[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3591 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3591

 To establish a grant program to enhance existing secondary education 
  programs for the purpose of teaching high school students about the 
    Constitution of the United States and the constitutions of the 
                           individual States.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 17, 2009

  Mr. Cummings (for himself, Ms. Norton, Mr. Conyers, Ms. Watson, Mr. 
   Rangel, Mr. Meek of Florida, Ms. Waters, Mr. Payne, Mr. Carson of 
    Indiana, and Mr. Watt) introduced the following bill; which was 
            referred to the Committee on Education and Labor

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To establish a grant program to enhance existing secondary education 
  programs for the purpose of teaching high school students about the 
    Constitution of the United States and the constitutions of the 
                           individual States.

    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 ``Constitution and Citizenship Day Act 
of 2009''.

SEC. 2. CONSTITUTION DAY AND CIVIC RESPONSIBILITY SYSTEM FOR STUDENTS.

    Part C of title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 6601 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 
following new subpart:

               ``Subpart 6--Teaching of the Constitution

``SEC. 2371. ESTABLISHMENT AND OPERATION OF CONSTITUTION DAY GRANT 
              PROGRAM.

    ``(a) Grant Program Authorized.--The Secretary shall establish and 
implement a grant program, to be known as the `Constitution Day Grant 
Program', under which the Secretary shall award grants on a competitive 
basis to local educational agencies and charter schools for the 
purposes of enhancing educational programs to teach students about the 
United States Constitution and the constitution of the State in which 
the grant recipient is located.
    ``(b) Grantee Eligibility Requirements.--Grants under this section 
may only be awarded to a local educational agency or charter school 
with established secondary educational programs to teach students about 
the United States Constitution and the constitution of the State in 
which the grant recipient is located.
    ``(c) Operation of Educational Programs.--An educational program 
funded by a grant under this section shall--
            ``(1) occur on Constitution Day, September 17, of each 
        calender year (or on the Monday immediately following 
        Constitution Day, if Constitution Day falls on a Saturday or a 
        Sunday);
            ``(2) include assemblies, discussions, presentations, or 
        events commemorating the Constitution of the United States and 
        the constitution of the State in which the grant recipient is 
        located;
            ``(3) include efforts to reinforce existing Constitutional 
        curricula conducted by the grant recipient; and
            ``(4) make available to eligible students participating in 
        such program the ability to register to vote.
    ``(d) Voter Registration Laws.--A grant recipient under this 
section shall abide by all applicable State and Federal voter 
registration laws.

``SEC. 2372. GRANT APPLICATION PROCESS.

    ``(a) Secretary Created Process.--The Secretary shall develop an 
application process for the grant program under this subpart, 
consistent with the requirements of this section.
    ``(b) Grant Application Requirements.--An application for a grant 
under this subpart shall--
            ``(1) describe the educational activities to be funded by 
        the grant; and
            ``(2) provide assurances that the requirements of section 
        2371(c) will be met, and any additional assurances that the 
        Secretary determines to be necessary to ensure compliance with 
        the requirements of this subpart.

``SEC. 2373. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    ``There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary 
$4,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 through 2014 to carry out this 
subpart.''.
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