[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 132 (Thursday, July 31, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Page S5068]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 3258. Mr. KENNEDY submitted an amendment intended to be proposed 
by him to the bill S. 2296, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 
2026 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military 
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, 
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for 
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

       At the end of subtitle F of title X, add the following:

     SEC. 1067. CRUCIAL COMMUNISM TEACHING.

       (a) Purposes.--The purposes of this section 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 more than 
     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.
       (b) 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 (Public Law 103-199; 107 Stat. 2331), 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 accurate, relevant, and accessible, so as to promote 
     the understanding of such political ideologies; and
       (C) 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).
       (c) Definitions.--The terms in section 8101 of the 
     Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
     7801) shall apply to this section.
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