118th CONGRESS

2d Session

H. R. 5349

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.