[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 138 (Tuesday, August 3, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5757-S5758]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 2389. Mr. CRUZ submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to 
amendment SA 2137 proposed by Mr. Schumer (for Ms. Sinema (for herself, 
Mr. Portman, Mr. Manchin, Mr. Cassidy, Mrs. Shaheen, Ms. Collins, Mr. 
Tester, Ms. Murkowski, Mr. Warner, and Mr. Romney)) to the bill H.R. 
3684, to authorize funds for Federal-aid highways, highway safety 
programs, and transit programs, and for other purposes; which was 
ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

        At the appropriate place, insert the following:

     SEC. ___. PROHIBITION ON EXECUTIVE AGENCIES ACTING IN 
                   CONTRAVENTION OF EXECUTIVE ORDER 13950.

       (a) Definitions.--
       (1) EO 13950.--The term ``EO 13950'' means Executive Order 
     13950 (5 U.S.C. 4103 note; relating to combating race and sex 
     stereotyping).
       (2) Executive agency.--The term ``Executive agency'' has 
     the meaning given the term in section 105 of title 5, United 
     States Code.
       (b) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
       (1) On September 22, 2020, President Trump issued EO 13950.
       (2) EO 13950 was designed ``to promote economy and 
     efficiency in Federal contracting, to promote unity in the 
     Federal workforce, and to combat offensive and anti-American 
     race and sex stereotyping and scapegoating''.
       (3) Specifically, EO 13950, among other things, prohibited 
     Federal agencies from teaching, advocating, acting upon, or 
     promoting in any training to agency employees certain 
     divisive concepts, such as concepts that include a teaching 
     or belief that ``(1) one race or sex is inherently superior 
     to another race or sex; (2) the United States is 
     fundamentally racist or sexist; (3) an individual, by virtue 
     of his or her race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist, or 
     oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously; (4) an 
     individual should be discriminated against or receive adverse 
     treatment solely or partly because of his or her race or sex; 
     (5) members of one race or sex cannot and should not attempt 
     to treat others without respect to race or sex; (6) an 
     individual's moral character is necessarily determined by his 
     or her race or sex; (7) an individual, by virtue of his or 
     her race or sex, bears responsibility for actions committed 
     in the past by other members of the same race or sex; (8) any 
     individual should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any 
     other form of psychological distress on account of his or her 
     race or sex; or (9) meritocracy or traits such as a hard work 
     ethic are racist or sexist, or were created by a particular 
     race to oppress another race''.
       (4) EO 13950 further required that diversity and inclusion 
     efforts of Federal agencies must ``first and foremost, 
     encourage agency employees not to judge each other by their 
     color, race, ethnicity, sex, or any other characteristic 
     protected by Federal law''.
       (5) EO 13950 was issued soon after the Director of the 
     Office of Management and Budget, Russell Vought, issued a 
     September 4, 2020, memorandum (referred to in this section as 
     the ``September 4, 2020, memorandum'') in which he explained 
     that--
       (A) millions of taxpayer dollars have been spent on 
     training Federal employees to ``believe divisive, anti-
     American propaganda'';
       (B) training sessions have taught that ``virtually all 
     White people contribute [or benefit from] to racism''; and
       (C) training sessions have claimed that ``there is racism 
     embedded in the belief that America is the land of 
     opportunity or the belief that the most qualified person 
     should receive a job''.
       (6) In the September 4, 2020, memorandum, Director Vought 
     further explained that the trainings described in paragraph 
     (5) ``not only run counter to the fundamental beliefs for 
     which our Nation has stood since its inception, but they also 
     engender division and resentment within the Federal 
     workforce''.
       (7) EO 13950 and the September 4, 2020, memorandum stood as 
     a direct rebuke of so-called ``critical race theory''.
       (8) Critical race theory, according to Heritage Foundation 
     visiting fellow Chris Rufo (referred to in this section as 
     ``Rufo''), is ``the idea that the United States is a 
     fundamentally racist country and that all of the 
     institutions, including the law, culture, business, the 
     economy are all designed to maintain white supremacy''.
       (9) Critical race theory is, at its core, anti-American, 
     discriminatory, and based on Marxist ideology.
       (10) Critical race theory relies on a Marxist analytical 
     framework, viewing society in terms of the oppressed and the 
     oppressor, and instills a defeatist mentality in the 
     individuals that critical race theory casts as the oppressed.
       (11) Critical race theory's objective is the destruction 
     and replacement of Western Enlightenment Liberalism with a 
     Marxist-influenced government.
       (12) Critical race theory intentionally seeks to undermine 
     capitalism and western values, such as property rights, free 
     speech, and the very concept of Lockean natural rights.
       (13) At the Department of Homeland Security, Rufo 
     explained, trainers ``insisted that statements such as 
     `America is the land of opportunity,' `Everybody can succeed 
     in this society, if they work hard enough,' and `I believe 
     the most qualified person should get the job' are racist and 
     harmful''.
       (14) At a training session at the National Credit Union 
     Administration, diversity trainer Howard Ross taught that 
     ``It is irrefutable that [American society] is a system based 
     on racism'' and ``good and decent [White] people . . . 
     support the status quo [of] a system of systematized 
     racism''.
       (15) According to Rufo, employees of the Department of the 
     Treasury and Federal financial agencies attended a series of 
     events at which diversity trainer Howard Ross taught 
     employees that all White individuals in the United States are 
     complicit in White supremacy ``by automatic response to the 
     ways we're taught Whiteness includes White privilege and 
     White supremacy''.
       (16) Martin Luther King, Jr., in his ``I have a dream 
     speech'' said, ``I look to a day when people will not be 
     judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of 
     their character''.
       (17) By teaching that certain individuals, by virtue of 
     inherent characteristics, are inherently flawed, critical 
     race theory contradicts the basic principle upon which the 
     United States was founded that all men and women are created 
     equal.
       (18) The teachings of critical race theory stand in 
     contrast to the overarching goal of the Civil Rights Act of 
     1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000A et seq.) to prevent discrimination on 
     the basis of race, color, or national origin in the United 
     States.
       (19) Critical race theory seeks to portray the United 
     States not as a united Nation of individuals, families, and 
     communities striving for a common purpose, but rather a 
     Nation of many victimized groups based on sex, race, national 
     origin, and gender.
       (20) Critical race theory, and its emphasis on 
     predetermining the thoughts, beliefs, and actions of an 
     individual, flouts the guarantee of Constitution of the 
     United States of equal protection under the law to all men 
     and women.
       (21) On January 20, 2021, President Joe Biden issued 
     Executive Order 13985 (86 Fed. Reg. 7009; relating to 
     advancing racial equity and support for underserved 
     communities through the Federal Government) (referred to in 
     this section as ``EO 13985''), which revoked EO 13950.
       (22) The people of the United States should defend the 
     civil rights of all people and seek

[[Page S5758]]

     to eliminate racism wherever it exists. Critical race theory 
     and its propagation within the Federal Government through EO 
     13985 desecrates this paramount pursuit to eliminate racism.
       (c) Prohibition.--No Executive agency may act in 
     contravention of EO 13950, except as EO 13950 relates to 
     contractors and grant recipients.
       (d) Limitation on Funds.--An Executive agency or any other 
     recipient of Federal funds may not use Federal funds to teach 
     or advance the idea, or otherwise award any grant or subgrant 
     using Federal funds to any Executive agency, entity, or 
     individual that teaches or otherwise advances the idea, 
     that--
       (1) one race is inherently superior or inferior to another 
     race;
       (2) an individual or a group of individuals, by virtue of 
     the race of the individual or group of individuals--
       (A) is superior or inferior to another individual, or a 
     group of individuals, who is of a different race;
       (B) bears responsibility or moral culpability for the 
     actions committed by other individuals who are of the same 
     race as the individual or group of individuals; or
       (C) is inherently racist or oppressive, whether consciously 
     or unconsciously;
       (3) the race of an individual or a group of individuals is 
     determinative of the moral worth of the individual or group 
     of individuals;
       (4) the United States is a fundamentally racist country; or
       (5) the founding documents of the United States, including 
     the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the 
     United States, are fundamentally racist documents.
                                 ______