[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 215 (Thursday, November 5, 2020)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 70951-70954]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-24793]



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Vol. 85

Thursday,

No. 215

November 5, 2020

Part IV





The President





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Executive Order 13958--Establishing the President's Advisory 1776 
Commission
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                         Presidential Documents 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 85 , No. 215 / Thursday, November 5, 2020 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

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                Executive Order 13958 of November 2, 2020

                
Establishing the President's Advisory 1776 
                Commission

                By the authority vested in me as President by the 
                Constitution and the laws of the United States of 
                America, and in order to better enable a rising 
                generation to understand the history and principles of 
                the founding of the United States in 1776, and, through 
                this, form a more perfect Union, it is hereby ordered 
                as follows:

                Section 1. Purpose. The American founding envisioned a 
                political order in harmony with the design of ``the 
                Laws of Nature and of Nature's God,'' seeing the rights 
                to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as 
                embodied in and sanctioned by natural law and its 
                traditions.

                The formation of a republic around these principles 
                marked a clear departure from previous forms of 
                government, securing rights through a form of 
                government that derives its legitimate power from the 
                consent of the governed. Throughout its national life, 
                our Republic's exploration of the full meaning of these 
                principles has led it through the ratification of a 
                Constitution, civil war, the abolition of slavery, 
                Reconstruction, and a series of domestic crises and 
                world conflicts. Those events establish a clear 
                historical record of an exceptional Nation dedicated to 
                the ideas and ideals of its founding.

                Against this history, in recent years, a series of 
                polemics grounded in poor scholarship has vilified our 
                Founders and our founding. Despite the virtues and 
                accomplishments of this Nation, many students are now 
                taught in school to hate their own country, and to 
                believe that the men and women who built it were not 
                heroes, but rather villains. This radicalized view of 
                American history lacks perspective, obscures virtues, 
                twists motives, ignores or distorts facts, and 
                magnifies flaws, resulting in the truth being concealed 
                and history disfigured. Failing to identify, challenge, 
                and correct this distorted perspective could fray and 
                ultimately erase the bonds that knit our country and 
                culture together.

                The recent attacks on our founding have highlighted 
                America's history related to race. These one-sided and 
                divisive accounts too often ignore or fail to properly 
                honor and recollect the great legacy of the American 
                national experience--our country's valiant and 
                successful effort to shake off the curse of slavery and 
                to use the lessons of that struggle to guide our work 
                toward equal rights for all citizens in the present. 
                Viewing America as an irredeemably and systemically 
                racist country cannot account for the extraordinary 
                role of the great heroes of the American movement 
                against slavery and for civil rights--a great moral 
                endeavor that, from Abraham Lincoln to Martin Luther 
                King, Jr., was marked by religious fellowship, good 
                will, generosity of heart, an emphasis on our shared 
                principles, and an inclusive vision for the future.

                As these heroes demonstrated, the path to a renewed and 
                confident national unity is through a rediscovery of a 
                shared identity rooted in our founding principles. A 
                loss of national confidence in these principles would 
                place rising generations in jeopardy of a crippling 
                self-doubt that could cause them to abandon faith in 
                the common story that binds us to one another across 
                our differences. Without our common faith in the equal 
                right of every individual American to life, liberty, 
                and the pursuit of happiness, authoritarian visions of 
                government and society could become increasingly 
                alluring alternatives to self-government based on the 
                consent of the people. Thus it is necessary to provide 
                America's young people access to what

[[Page 70952]]

                is genuinely inspiring and unifying in our history, as 
                well as to the lessons imparted by the American 
                experience of overcoming great national challenges. 
                This is what makes possible the informed and honest 
                patriotism that is essential for a successful republic.

                A restoration of American education grounded in the 
                principles of our founding that is accurate, honest, 
                unifying, inspiring, and ennobling must ultimately 
                succeed at the local level. Parents and local school 
                boards must be empowered to achieve greater choice and 
                variety in curriculum at the State and local levels.

                The role of the Federal Government is to protect and 
                preserve State and local control over the curriculum, 
                program of instruction, administration, and personnel 
                of educational institutions, schools, and school 
                systems. Indeed, that is why my Administration rejects 
                the Common Core curriculum and all efforts to have the 
                Federal Government impose a national curriculum or 
                national standards in education.

                Vigorous participation in local government has always 
                been America's laboratory of liberty and a key to what 
                makes us exceptional. The best way to preserve the 
                story of America's founding principles is to live it in 
                action by local communities reasserting control of how 
                children receive patriotic education in their schools.

                Sec. 2. The President's Advisory 1776 Commission. (a) 
                Within 120 days of the date of this order, the 
                Secretary of Education shall establish in the 
                Department of Education the President's Advisory 1776 
                Commission (``the 1776 Commission'') to better enable a 
                rising generation to understand the history and 
                principles of the founding of the United States in 1776 
                and to strive to form a more perfect Union.

                    (b) The 1776 Commission shall be composed of not 
                more than 20 members, who shall be appointed by the 
                President. Members shall serve for a term of 2 years 
                and shall not be removed except for inefficiency, 
                neglect of duty, or malfeasance. The 1776 Commission 
                may include individuals from outside the Federal 
                Government with relevant experience or subject-matter 
                expertise. The 1776 Commission shall also include the 
                following ex-officio members or such senior officials 
                as those members may designate:

(i) the Secretary of State;

(ii) the Secretary of Defense;

(iii) the Secretary of the Interior;

(iv) the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development;

(v) the Secretary of Education;

(vi) the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy; and

(vii) the Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs.

                    (c) The 1776 Commission shall:

(i) produce a report for the President, within 1 year of the date of this 
order, which shall be publicly disseminated, regarding the core principles 
of the American founding and how these principles may be understood to 
further enjoyment of ``the blessings of liberty'' and to promote our 
striving ``to form a more perfect Union.'' The Commission may solicit 
statements and contributions from intellectual and cultural figures in 
addition to the views of the Commission members;

(ii) advise and offer recommendations to the President and the United 
States Semiquincentennial Commission regarding the Federal Government's 
plans to celebrate the 250th anniversary of American Independence and 
coordinate with relevant external stakeholders on their plans;

(iii) facilitate the development and implementation of a ``Presidential 
1776 Award'' to recognize student knowledge of the American founding, 
including knowledge about the Founders, the Declaration of Independence, 
the Constitutional Convention, and the great soldiers and battles of the 
American Revolutionary War;

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(iv) advise executive departments and agencies (agencies) with regard to 
their efforts to ensure patriotic education--meaning the presentation of 
the history of the American founding and foundational principles, the 
examination of how the United States has grown closer to those principles 
throughout its history, and the explanation of why commitment to America's 
aspirations is beneficial and justified--is provided to the public at 
national parks, battlefields, monuments, museums, installations, landmarks, 
cemeteries, and other places important to the American Revolution and the 
American founding, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law;

(v) advise agencies on prioritizing the American founding in Federal grants 
and initiatives, including those described in section 4 of this order, and 
as appropriate and consistent with applicable law; and

(vi) facilitate, advise upon, and promote other activities to support 
public knowledge and patriotic education on the American Revolution and the 
American founding, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law.

                    (d) The 1776 Commission shall have a Chair and Vice 
                Chair, designated by the President from among its 
                members. An Executive Director, designated by the 
                Secretary of Education in consultation with the 
                Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy, shall 
                coordinate the work of the 1776 Commission. The Chair 
                and Vice Chair shall work with the Executive Director 
                to convene regular meetings of the 1776 Commission, 
                determine its agenda, and direct its work, consistent 
                with this order.
                    (e) The Department of Education shall provide 
                funding and administrative support for the 1776 
                Commission, to the extent permitted by law and subject 
                to the availability of appropriations.
                    (f) Members of the 1776 Commission shall serve 
                without compensation but shall be reimbursed for travel 
                expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, as 
                authorized by law for persons serving intermittently in 
                the Government service (5 U.S.C. 5701-5707).
                    (g) Insofar as the Federal Advisory Committee Act, 
                as amended (5 U.S.C. App.), may apply to the 1776 
                Commission, any functions of the President under that 
                Act, except that of reporting to the Congress, shall be 
                performed by the Secretary of Education, in accordance 
                with the guidelines issued by the Administrator of 
                General Services.
                    (h) The 1776 Commission shall terminate 2 years 
                from the date of this order, unless extended by the 
                President.

                Sec. 3. Celebration of Constitution Day. All relevant 
                agencies shall monitor compliance with Title I of 
                Division J of Public Law 108-447, which provides that 
                ``each educational institution that receives Federal 
                funds for a fiscal year shall hold an educational 
                program on the United States Constitution on September 
                17 of such year for the students served by the 
                educational institution,'' including by verifying 
                compliance with each educational institution that 
                receives Federal funds. All relevant agencies shall 
                take action, as appropriate, to enhance compliance with 
                that law.

                Sec. 4. Prioritize the American Founding in Available 
                Federal Resources. The following agencies shall 
                prioritize Federal resources, consistent with 
                applicable law, to promote patriotic education:

                    (a) the Department of Education, through the 
                American History and Civics Academies and American 
                History and Civics Education-National Activities;
                    (b) the Department of Defense, through the Pilot 
                Program on Enhanced Civics Education; and
                    (c) the Department of State, through the Bureau of 
                Educational and Cultural Affairs, and through 
                opportunities in the Fulbright, U.S. Speakers, and 
                International Visitors Leadership programs, as well as 
                in American Spaces.

                Sec. 5. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order 
                shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

[[Page 70954]]

(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or 
the head thereof; or

(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget 
relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

                    (b) This order shall be implemented consistent with 
                applicable law and subject to the availability of 
                appropriations.
                    (c) This order is not intended to, and does not, 
                create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, 
                enforceable at law or in equity by any party against 
                the United States, its departments, agencies, or 
                entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any 
                other person.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

                THE WHITE HOUSE,

                    November 2, 2020.

[FR Doc. 2020-24793
Filed 11-4-20; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3295-F1-P