Text of US HB 8705 (2026)

I 119TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8705 To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to prevent the American History and Civics program from funding radical indoc- trination, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 7, 2026 Mr. OWENS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce A BILL To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to prevent the American History and Civics program from funding radical indoctrination, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Civics and History Ad- 4 vancement to Restore Learning, Integrity, and Education 5 Act’’ or the ‘‘CHARLIE Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 May 08, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8705.IH H8705 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 8705 IH SEC. 2. PROHIBITING AMERICAN HISTORY AND CIVICS 1 FUNDS FOR RADICAL INDOCTRINATION. 2 Section 2231 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu- 3 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6661) is amended by add- 4 ing at the end the following: 5 ‘‘(c) PROHIBITIONS.— 6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Of the amount made avail- 7 able to carry out this subpart, no funds may be used 8 for discriminatory equity ideology or gender ide- 9 ology. 10 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this 11 subpart, the Secretary may not give priority to an 12 eligible entity on the basis of race, sex, sexual ori- 13 entation, gender identity, or immigration status, in- 14 cluding with respect to— 15 ‘‘(A) the identity or purpose of the eligible 16 entity; 17 ‘‘(B) the identity of the individuals who 18 control, are employed by, or are served by the 19 eligible entity; or 20 ‘‘(C) the proposed activities to be carried 21 out under such a grant. 22 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 23 ‘‘(1) DISCRIMINATORY EQUITY IDEOLOGY.—The 24 term ‘discriminatory equity ideology’ has the mean- 25 ing given the term in section 2 of Executive Order 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 May 08, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8705.IH H8705 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 8705 IH 14190 (90 Fed. Reg. 8853; relating to ending rad- 1 ical indoctrination in K–12 schooling). 2 ‘‘(2) GENDER IDEOLOGY.—The term ‘gender 3 ideology’ has the meaning given the term in section 4 2 of Executive Order 14168 (90 Fed. Reg. 8615; re- 5 lating to defending women from gender ideology ex- 6 tremism and restoring biological truth to the Fed- 7 eral Government).’’. 8 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 May 08, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8705.IH H8705 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB