I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3242 
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to improve the American 
History for Freedom grant program. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 14, 2021 
Mr. BLUMENAUER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Education and Labor 
A BILL 
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to improve 
the American History for Freedom grant program. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Understanding and 
Studying American Civics Act of 2021’’ or the ‘‘USA 
Civics Act of 2021’’. 
SEC. 2. AMERICAN CIVICS EDUCATION PROGRAM. 
Section 805 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 1161e) is amended— 
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(1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘HIS-
TORY
FOR
FREEDOM’’ and inserting ‘‘CIVICS 
EDUCATION PROGRAM’’; 
(2) in subsection (a)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘subsection (f)’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘subsection (g)’’; 
(B) by striking ‘‘the Secretary is author-
ized to award three-year grants, on a competi-
tive basis,’’ and inserting ‘‘the Secretary is au-
thorized to award grants, once every 3 years 
and on a competitive basis,’’; 
(C) by striking paragraph (1) and insert-
ing the following: 
‘‘(1) American political thought and history;’’; 
(D) in paragraph (2) by striking ‘‘or’’ after 
the semicolon; 
(E) by striking paragraph (3) and insert-
ing the following: 
‘‘(3) the history, achievements, and impact of 
American representative democracy and constitu-
tional democracies globally; or’’; and 
(F) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(4) the means of participation in political and 
civic life.’’; 
(3) in subsection (b)— 
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(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘as de-
fined in section 101.’’ and inserting ‘‘, or a 
partnership that includes an institution of high-
er education and one or more nonprofit organi-
zations, whose missions and demonstrated ex-
pertise are consistent with the purpose of this 
section.’’; 
(B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘that 
emerged’’ and all that follows through the pe-
riod at the end and inserting ‘‘founded on the 
principles of representative democracy, constitu-
tional government, individual rights, market ec-
onomics, religious freedom and religious toler-
ance, and freedom of thought and inquiry.’’; 
and 
(C) by striking paragraph (3) and insert-
ing the following: 
‘‘(3) AMERICAN POLITICAL THOUGHT AND HIS-
TORY.—The term ‘American political thought and 
history’ means— 
‘‘(A) the significant constitutional, polit-
ical, intellectual, economic, social, and foreign 
policy trends and issues that have shaped the 
course of American history; and 
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‘‘(B) the key episodes, turning points, 
texts, and figures involved in the constitutional, 
political, intellectual, diplomatic, social, and 
economic history of the United States.’’; 
(4) in subsection (c)(2)— 
(A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘tra-
ditional’’ and all that follows through the semi-
colon and inserting ‘‘American political thought 
and history, free institutions, the impact of 
American representative democracy and con-
stitutional democracies globally, or the means of 
participation in political and civic life;’’; and 
(B) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ‘‘, 
which may include the creation or use of open 
educational 
resources’’ 
after 
‘‘subsection 
(e)(1)(B)’’; 
(5) in subsection (d)— 
(A) by striking paragraph (1) and insert-
ing the following: 
‘‘(1) increase access to quality programming 
that expands knowledge of American political 
thought and history, free institutions, the impact of 
American representative democracy and constitu-
tional democracies globally, or the means of partici-
pation in political and civic life;’’; and 
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(B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘tradi-
tional American history, free institutions, or 
Western civilization’’ and inserting ‘‘American 
political thought and history, free institutions, 
the impact of American representative democ-
racy and constitutional democracies globally, or 
the means of participation in political and civic 
life.’’; 
(6) by striking subsection (e) and inserting the 
following: 
‘‘(e) USE OF FUNDS.— 
‘‘(1) REQUIRED USE OF FUNDS.—Funds pro-
vided under this section shall be used— 
‘‘(A) for collaboration with local edu-
cational agencies for the purpose of providing 
elementary school and secondary school teach-
ers an opportunity to enhance their knowledge 
of American political thought and history, free 
institutions, the impact of American representa-
tive democracy and constitutional democracies 
globally, or the means of participation in polit-
ical and civic life; and 
‘‘(B) to carry out one or more of the fol-
lowing: 
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‘‘(i) Establishing or strengthening 
academic programs or centers focused on 
American political thought and history, 
free institutions, the impact of American 
representative democracy and constitu-
tional democracies globally, or the means 
of participation in political and civic life, 
which may include— 
‘‘(I) design and implementation 
of programs of study, courses, lecture 
series, seminars, and symposia; 
‘‘(II) development, publication, 
and dissemination of instructional ma-
terials; 
‘‘(III) research; 
‘‘(IV) support for faculty teach-
ing in undergraduate and, if applica-
ble, graduate programs; or 
‘‘(V) support for graduate and 
postgraduate fellowships, if applicable. 
‘‘(ii) For teacher preparation initia-
tives that stress content mastery regarding 
American political thought and history, 
free institutions, the impact of American 
representative democracy and constitu-
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tional democracies globally, or the means 
of participation in political and civic life. 
‘‘(iii) To conduct outreach activities to 
ensure that information about the activi-
ties funded under this section is widely dis-
seminated— 
‘‘(I) to undergraduate students 
(including students enrolled in teacher 
education programs, if applicable); 
‘‘(II) to graduate students (in-
cluding students enrolled in teacher 
education programs, if applicable); 
‘‘(III) to faculty; 
‘‘(IV) to local educational agen-
cies; and 
‘‘(V) within the local community. 
‘‘(2) ALLOWABLE
USES
OF
FUNDS.—Funds 
provided under this section may be used to sup-
port— 
‘‘(A) collaboration with entities such as— 
‘‘(i) nonprofit organizations whose 
missions and demonstrated expertise are 
consistent with the purpose of this section, 
for assistance in carrying out activities de-
scribed under subsection (a); and 
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‘‘(ii) Federal or State humanities pro-
grams, which may include those funded by 
the National Endowment for the Human-
ities; 
‘‘(B) the creation and use of open edu-
cational resources on American political thought 
and history, free institutions, or the impact of 
American representative democracy and con-
stitutional democracies globally, or the means of 
participation in political and civic life; and 
‘‘(C) other activities that meet the pur-
poses of this section.’’; 
(7) by redesignating subsection (f) as sub-
section (g); 
(8) in subsection (g), as redesignated by para-
graph (7), by striking ‘‘2009’’ and inserting ‘‘2021’’; 
and 
(9) by inserting after subsection (e) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(f) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec-
tion shall be construed to authorize the Secretary to pre-
scribe an American political thought and history cur-
riculum.’’. 
Æ 
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