Promoting Responsible Oversight to Eliminate Communist Teachings for Our Kids Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 916, I call up the bill (H.R. 1069) to prohibit the availability of Federal education funds for elementary and secondary schools that receive direct or indirect support from the Government of the People's Republic of China, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

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Mr. WALBERG. 1069.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1069. American classrooms are becoming battlegrounds for foreign influence. For years, my colleagues and I have sounded the alarm about adversaries exploiting our education system. Malign foreign entities like the Chinese Communist Party are working to undermine American values not just on college campuses but across our K-12 schools, as well. This is not only an attack on education and academic integrity, it is a threat to our national security.

Across U.S. colleges, the CCP established Confucius Institutes to push false narratives, whitewash history, and endear American students to the CCP while obscuring its brutal human rights abuses. However, these propaganda operations didn't stop at higher education. In K-12 schools, Confucius classrooms sprang up, aiming to shape the minds of our youngest learners.

At a 2023 Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education hearing, Defending Education highlighted a report exposing nearly two decades of CCP efforts to influence thousands of children. At one point, more than 500 schools hosted Confucius classrooms, many located on U.S. military bases. That is no coincidence. Those programs are a deliberate attempt to undermine American values and compromise our security.

That is why I proudly support H.R. 1069, the Promoting Responsible Oversight To Eliminate Communist Teachings for Our Kids, or the PROTECT Act, from Representative Kevin Hern and Representative Kevin Kiley. This legislation prohibits Federal funds from going to any school that also accepts funding from the Chinese Communist Party. It also sets a clear precedent: The U.S. will not allow a foreign regime to dictate what our children learn.

When schools accept CCP funding, they are effectively letting a totalitarian government decide their curriculum. In China, students are taught only what the Communist Party allows. America must never cede that authority. Confucius classrooms have never been reciprocated in China, where U.S.-style cultural exchanges on this scale are forbidden.

The CCP is not interested in genuine cultural exchange or open dialogue. Its goal is indoctrination, teaching students that China is benevolent, while erasing events like the Tiananmen Square massacre and ignoring the ongoing Uyghur genocide and other human rights abuses. By accepting CCP funding, schools shield students from the truth because the party does not want them to know it.

The PROTECT Act gives schools a clear choice: Federal funds or CCP funds, but not both. In the wake of years of learning loss and education decline, schools should focus on student achievement, not spreading foreign propaganda. Under the Trump administration's leadership, we are restoring focus to the education system, putting students first, and protecting them from authoritarian influences.

I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 1069 to protect students, uphold American values, and safeguard our national security.
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Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Speaker, to my friend and colleague, I think she knows that I share her grief and cannot fathom the grief of the loss of her son, especially during the past 12 years.

Protecting kids is a multifaceted process. We are talking about just one aspect in our school systems today. That does not mean we disregard. We may have different approaches, but I certainly want my friend to know we hear her. I guess I will leave it there at this point.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1069, the PROTECT Our Kids Act, makes clear that schools receiving funding from the Chinese Communist Party will not receive Federal dollars.

For too long, schools have turned a blind eye to the CCP's demands for fear of losing CCP money. However, every dollar came with strings attached: lessons glorifying tyranny, rewriting history, and indoctrinating students instead of teaching American values.

Even more concerning, many of these schools were near U.S. military bases, raising risks of monitoring and surveillance of personnel. This is unacceptable.

To protect our students and our national security, we must pass the PROTECT Our Kids Act. It helps prevent foreign adversaries from exploiting our classrooms and promotes education grounded in truth, freedom, and American values.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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