Washington, D.C. – The Committee on Rules will meet Tuesday, December 3, 2024 at 4:00 PM ET in H-313, The Capitol on H.R. 5349 – Crucial Communism Teaching Act. The purpose of the bill as stated in a report is: “One-fifth of the world’s population still lives under single-party communist regimes such as China, Cuba, North Korea, Vietnam, Laos, and Venezuela.1 Yet, studies consistently reveal that America’s high school and college students do not know basic facts about the history of communism. To increase awareness of the atrocities of communism, H.R. 5349, the Crucial Communism Teaching Act, directs the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation (VOC) to develop a civic education curriculum and oral history resources for high school students to promote understanding of how communism conflicts with the principles of U.S. democracy.”
The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation “is an educational, research, and human rights nonprofit organization devoted to commemorating the more than 100 million people killed by communism around the world and to pursuing the freedom of those still living under totalitarian regimes.
The Foundation was authorized in 1993 by a unanimous Act of Congress signed as Public Law 103-199 by President William J. Clinton on December 17, 1993. On June 12, 2007, President George W. Bush dedicated the Victims of Communism Memorial statue in Washington, D.C.”
The Foundation currently offers a curriculum that is easily accessible online as well as an online teacher certification program.
The Foundation addresses the need for their work on their website. “Positive attitudes toward communism and socialism are at an all-time high in the United States. We have a solemn obligation to expose the lies of Marxism for the naïve who say they are willing to give collectivism another chance. New generations need to confront the reality of Marxism in practice. Socialism is not a kind, humane philosophy. Marxist socialism is the deadliest ideology in history. In the 21st century, we have an opportunity to learn from the 20th century and rededicate our free society based on individual liberty, free enterprise, the rule of law, democratic self-government, and human rights.”
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