Armenian Genocide Education Act
This bill requires the Library of Congress to maintain a public website and otherwise support educational initiatives to promote understanding about the Armenian Genocide (the killing of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923).
[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2803 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2803
To direct the Librarian of Congress to carry out activities to support
Armenian Genocide education programs, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 24, 2023
Ms. Eshoo (for herself, Mr. Lieu, Mr. Bilirakis, Mr. Valadao, Mr.
Pallone, Mr. Morelle, Ms. Meng, Mr. Swalwell, Ms. Norton, Ms. Sanchez,
Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Costa, Mr. Sherman, Ms. Pingree, Ms. Lee of
California, Mr. Auchincloss, Ms. Porter, Mrs. Trahan, Mr. Gomez, Mr.
Schneider, Mr. Keating, Mr. McGovern, Ms. Spanberger, Mr. Sarbanes, Mr.
Cardenas, Mr. Cicilline, Ms. Titus, Ms. Stevens, Ms. Chu, Mr.
Gottheimer, Mr. Larsen of Washington, Ms. Malliotakis, Ms. Barragan,
Ms. Tlaib, Mr. Mullin, Ms. Crockett, Mr. Schiff, Ms. Kamlager-Dove,
Mrs. Lee of Nevada, Ms. Sherrill, Mr. Huffman, and Ms. Jacobs)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
House Administration
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Librarian of Congress to carry out activities to support
Armenian Genocide education programs, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Armenian Genocide Education Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The United States has demonstrated a commitment to
remembrance and education about the Armenian Genocide of 1915-
1923 through the United States Government's May 28, 1951,
written statement to the International Court of Justice
regarding the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of
the Crime of Genocide; through President Ronald Reagan's
Proclamation No. 4838 on April 22, 1981; by H.J. Res 148,
adopted on April 8, 1975; H.J. Res 247, adopted on September
10, 1984; H. Res. 296, adopted on October 29, 2019; S. Res.
150, adopted on December 12, 2019; and President Joe Biden's
April 24, 2021, statement recognizing the Armenian Genocide.
(2) H. Res. 296 and S. Res. 150 cite the Ottoman Empire's
``campaign of genocide against Armenian, Greek, Assyrian,
Chaldean, Syriac, Aramean, Maronite and other Christians'', and
call on the United States to--
(A) ``reject efforts to enlist, engage, or
otherwise associate the United States Government with
denial of the Armenian Genocide or any other
genocide''; and
(B) ``encourage education and public understanding
of the facts of the Armenian Genocide, including the
United States role in the humanitarian relief effort,
and the relevance of the Armenian Genocide to modern-
day crimes against humanity''.
(3) Today, those who deny that the Ottoman Empire
systematically planned, organized, and implemented a campaign
of genocide against Armenian, Greek, Assyrian, Chaldean,
Syriac, Aramean, Maronite, and other Christians or who seek to
distort the true nature of these crimes continue to find
forums, especially online. This denial and distortion dishonors
those who were persecuted, murdered, dispossessed, and exiled,
making it even more of a national imperative to educate
students in the United States so that they may explore the
lessons that these crimes provide for all people, sensitize
communities to the circumstances that gave rise to these
crimes, and help youth be less susceptible to the falsehood of
genocide denial and distortion and to the destructive messages
of hate that arise from denial and distortion.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Armenian genocide.--The term ``Armenian Genocide''
means Ottoman Turkey's systematic and deliberate state-
sponsored mass murder, national dispossession, cultural
erasure, and exile of millions of Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians,
Chaldeans, Syriacs, Arameans, Maronites, and other Christians,
between 1915 and 1923.
(2) Armenian genocide education program.--The term
``Armenian Genocide education program'' means a program that
has as its specific and primary purpose the improvement of
awareness and understanding of the history, lessons,
consequences, and ongoing costs of the Armenian Genocide, and
which will serve as a means of promoting justice and preventing
genocide, hate, and bigotry against any group of people.
(3) Denial.--The term ``denial'' refers to discourse and
propaganda that claims that the Armenian Genocide did not take
place.
(4) Distortion.--The term ``distortion'' refers
specifically to any attempt to excuse or minimize, in its
entirety or in its principal elements, the Armenian Genocide,
including efforts to blame the victims for causing their own
genocide, or to portray the Armenian Genocide as a positive
historical event.
(5) Local educational agency.--The term ``local educational
agency'' has the meaning given such term in section 8101 of the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 21
7801).
SEC. 4. PROGRAM DESCRIBED.
(a) Establishment and Operation of Program.--The Librarian of
Congress shall establish and carry out a program to support Armenian
Genocide education programs by--
(1) carrying out the activities described in subsection
(b);
(2) entering into agreements with program participants
under section 5; and
(3) providing online resources under section 6.
(b) Activities.--The activities described in this subsection are as
follows:
(1) The development and national dissemination of accurate,
relevant, and accessible resources to promote understanding
about how and why the Armenian Genocide happened, which shall
include digital resources and may include other types of
resources, such as print resources and traveling exhibitions.
(2) The development, national dissemination, and
implementation of principles of sound pedagogy for teaching
about the Armenian Genocide.
(3) The provision of professional development services for
entities participating in the program under an agreement
entered into under section 5, such as through--
(A) local, regional, and national workshops and
teacher trainings in conjunction with genocide
education centers and other appropriate partners;
(B) engagement with local educational agencies and
high schools and schools that include one of the middle
grades that are independent of any local educational
agency; and
(C) the operation and expansion of a teacher
fellowship program to cultivate and support leaders in
Armenian Genocide education.
(4) Engagement with State and local education leaders to
encourage the adoption of the resources developed and supported
under the program established by this Act into curricula across
diverse disciplines.
(5) Evaluation and research to assess the effectiveness and
impact of the Armenian Genocide education programs and the
other activities carried out under the program established by
this Act, which may include the preparation and use of material
for the annual report required under section 8.
SEC. 5. ENGAGEMENT OF ELIGIBLE PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS.
(a) Agreements With Program Participants.--The Librarian of
Congress may enter into agreements with eligible entities under which
such entities may serve as program participants in the program
established by this Act.
(b) Contents of Agreements.--An agreement entered into under this
section between the Librarian and an eligible entity shall include the
following elements:
(1) A description of the services and assistance provided
to the entity by the Librarian.
(2) A description of the activities to be carried out by
the entity with such services and assistance.
(3) The length of the period in which the agreement shall
be in effect.
(4) Such other elements as may be agreed to by the
Librarian and the entity, consistent with the program
established by this Act.
(c) Eligibility.--An entity is eligible to serve as a program
participant in the program established by this Act if--
(1) the entity is a local educational agency, a school that
is independent of any local educational agency, or an entity
that works with or for a local educational agency or a school
that is independent of any local educational agency; and
(2) the entity submits to the Librarian, at such time and
in such form as the Librarian may require, an application
containing such information and assurances as the Librarian may
require.
(d) Priority.--In selecting among eligible entities for
participating in the program established under this Act, the Librarian
shall give priority to applications from entities who are local
educational agencies, schools that are independent of any local
educational agency, or entities that work with or for a local
educational agency or a school that is independent of any local
educational agency, that do not, at the time application is made, offer
any Armenian Genocide education program.
SEC. 6. ONLINE EDUCATION RESOURCES.
(a) Website.--The Librarian of Congress shall maintain on the
website of the Library of Congress a publicly available special section
designated for Armenian Genocide education resources to improve
awareness and understanding of this Genocide and educate individuals on
the lessons of the Armenian Genocide as a means to raise awareness
about the importance of preventing genocide, hate, and bigotry against
any group of people.
(b) Information Distribution.--The Librarian shall distribute
information about the activities funded under this Act through the
website of the Library of Congress, and shall respond to inquiries for
supplementary information concerning such activities.
(c) Best Practices.--The information distributed by the Librarian
under this section shall include best practices for educators on how to
teach about the Armenian Genocide.
SEC. 7. PRIVATE SUPPORT.
(a) Acceptance of Donations.--The Librarian of Congress may
solicit, accept, hold, administer, invest, and use donated funds and
gifts, bequests, and devises of property, both real and personal, to
support the activities carried out under this Act, subject to
subsection (c).
(b) Establishment of Separate Gift Account.--There is established
in the Treasury (among the accounts of the Library of Congress) a gift
account for the activities carried out under this Act.
(c) Dedication of Funds.--Notwithstanding any other provision of
law--
(1) any funds donated to the Librarian to carry out
activities under this Act shall be deposited entirely into the
gift account established under subsection (b);
(2) the funds contained in such account shall be used
solely to carry out activities under this Act; and
(3) the Librarian may not deposit into such account any
funds donated to the Librarian which are not donated for the
exclusive purpose of carrying out activities under this Act.
SEC. 8. ANNUAL REPORT.
Not later than February 1 of each year (beginning with 2024), the
Librarian of Congress shall submit to the Congress a report describing
the activities carried out under this Act.
SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act
$2,000,000 for fiscal year 2024 and each of the 4 succeeding fiscal
years.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on House Administration.
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