HR 5349 United States House · 118th Congress

Crucial Communism Teaching Act

HR 5349, the "Crucial Communism Teaching Act," requires the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation to develop a high school curriculum and oral history resources about communism. The bill directs this foundation to create materials for social studies, history, and government classes that teach students: (1) communism caused over 100 million deaths worldwide, (2) communism and similar ideologies pose dangers to democracy, and (3) 1.5 billion people still live under communist systems. The curriculum must include comparative discussions of political ideologies and feature personal stories from individuals who experienced communist regimes. This bill directly affects high school students and educators in public schools by mandating specific content for civic education.

Issues: ✓ Education

Sub-Topics: Curriculum K-12 Education

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Sep 2023

Committee Review

Dec 2024

House Passage

Dec 2024

Senate Passage

President

Introduced Sep 5, 2023 Last action Dec 9, 2024

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced in House → Engrossed in House · 4 edits · Dec 6, 2024

MODERATE

The engrossed version adds a requirement that the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation's civic education curriculum be updated periodically to include both past and present communist and totalitarian regimes, with specific named examples of China's treatment of Uyghurs in Xinjiang, its suppression of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, and its aggressive posture toward Taiwan. This shifts the curriculum from a general educational standard to one that must explicitly address current events involving specific countries.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded from a general requirement that the curriculum be accurate and accessible to a more specific mandate requiring periodic updates and explicit focus on named current events involving China (Uyghur persecution, Hong Kong, and Taiwan), effectively making the curriculum a tool for addressing contemporary geopolitical issues rather than purely historical education.

REQUIREMENT

The curriculum requirement was changed from being 'accurate, relevant, and accessible' to requiring periodic updates ensuring inclusion of both past and present communist and totalitarian regimes, with a mandated focus on specific current examples.

SCOPE

New sub-paragraph (i) requires the curriculum to address ongoing human rights abuses by such regimes, specifically naming the treatment of Uyghurs in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region by China.

New sub-paragraph (ii) requires the curriculum to address aggression by such regimes against democratic nations, specifically naming China's actions to deter pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong and its aggressive posture toward Taiwan.

TECHNICAL

The U.S.C. citation for the FRIENDSHIP Act was corrected from 40 U.S.C. 1003 note to 40 U.S.C. 8903 note.

Floor votes · House Dec 6, 2024

How they voted

327–62

Passed · 43 other

Total votes 432

Dec 6, 2024

D Democratic213

156 Yea 34 Nay 23

73% Yea

I Independent1

1 Yea

100% Yea

R Republican218

170 Yea 28 Nay 20

77% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Dec 9, 2024

Committee

Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

upper

Dec 6, 2024

Lower · Passed

On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 327 - 62 (Roll no. 492).

lower

Dec 6, 2024

Lower · Passed

Passed/agreed to in House: On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 327 - 62 (Roll no. 492).

lower

Dec 6, 2024

Introduced

DEBATE - The House proceeded with 10 minutes of debate on the Manning amendment No. 1.

lower

Dec 3, 2024

Lower · Passed

Rules Committee Resolution H. Res. 1602 Reported to House. Rule provides for consideration of H.R. 5349 and H.R. 7198. The resolution provides for consideration of H.R. 5349 and H.R. 7198 under a structured rule. Rule provides for one hour of general debate and one motion to recommit on each bill.

lower

Oct 25, 2023

Lower · Passed

Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Education and the Workforce. H. Rept. 118-255.

lower

Sep 14, 2023

Introduced

Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 33 - 9.

lower

Sep 14, 2023

Lower · Passed

Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held

lower

Sep 5, 2023

Committee

Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.

lower

Sep 5, 2023

Introduced

Introduced in House

lower

1 primary · 33 co-sponsors