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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5349 Referred in Senate (RFS)]

<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5349

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            December 9, 2024

     Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, 
                     Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT

 
   To develop and disseminate a civic education curriculum and oral 
history resources regarding certain political ideologies, and for other 
                               purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Crucial Communism Teaching Act''.

SEC. 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 
                over 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.

SEC. 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 (40 U.S.C. 8903 note; 107 Stat. 2331 note), 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 updated periodically to ensure the 
                curriculum includes both past and present communist and 
                totalitarian regimes, with a focus on--
                            (i) ongoing human rights abuses by such 
                        regimes, such as the treatment of Uyghurs in 
                        the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) by 
                        the People's Republic of China; and
                            (ii) aggression by such regimes against 
                        democratic nations and democracy, such as 
                        actions taken by the People's Republic of China 
                        to deter pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong 
                        and the increasingly aggressive posture by the 
                        People's Republic of China toward Taiwan, a 
                        democratic friend of the United States.
                    (C) is accurate, relevant, and accessible, so as to 
                promote the understanding of such political ideologies; 
                and
                    (D) 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).

SEC. 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.

            Passed the House of Representatives December 6, 2024.

            Attest:

                                             KEVIN F. MCCUMBER,

                                                                 Clerk.
```