rials in electronic or digital formats (such as mate22 rials accessible through the Internet). 

23 (7) STUDENT.—The term ‘‘student’’ means any 

24 public elementary school or public secondary school 

25 student. 


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1 (b) GRANTS.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Education 

3 is authorized to make grants to covered local edu4 cational agencies to reimburse such agencies for the 

5 costs (including costs such as attorneys’ fees and 

6 court costs) incurred in connection with a process 

7 described in subsection (a)(2)(C), if— 

8 (A) such costs are not reimbursed by the 

9 State or any other person; and 

10 (B) such process was initiated due to a de11 termination by the covered local educational 

12 agency not to discontinue the use of an instruc13 tional material or the availability of a school li14 brary material. 

15 (2) APPLICATION.—A covered local educational 

16 agency desiring to receive an award under paragraph 

17 (1) shall submit an application to the Secretary at 

18 such time and in such manner as the Secretary shall 

19 require. 

20 (3) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—The maximum 

21 amount that a covered local educational agency is el22 igible to receive under this subsection is $100,000 

23 for each determination described in paragraph 

24 (1)(B). 


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1 (4) AWARD PROCESS.—In awarding grants 

2 under this subsection, the Secretary shall ensure 

3 that the award process is based on content-neutral 

4 and viewpoint-neutral criteria and does not take into 

5 account the content of the instructional material or 

6 school library material concerned. 

7 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To carry 

8 out this section, there are authorized to be appropriated 

9 a total of $15,000,000 for fiscal years 2024 through 2028. 

Æ 


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