Armenian Genocide Education Act

Bill: 118-s-1329
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Menendez, Robert [D-NJ]
Introduced: 2023-04-27
Policy area: Congress
Latest action: action_date: 2023-04-27
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration.

Summaries:
action_date: 2023-04-27
action_desc: Introduced in Senate
text: <p><b>Armenian Genocide Education Act</b></p> <p>This bill requires the Library of Congress to maintain a public website and otherwise support educational initiatives to promote understanding about the Armenian Genocide (the killing of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923).</p>

tv_txt: II 118th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 1329 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES April 27, 2023 Mr. Menendez (for himself and Mrs. Blackburn ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration A BILL To direct the Librarian of Congress to carry out activities to support Armenian Genocide education programs, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Armenian Genocide Education Act . 2. Findings Congress finds the following: (1) The United States has demonstrated a commitment to remembrance and education about the Armenian Genocide of 1915–1923 through the United States Government’s May 28, 1951, written statement to the International Court of Justice regarding the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide; through President Ronald Reagan’s Proclamation No. 4838 on April 22, 1981; by H.J. Res 148, adopted on April 8, 1975; H.J. Res 247, adopted on September 10, 1984; H. Res. 296, adopted on October 29, 2019; S. Res. 150, adopted on December 12, 2019; and President Joe Biden’s April 24, 2021, statement recognizing the Armenian Genocide. (2) H. Res. 296 and S. Res. 150 cite the Ottoman Empire’s campaign of genocide against Armenian, Greek, Assyrian, Chaldean, Syriac, Aramean, Maronite and other Christians , and call on the United States to— (A) reject efforts to enlist, engage, or otherwise associate the United States Government with denial of the Armenian Genocide or any other genocide ; and (B) encourage education and public understanding of the facts of the Armenian Genocide, including the United States role in the humanitarian relief effort, and the relevance of the Armenian Genocide to modern-day crimes against humanity . (3) Today, those who deny that the Ottoman Empire systematically planned, organized, and implemented a campaign of genocide against Armenian, Greek, Assyrian, Chaldean, Syriac, Aramean, Maronite, and other Christians or who seek to distort the true nature of these crimes continue to find forums, especially online. This denial and distortion dishonors those who were persecuted, murdered, dispossessed, and exiled, making it even more of a national imperative to educate students in the United States so that they may explore the lessons that these crimes provide for all people, sensitize communities to the circumstances that gave rise to these crimes, and help youth be less susceptible to the falsehood of genocide denial and distortion and to the destructive messages of hate that arise from denial and distortion. 3. Definitions In this Act: (1) Armenian Genocide The term Armenian Genocide means Ottoman Turkey’s systematic and deliberate State-sponsored mass murder, national dispossession, cultural erasure, and exile of millions of Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Syriacs, Arameans, Maronites, and other Christians, between 1915 and 1923. (2) Armenian Genocide education program The term Armenian Genocide education program means a program that has as its specific and primary purpose the improvement of awareness and understanding of the history, lessons, consequences, and ongoing costs of the Armenian Genocide, and which will serve as a means of promoting justice and preventing genocide, hate, and bigotry against any group of people. (3) Denial The term denial refers to discourse and propaganda that claims that the Armenian Genocide did not take place. (4) Distortion The term distortion refers specifically to any attempt to excuse or minimize, in its entirety or in its principal elements, the Armenian Genocide, including efforts to blame the victims for causing their own genocide, or to portray the Armenian Genocide as a positive historical event. (5) Local educational agency The term local educational agency has the meaning given the term in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 21 7801). 4. Program described (a) Establishment and operation of program The Librarian of Congress shall establish and carry out a program to support Armenian Genocide education programs by— (1) carrying out the activities described in subsection (b); (2) entering into agreements with program participants under section 5; and (3) providing online resources under section 6. (b) Activities The activities described in this subsection are as follows: (1) The development and national dissemination of accurate, relevant, and accessible resources to promote understanding about how and why the Armenian Genocide happened, which shall include digital resources and may include other types of resources, such as print resources and traveling exhibitions. (2) The development, national dissemination, and implementation of principles of sound pedagogy for teaching about the Armenian Genocide. (3) The provision of professional development services for entities participating in the program under an agreement entered into under section 5, such as through— (A) local, regional, and national workshops and teacher trainings in conjunction with genocide education centers and other appropriate partners; (B) engagement with local educational agencies and high schools and schools that include one of the middle grades that are independent of any local educational agency; and (C) the operation and expansion of a teacher fellowship program to cultivate and support leaders in Armenian Genocide education. (4) Engagement with State and local education leaders to encourage the adoption of the resources developed and supported under the program established by this Act into curricula across diverse disciplines. (5) Evaluation and research to assess the effectiveness and impact of the Armenian Genocide education programs and the other activities carried out under the program established by this Act, which may include the preparation and use of material for the annual report required under section 8. 5. Engagement of eligible program participants (a) Agreements with program participants The Librarian of Congress may enter into agreements with eligible entities under which such entities may serve as program participants in the program established by this Act. (b) Contents of agreements An agreement entered into under this section between the Librarian and an eligible entity shall include the following elements: (1) A description of the services and assistance provided to the entity by the Librarian. (2) A description of the activities to be carried out by the entity with such services and assistance. (3) The length of the period in which the agreement shall be in effect. (4) Such other elements as may be agreed to by the Librarian and the entity, consistent with the program established by this Act. (c) Eligibility An entity is eligible to serve as a program participant in the program established by this Act if— (1) the entity is a local educational agency, a school that is independent of any local educational agency, or an entity that works with or for a local educational agency or a school that is independent of any local educational agency; and (2) the entity submits to the Librarian, at such time and in such form as the Librarian may require, an application containing such information and assurances as the Librarian may require. (d) Priority In selecting among eligible entities for participating in the program established under this Act, the Librarian shall give priority to applications from entities who are local educational agencies, schools that are independent of any local educational agency, or entities that work with or for a local educational agency or a school that is independent of any local educational agency, that do not, at the time application is made, offer any Armenian Genocide education program. 6. Online education resources (a) Website The Librarian of Congress shall maintain on the website of the Library of Congress a publicly available special section designated for Armenian Genocide education resources to improve awareness and understanding of this Genocide and educate individuals on the lessons of the Armenian Genocide as a means to raise awareness about the importance of preventing genocide, hate, and bigotry against any group of people. (b) Information distribution The Librarian shall distribute information about the activities funded under this Act through the website of the Library of Congress, and shall respond to inquiries for supplementary information concerning such activities. (c) Best practices The information distributed by the Librarian under this section shall include best practices for educators on how to teach about the Armenian Genocide. 7. Private support (a) Acceptance of donations The Librarian of Congress may solicit, accept, hold, administer, invest, and use donated funds and gifts, bequests, and devises of property, both real and personal, to support the activities carried out under this Act, subject to subsection (c). (b) Establishment of separate gift account There is established in the Treasury (among the accounts of the Library of Congress) a gift account for the activities carried out under this Act. (c) Dedication of funds Notwithstanding any other provision of law— (1) any funds donated to the Librarian to carry out activities under this Act shall be deposited entirely into the gift account established under subsection (b); (2) the funds contained in such account shall be used solely to carry out activities under this Act; and (3) the Librarian may not deposit into such account any funds donated to the Librarian which are not donated for the exclusive purpose of carrying out activities under this Act. 8. Annual report Not later than February 1 of each year (beginning with 2024), the Librarian of Congress shall submit to Congress a report describing the activities carried out under this Act. 9. Authorization of appropriations There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2024 and each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years.