[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Pages 338-339]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               HISTORY STANDARDS IN NEW JERSEY TEXTBOOKS

  Mr. BENNETT. Mr. President, yesterday there was an article in the 
newspaper that caught my attention. I hope sincerely that the article 
was incorrect. All Members have had the experience of being quoted in 
the newspaper and wondering where the reporter got the information that 
was the basis of the story. I hope that is the case with this article.
  It was reported in the State of New Jersey a new set of history 
standards have been adopted and that textbooks in New Jersey high 
schools dealing with American history will now fail to mention the 
names of George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, or Thomas Jefferson. 
Further, it said the word ``war'' had been removed from the textbooks 
and in its place we have the word ``conflict,'' and there would be no 
discussion of wars.
  Mr. President, I hope this is incorrect. It indicates that at least 
someone in New Jersey is prepared to make that

[[Page 339]]

State an isolated island of ignorance about American history. To think 
we can bring citizens into maturity in this country without their 
having any understanding of, indeed, no mention of, the names of George 
Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and the other Founding 
Fathers is absurd.
  One of the best-selling books currently in the marketplace is the 
history of John Adams by David McCullough. On the dust jacket of the 
book, McCullough says, accurately, we as Americans cannot know too much 
about our Founding Fathers. We must never forget them. We must always 
learn as much as we possibly can about them.
  I would say to those who are supporting this position in New Jersey 
schools, how are you going to explain to your students the fact that we 
take the Fourth of July as a holiday in this country if you are not 
going to tell them anything about the Revolutionary War? If you cannot 
even use the word ``war,'' how are you going to explain to these 
students that the country honors those who founded it and who fought 
that war; if you can't tell them the name of the commander of the 
Continental Army and the forces on the American side of that war 
because you think that name somehow no longer matters?
  How are you going to describe what happened on the Fourth of July if 
you cannot use the name of Thomas Jefferson, the author of the 
Declaration of Independence, that was proclaimed to the country on that 
day? How are you going to explain to high school students who decide 
they are going to enter public service, and take an oath of office, 
that they are swearing to uphold and defend the Constitution of the 
United States when you will not have been able to describe the 
Constitutional Convention, the President of which was George 
Washington, and one of the leading figures in which was Benjamin 
Franklin, if you have exorcized the names of Washington and Franklin 
from your textbooks? What meaning does the oath of office have if you 
cannot explain where the Constitution came from or describe the 
convention that created it?
  How are you going to describe some of the major problems that have 
existed in this country stemming from the great battle that was the 
Civil War, that went across five Aprils, and divided this country in a 
fundamental way that has taken us a century or more to heal?
  No, we can't discuss that. We can talk about conflicts, but we will 
not discuss the leaders of that war. We will not discuss many of the 
problems of that war because it isn't politically correct to raise 
those issues anymore.
  We have talked about history in this Chamber before. There have been 
those who have been trying to rewrite our history, trying to change it 
and shape it and slice it and dice it in ways that become politically 
correct in today's mode of conversation. You cannot do that and be 
accurate to the requirement of telling the truth about what really 
happened.
  That is Orwellian. We read the novel by George Orwell, ``1984,'' in 
which the hero of the novel spent all of his time at his job changing 
the past. He worked for the Ministry of Truth and his job was to go 
back and correct the record so as to rob the present society of a true 
understanding of the past in the name of the state, thus the adjective 
``Orwellian'' entered our language.
  What is being proposed in New Jersey is Orwellian. It is stupid and 
it needs to be condemned.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Minnesota.

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