PROTECT Our Kids Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1069 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                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.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 6, 2025

    Mr. Hern of Oklahoma (for himself and Mr. Kiley of California)
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
                        Education and Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

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.

    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 ``Promoting Responsible Oversight To
Eliminate Communist Teachings for Our Kids Act'' or the ``PROTECT Our
Kids Act''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.

    (a) Prohibition.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no
funds may be made available under an applicable program to any
elementary school or secondary school that--
            (1) has a partnership in effect with a cultural or language
        institute directly or indirectly funded by the Government of
        the People's Republic of China, including a Confucius
        Institute;
            (2) operates a learning center directly or indirectly
        supported by the Government of the People's Republic of China
        (commonly referred to as a ``Confucius Classroom''); or
            (3) otherwise receives support from an individual or entity
        acting directly or indirectly on behalf of the Government of
        the People's Republic of China, including support in the form
        of teaching materials, personnel, funds, or other resources.
    (b) Effective Date.--The prohibition under subsection (a) shall
take effect on the date that is one year after the date of the
enactment of this Act.
    (c) Contracts Made Prior to Date of Enactment.--
            (1) In general.--
                    (A) Waiver request submission.--In the case of an
                elementary school or a secondary school that is a party
                to a contract described in paragraph (2), the school
                timely shall submit to the Secretary a request for a
                waiver of the prohibition under subsection (a) that
                includes--
                            (i) the complete and unredacted text of the
                        contract, and if the contract is not in
                        English, a translated copy of the text into
                        English; and
                            (ii) a statement demonstrating that the
                        contract is for the benefit of the school's
                        mission and students and will promote the
                        security, stability, and economic vitality of
                        the United States.
                    (B) Waiver issuance.--the Secretary, upon receipt
                of a request submitted under subparagraph (A), may
                issue a waiver to the school for a period beginning on
                the effective date specified in subsection (b) and
                ending the date on which the contract terminates.
            (2) Contracts described.--A contract is described in this
        paragraph if the contract--
                    (A) takes effect before the date of the enactment
                of this Act;
                    (B) continues to be effective after the effective
                date specified in subsection (b); and
                    (C) relates to at least one of the circumstances
                described in paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of subsection
                (a).
    (d) Notice to Affected Schools.--Not later than 90 days after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall provide notice
to elementary and secondary schools of the requirements of this section
together with guidance for achieving compliance with such requirements.
    (e) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Applicable program.--The term ``applicable program''
        has the meaning given that term in section 400(c)(1) of the
        General Education Provisions Act (20 U.S.C. 1221(c)(1)).
            (2) ESEA terms.--The terms ``elementary school'',
        ``secondary school'', and ``Secretary'' have the meanings given
        those terms in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary
        Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).
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