Crucial Communism Teaching Act

This bill would have the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation create and share a high school civics curriculum and oral history resources about political systems like communism and totalitarianism. It aims to help schools and communities prepare students to be responsible citizens and to teach that communism has caused over 100,000,000 deaths worldwide and that 1.5 billion people still live under communist rule.

The curriculum would compare these systems with American ideas of freedom and democracy. It would be updated to cover both past and current governments and focus on human rights abuses and threats to democracy—for example, the treatment of Uyghurs in Xinjiang, crackdowns on pro‑democracy protests in Hong Kong, and pressure on Taiwan. The plan also includes personal stories called “Portraits in Patriotism” from people who suffered under these systems, and help for state and local education leaders so high schools can use the materials across classes like social studies, government, history, and economics.

• Who is affected: High school students; high schools and teachers; state and local education leaders; families and civic groups the bill seeks to support.
• What changes: A new civics curriculum and oral histories (“Portraits in Patriotism”); content on abuses and aggression by communist and totalitarian governments, including examples in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan; materials designed to fit into multiple courses.