Promoting Responsible Oversight to Eliminate Communist Teachings for Our Kids Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. HERN of Oklahoma. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of my bill, H.R. 1069, the PROTECT Our Kids Act, and I urge my colleagues, both Republican and Democrat, to support this bill.

Through the Belt and Road Initiative, the Chinese Communist Party has been spreading its malign influence for over a decade. This initiative has one goal: to increase China's economic and political dominance over the United States and the world. Disguised as harmless global infrastructure, transportation, and production networks, this global campaign is anything but harmless.

Education is one of the primary targets of the Belt and Road Initiative, and they are succeeding in their mission to indoctrinate American students with their Communist ideals.

Mr. Speaker, Chinese state media has even bragged about the success of Confucius Institutes and other educational initiatives in spreading the CCP's influence.

This doesn't stop at our college campuses. Right now, China is invading our K-12 schools through Confucius Classrooms. Over the last decade or more, the CCP has infiltrated our public education system, setting up Chinese language and cultural programs in primary and secondary schools.

Similar to the Confucius Institute model at our universities, China rapidly expanded these programs to over 1,000 established worldwide by 2017, with over 500 in the United States. In exchange, their contracts allow China to staff these programs, provide curriculum, and require teachers to sign contracts, ensuring they do not damage the national interests of China.

Make no mistake, this is not out of the kindness of their hearts. The CCP is not interested in helping American students learn Mandarin. They want to brainwash our children, plain and simple.

Since 2013, the authoritarian Government of the People's Republic of China has sent curriculum and PRC-trained teachers into hundreds of K- 12 schools across America as an unofficial component of its global influence campaign.

Concern over the threat posed by Confucius Classrooms is not new. In 2020, Secretaries DeVos and Pompeo sent a letter to State education commissioners, outlining their concern with these types of programs and urging schools to consider the threat they may pose to academic freedom. The State Department found that approval from the PRC's Minister of Education is required when filling teaching positions associated with Confucius Classrooms.

Concerns over the threat posed by Confucius Classrooms are not always exclusive to the United States. In Australia, the New South Wales Department of Education ended the Confucius Classroom presence in public schools due to concerns of potential propaganda. They replaced the programs with Chinese language programs funded and managed solely by Australians.

Similarly, in 2019, the Canadian Province of New Brunswick initiated a two-stage removal of Confucius Institute-funded programs from elementary and middle schools--once again, due to the threat of Chinese propaganda.

The CCP has committed countless violations of human rights, and its authoritarian agenda is antithetical to the democratic principles our country was founded on. Chinese propaganda has no place in our education system.

We have taken important steps toward mitigating Chinese influence at our American universities by cracking down on Confucius Institutes. Now that the Chinese Government has directed its attention toward our elementary and secondary schools, it is time we do the same and protect our children from the malign influence of the CCP.

The PROTECT Our Kids Act would prohibit Federal funding for any elementary or secondary school that continues to host a Confucius Classroom. Schools will be notified of these requirements and given guidance for how to comply.

To be clear, this legislation is only concerned with programs funded or supported by the CCP. Language programs in schools that do not partner with the CCP are not threatened by this legislation. The only objective is to prevent CCP propaganda from being taught to our kids. This should not be controversial.

Mr. Speaker, I will say it again: Protecting our kids from Chinese propaganda should not be controversial. I urge a ``yes'' vote on this legislation.

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