Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB2664 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	I
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION H. R. 2664
5	5	To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide for additional uses
6	6	of funds for grants to strengthen historically Black colleges and univer-
7	7	sities, and for other purposes.
8	8	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
9	9	APRIL7, 2025
10	10	Ms. A
11	11	DAMS(for herself, Ms. CROCKETT, Mrs. CHERFILUS-MCCORMICK, Mrs.
12	12	B
13	13	EATTY, Ms. BONAMICI, Ms. NORTON, Ms. STANSBURY, Ms. WILSONof
14	14	Florida, Ms. S
15	15	EWELL, Mr. JACKSONof Illinois, Mrs. FOUSHEE, Mr. CAR-
16	16	SON, and Mr. FROST) introduced the following bill; which was referred
17	17	to the Committee on Education and Workforce
18	18	A BILL
19	19	To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide
20	20	for additional uses of funds for grants to strengthen
21	21	historically Black colleges and universities, and for other
22	22	purposes.
23	23	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
24	24	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
25	25	SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 3
26	26	Congress finds the following: 4
27	27	(1) According to a 2021 study by Americans for 5
28	28	the Arts, the arts are an invaluable aspect of Amer-6
29	29	ican society, as they strengthen the economy, im-7
30	30	VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Apr 15, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2664.IH H2664
31	31	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 2
32	32	•HR 2664 IH
33	33	prove healthcare, spark creativity and innovation, 1
34	34	and unify communities, with 73 percent of partici-2
35	35	pants agreeing that the arts help them to better un-3
36	36	derstand other cultures. 4
37	37	(2) Many United States museums are grappling 5
38	38	with diversity. Studies report that only 1.4 percent 6
39	39	of artists featured in America’s top museums are 7
40	40	black, only 4 percent of staff directors at top muse-8
41	41	ums are Black, and that only 2.5 percent of Black 9
42	42	Americans are owners of Arts-Entertainment busi-10
43	43	ness. 11
44	44	(3) Historically Black Colleges and Universities, 12
45	45	or HBCUs, are uniquely positioned to produce a di-13
46	46	verse generation of art professionals and help bring 14
47	47	much needed attention to works by Black artists. 15
48	48	HBCUs have historically served as long-standing 16
49	49	conservators and crucial supporters of Black art and 17
50	50	for the teaching, supporting, and displaying of es-18
51	51	sential Black artists who may otherwise have re-19
52	52	mained unrecognized. 20
53	53	(4) Arts programs and arts departments are ex-21
54	54	pensive and have often fallen victim to funding 22
55	55	shortfalls. In 2018, the College Art Association re-23
56	56	ported that at least 18 institutions of higher edu-24
57	57	VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Apr 15, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2664.IH H2664
58	58	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 3
59	59	•HR 2664 IH
60	60	cation planned to severely curtail or eliminate their 1
61	61	arts departments. 2
62	62	(5) HBCUs have also been underfunded by 3
63	63	$12,600,000,000 compared to their predominantly 4
64	64	White counterparts over the last 30 years. Some 5
65	65	HBCUs have shrunk, consolidated, or cut their arts 6
66	66	programs due to limited resources. 7
67	67	(6) An increased investment in HBCU arts, 8
68	68	arts education, and culture programs can further 9
69	69	help students of color access an affordable arts edu-10
70	70	cation and ensure the continued preparation, con-11
71	71	servation, display, and study of works by Black art-12
72	72	ists. 13
73	73	SEC. 2. STRENGTHENING HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES 14
74	74	AND UNIVERSITIES. 15
75	75	Section 323 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 16
76	76	U.S.C. 1062) is amended— 17
77	77	(1) in subsection (a), 18
78	78	(A) by redesignating paragraphs (14) and 19
79	79	(15) as paragraphs (19) and (20), respectively; 20
80	80	and 21
81	81	(B) by inserting after paragraph (13) the 22
82	82	following: 23
83	83	VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Apr 15, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2664.IH H2664
84	84	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 4
85	85	•HR 2664 IH
86	86	‘‘(14) Providing financial and other assistance 1
87	87	to students in arts, arts education, and cultural pro-2
88	88	grams. 3
89	89	‘‘(15) Establishing outreach programs and de-4
90	90	velopment offices for arts, arts education, and cul-5
91	91	tural departments. 6
92	92	‘‘(16) Providing comprehensive wraparound 7
93	93	services for arts, arts education, and cultural stu-8
94	94	dents, including faculty and peer mentorship, work- 9
95	95	based learning opportunities, guidance counseling, 10
96	96	and career advising. 11
97	97	‘‘(17) Exhibiting, maintaining, monitoring, and 12
98	98	protecting Black art collections in exhibition and in 13
99	99	storage. 14
100	100	‘‘(18) Providing well-paid apprenticeship, in-15
101	101	ternship, and fellowship opportunities to students in 16
102	102	arts, arts education, and cultural programs through 17
103	103	partnerships with nonprofit arts, arts education, and 18
104	104	cultural institutes.’’; and 19
105	105	(2) by adding at the end the following: 20
106	106	‘‘(d) N
107	107	ATIONALENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS.—An 21
108	108	institution may enter into a partnership with the National 22
109	109	Endowment for the Arts to carry out the activities de-23
110	110	scribed in paragraphs (14) through (18) of subsection (a). 24
111	111	VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Apr 15, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2664.IH H2664
112	112	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 5
113	113	•HR 2664 IH
114	114	‘‘(e) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘arts’ 1
115	115	means art forms used for self-expression and interpreta-2
116	116	tion, including performance, literary, visual, graphic, plas-3
117	117	tic, and decorative arts.’’. 4
118	118	Æ
119	119	VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Apr 15, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2664.IH H2664
120	120	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS