[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4705 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4705

   To amend chapter 1511 of title 36, United States Code, to impose 
  certain requirements on the National Education Association, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 18, 2023

Mr. Fitzgerald (for himself, Mr. Tiffany, Mrs. Miller of Illinois, Mr. 
  Steube, and Mr. Grothman) introduced the following bill; which was 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend chapter 1511 of title 36, United States Code, to impose 
  certain requirements on the National Education Association, 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 ``Stopping Teachers Unions from 
Damaging Education Needs Today Act'' or the ``STUDENT Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The National Education Association (referred to in this 
        section as the NEA) was chartered in 1906 by an Act of Congress 
        ``to elevate the character and advance the interests of the 
        profession of teaching; and to promote the cause of education 
        in the United States'' and remains the only labor union that 
        has a Federal charter.
            (2) By continuing to hold its Federal charter, the NEA's 
        actions and advocacy effectively receive Congress' seal of 
        approval.
            (3) The NEA can no longer be considered a patriotic or 
        national organization worthy of its Federal charter as it has 
        drifted substantially from its core mission and become a 
        massive political operation dedicated to electing Democrats and 
        imposing a radical progressive agenda on America's schools.
            (4) In July 2019, NEA members held a conference and voted 
        against adding a business item to the organization that stated: 
        ``The National Education Association will rededicate itself to 
        the pursuit of increased student learning in every public 
        school in America by putting a renewed emphasis on quality 
        education. NEA will make student learning the priority of the 
        association''.
            (5) In the same conference, members voted in support of the 
        right to an abortion, supporting illegal immigration, and 
        expanding professional development for educators to help create 
        student Gender Sexuality Alliance clubs.
            (6) According to disclosures made to the Office of Labor-
        Management Standards, from September 2019 to August 2021, the 
        NEA spent over $116,700,000 on political activities and 
        lobbying, and in the 2020 election cycle, 95.7 percent of 
        candidate campaign contributions by the NEA went to Democrat 
        candidates.
            (7) The NEA adopted measures in July 2021 to support 
        critical race theory, calling it ``reasonable and 
        appropriate'', and to spend $56,500 on researching and shaming 
        organizations fighting the inclusion of critical race theory in 
        schools.
            (8) The NEA and other teacher unions stood in the way of 
        reopening schools in 2020 and 2021 by threatening strikes, 
        donating to Democrat candidates that backed school closures, 
        and influencing Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
        guidance to make it harder for schools to reopen.

SEC. 3. MEMBERSHIP CLASSIFICATION.

    Section 151103 of title 36, United States Code, is amended to read 
as follows:
``Sec. 151103. Membership
    ``(a) In General.--Except as otherwise provided in this section, 
eligibility for membership in the corporation and the rights, 
obligations, and designation of classes of members are as provided in 
the bylaws.
    ``(b) Collection of Dues From State or Local Government 
Employees.--The corporation and its State and local affiliates may only 
accept payment of membership dues or fees from an employee of a State 
or local government (as such terms are defined in section 3371 of title 
5, United States Code) either directly from the employee or indirectly 
via per capita taxes or other fees paid by an affiliate, if--
            ``(1) the employee has been notified by the corporation or 
        its applicable State or local affiliate of their right under 
        the First Amendment to the Constitution to refrain from 
        membership and payment of associated dues or fees;
            ``(2) the employee has clearly and affirmatively consented 
        to membership and payment of associated dues or fees; and
            ``(3) the employee has authorized the transmittal of their 
        membership dues or fees to the corporation or its applicable 
        State or local affiliate without the use, directly or 
        indirectly, of payroll deduction.
    ``(c) Membership Cancellation.--The corporation and its State or 
local affiliates shall process and honor membership and dues payment 
cancellation requests as soon as practicable following receipt.''.

SEC. 4. REQUIREMENTS.

    Section 151105 of title 36, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in the matter before paragraph (1), by striking ``The'' 
        and inserting ``(a) Powers.--The''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(b) Requirements.--The corporation shall comply with the 
following requirements:
            ``(1) The corporation, or a director or officer of the 
        corporation as such, may not contribute to, support, or 
        participate in any political activity or in any manner attempt 
        to influence legislation.
            ``(2) The corporation and its State or local affiliates 
        shall not--
                    ``(A) discriminate against individuals on the basis 
                of race, color, religion, sex, disability, age, or 
                national origin; or
                    ``(B) establish or observe any quota based on race, 
                color, religion, sex, disability, age, or national 
                origin in matters concerning membership, corporate 
                governance, or personnel.
            ``(3) Each officer of the corporation shall be a United 
        States citizen.
            ``(4) The corporation shall maintain its status as an 
        organization exempt from taxation under the Internal Revenue 
        Code of 1986.
            ``(5) The form of government of the corporation must be 
        representative of the membership at-large and may not permit 
        concentration of control in a limited number of members or in a 
        self-perpetuating group not representative of the membership at 
        large.
            ``(6) The corporation is liable for any act of any officer 
        or agent of the corporation acting within the scope of the 
        authority of the corporation.
            ``(7) The corporation shall comply with the law governing 
        service of process in--
                    ``(A) the District of Columbia;
                    ``(B) each State in which it is incorporated; and
                    ``(C) each State in which it carries out 
                activities.
            ``(8) The corporation shall keep--
                    ``(A) correct and complete records of account;
                    ``(B) minutes of the proceedings of members, board 
                of directors, and committees of the corporation having 
                any of the authority of the board of directors of the 
                corporation; and
                    ``(C) at the principal office of the corporation 
                established under section 151107 of this title, a 
                record of the names and addresses of the members of the 
                corporation entitled to vote on matters relating to the 
                corporation.
            ``(9) A member entitled to vote on any matter relating to 
        the corporation, or an agent or attorney of the member, may 
        inspect the records of the corporation for any proper purpose 
        at any time.
            ``(10) The corporation shall submit to Congress an annual 
        report on the activities of the corporation during the 
        preceding fiscal year.
            ``(11) The Attorney General of the United States may bring 
        a civil action in the United States District Court for the 
        District of Columbia for appropriate equitable relief if the 
        corporation--
                    ``(A) engages or threatens to engage in any act, 
                practice, or policy that is inconsistent with the 
                purposes described in section 151102; or
                    ``(B) refuses, fails, or neglects to carry out its 
                obligations under this chapter or threatens to do so.
            ``(12) On dissolution or final liquidation of the 
        corporation, any assets remaining after the discharge or 
        satisfactory provision for the discharge of all liabilities 
        shall be either deposited in the Treasury of the United States 
        as a miscellaneous receipt or divided equally among employed 
        individuals who are, at the time of dissolution or final 
        liquidation, members of the corporation or any of its State or 
        local affiliates.
            ``(13) No part of the compensation received for work 
        performed on behalf of the corporation, or any of its State or 
        local affiliates, by any officer or representative of the 
        corporation, or any of its State or local affiliates, who is an 
        employee of a State or local government (as such terms are 
        defined in section 3371 of title 5, United States Code), may be 
        derived from payments made by the State or local government to 
        the corporation or its officers or representatives.
            ``(14) The corporation and its State or local affiliates 
        shall not--
                    ``(A) require or encourage staff, officers, 
                affiliates, or members to affirm, adopt, or adhere to 
                any belief of concept that--
                            ``(i) the United States is fundamentally or 
                        irredeemably racist or sexist;
                            ``(ii) an individual, by virtue of sex, 
                        race, ethnicity, religion, color, or national 
                        origin--
                                    ``(I) is inherently racist, sexist, 
                                or oppressive, whether consciously or 
                                unconsciously; or
                                    ``(II) should be blamed for actions 
                                committed in the past by other members 
                                of the same sex, race, ethnicity, 
                                religion, color, or national origin; or
                            ``(iii) an individual's moral character is 
                        necessarily determined, in whole or in part, by 
                        his or her sex, race, ethnicity, religion, 
                        color, or national origin; or
                    ``(B) advocate for or encourage any local 
                educational agency, public school (including a public 
                charter school), or governmental entity responsible for 
                the oversight of public secondary or elementary schools 
                to require students to affirm, adopt or adhere to any 
                of the beliefs or concepts described in subparagraph 
                (A).
            ``(15) The corporation and its State or local affiliates 
        shall not--
                    ``(A) call, or participate in, a strike, work 
                stoppage, or slowdown affecting a State or local 
                government (as such terms are defined in section 3371 
                of title 5, United States Code); or
                    ``(B) condone any activity described in 
                subparagraph (A) of this paragraph by failing to take 
                action to prevent or stop such activity.
            ``(16) The corporation and its State and local affiliates 
        shall be deemed to be `labor organizations' as such term is 
        defined in section 3 of the Labor-management Reporting and 
        Disclosure Act of 1959 (29 U.S.C. 402) and shall abide by all 
        provisions of that chapter applicable to labor 
        organizations.''.

SEC. 5. REPEAL OF DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA PROPERTY TAX EXEMPTION.

    (a) In General.--Section 151106 of title 36, United States Code, is 
repealed.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--The analysis for chapter 1511 of title 
36, United States Code, is amended by repealing the item relating to 
section 151106.
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