[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 609 Introduced in House (IH)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 609

  Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives in support of 
   providing fair and up-to-date teaching in United States secondary 
           schools of the developments of modern day Russia.


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                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           December 14, 2005

 Mr. Nadler submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
              the Committee on Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives in support of 
   providing fair and up-to-date teaching in United States secondary 
           schools of the developments of modern day Russia.

Whereas the events of the past 15 years, including the end of the Cold War and 
        the breakup of the former Soviet Union, have fundamentally changed the 
        nature of Russian society and politics, as well as the relationship of 
        the Russian Federation to the United States;
Whereas the United States prides itself on the importance of its school system 
        and its teachers in providing a wide breadth of current knowledge to its 
        students;
Whereas New York City is home to more than 240,000 people of Russian descent, 
        with Brighton Beach having one of the largest Russian communities in the 
        United States;
Whereas a 2004 study indicates that many of the history textbooks used in New 
        York City high schools lack adequate coverage of Russian history and 
        only teach one perspective of Russian history;
Whereas these errors of omission are predominantly evident in the post-Communist 
        era coverage of Russia, specifically with little or no coverage of 
        President Yeltsin and President Putin and often times with no mention of 
        the democratic, economic, and social reforms of Russia; and
Whereas it is in the best interests of United States students to advance their 
        understanding of Russian history: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) applauds the efforts of officials of public and private 
        schools in the United States who are trying to improve the 
        history curriculum in United States secondary schools;
            (2) calls on school officials to reexamine their history 
        curriculum in order to ensure fair and up-to-date teaching of 
        the developments of modern day Russia; and
            (3) calls on publishers of history textbooks to include 
        more information and additional points of view regarding 
        Russian history in new versions of textbooks or make such 
        information available as supplementary materials.
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