Official Summaries

Protect Equality And Civics Education Act of 2025 or the PEACE Act of 2025

This bill prohibits the use of federal funding made available for the American History and Civics Education program to fund a curriculum, teaching, or counseling that promotes a divisive concept (e.g., race stereotyping or scapegoating) under the priorities noticed in the Department of Education's proposed rule titled Proposed Priorities-American History and Civics Education, published on April 19, 2021.

Current Full Text

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 227 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 227

 To prohibit the use of certain American History and Civics Education 
program funds for curriculum, or teaching or counseling, that promotes 
   or compels a divisive concept under the priorities noticed in the 
  proposed rule submitted by the Department of Education relating to 
       Proposed Priorities-American History and Civics Education.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 23, 2025

    Mr. Risch (for himself, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Sheehy, and Ms. Lummis) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
          Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To prohibit the use of certain American History and Civics Education 
program funds for curriculum, or teaching or counseling, that promotes 
   or compels a divisive concept under the priorities noticed in the 
  proposed rule submitted by the Department of Education relating to 
       Proposed Priorities-American History and Civics Education.

    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 ``Protect Equality And Civics 
Education Act of 2025'' or the ``PEACE Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON USE OF FUNDS.

    Section 2231 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 6661) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(c) Prohibition.--
            ``(1) In general.--None of the funds made available to 
        carry out this subpart may be used to fund curriculum, or 
        teaching or counseling, that promotes or compels a divisive 
        concept under the priorities noticed in the proposed rule 
        submitted by the Department of Education relating to Proposed 
        Priorities-American History and Civics Education (published at 
        86 Fed. Reg. 20348 (April 19, 2021)).
            ``(2) Definitions.--In this section:
                    ``(A) Promotes or compels a divisive concept.--The 
                term `promotes or compels a divisive concept', means 
                race stereotyping or race scapegoating, or promotion of 
                one or more of the following concepts:
                            ``(i) One race is inherently superior to 
                        another race.
                            ``(ii) The United States is fundamentally 
                        racist.
                            ``(iii) An individual, by virtue of his or 
                        her race, is inherently racist or oppressive, 
                        whether consciously or unconsciously.
                            ``(iv) An individual should be 
                        discriminated against or receive adverse 
                        treatment solely or partly because of his or 
                        her race.
                            ``(v) Members of one race cannot and should 
                        not attempt to treat others without respect to 
                        race.
                            ``(vi) An individual's moral character is 
                        necessarily determined by his or her race.
                            ``(vii) An individual, by virtue of his or 
                        her race, bears responsibility for actions 
                        committed in the past by other members of the 
                        same race.
                            ``(viii) Any individual should feel 
                        discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form 
                        of psychological distress on account of his or 
                        her race.
                            ``(ix) Meritocracy or traits such as a hard 
                        work ethic are racist, or were created by a 
                        particular race to oppress another race.
                    ``(B) The term `race scapegoating' means assigning 
                fault, blame, or bias to a race, or to members of a 
                race because of their race.
                    ``(C) The term `race stereotyping' means ascribing 
                character traits, values, moral and ethical codes, 
                privileges, status, or beliefs to a race, or to an 
                individual because of the individual's race.''.
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