II
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. 1001
To develop and disseminate a civic education curriculum and oral history
resources regarding certain political ideologies, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
MARCH12, 2025
Mr. K
ENNEDY(for himself, Mr. SCOTTof Florida, and Mr. SCHMITT) intro-
duced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com-
mittee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
A BILL
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 Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Crucial Communism 4
Teaching Act’’. 5
SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 6
The purposes of this Act are the following: 7
(1) To help families, civic institutions, local 8
communities, local educational agencies, high 9
VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Mar 26, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1001.IS S1001
ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 2
•S 1001 IS
schools, and State educational agencies to prepare 1
high school students to be civically responsible and 2
knowledgeable adults. 3
(2) To ensure that high school students in the 4
United States— 5
(A) learn that communism has led to the 6
deaths of more than 100,000,000 victims world-7
wide; 8
(B) understand the dangers of communism 9
and similar political ideologies; and 10
(C) understand that 1,500,000,000 people 11
still suffer under communism. 12
SEC. 3. DEVELOPMENT AND DISSEMINATION OF CIVIC EDU-13
CATION CURRICULUM AND ORAL HISTORY 14
RESOURCES. 15
The independent entity created under section 16
905(b)(1)(B) of the FRIENDSHIP Act (Public Law 103– 17
199; 107 Stat. 2331), also known as the ‘‘Victims of Com-18
munism Memorial Foundation’’, shall— 19
(1) develop a civic education curriculum for 20
high school students that— 21
(A) includes a comparative discussion of 22
certain political ideologies, including com-23
munism and totalitarianism, that conflict with 24
the principles of freedom and democracy that 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Mar 26, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1001.IS S1001
ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 3
•S 1001 IS
are essential to the founding of the United 1
States; 2
(B) is accurate, relevant, and accessible, so 3
as to promote the understanding of such polit-4
ical ideologies; and 5
(C) is compatible with a variety of courses, 6
including social studies, government, history, 7
and economics classes; 8
(2) develop oral history resources that may be 9
used alongside the curriculum described in para-10
graph (1) and that include personal stories, titled 11
‘‘Portraits in Patriotism’’, from diverse individuals 12
who— 13
(A) demonstrate civic-minded qualities; 14
(B) are victims of the political ideologies 15
described in paragraph (1)(A); and 16
(C) are able to compare the political 17
ideologies described in paragraph (1)(A) with 18
the political ideology of the United States; and 19
(3) engage with State and local educational 20
leaders to assist high schools in using the curriculum 21
described in paragraph (1) and the resources de-22
scribed in paragraph (2). 23
VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Mar 26, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1001.IS S1001
ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 4
•S 1001 IS
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 1
The terms in section 8101 of the Elementary and 2
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801) shall 3
apply to this Act. 4
Æ
VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Mar 26, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1001.IS S1001
ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS