The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“Biden Administration (Executive Session)” mentioning John Thune was published in the Senate section on pages S5079-S5080 on July 27.
Of the 100 senators in 117th Congress, 24 percent were women, and 76 percent were men, according to the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
Senators' salaries are historically higher than the median US income.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
Biden Administration
Mr. President, on a different topic, last week, the Department of Education officially backed away from prioritizing radical and divisive propaganda in applications for a Federal program for civics and American history education. Score one for sanity and for American history.
The Department's original proposed priorities for program applications had focused on aspects of so-called critical race theory and cited such dubious items as the 1619 Project. The notice the Department of Education released last week dropped this discussion and indicated that the Department would not give a competitive advantage to applications that reflect critical race theory.
The bipartisan program in question was established to strengthen American history and civics education, which is in a bad way. Just 15 percent of eighth graders demonstrate proficiency in American history, according to the most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress results. A 2019 survey found that just 4 in 10 American adults were capable of passing a U.S. citizenship test. Yet the Biden administration was apparently ready to compound this problem by pushing ideas rooted in critical race theory--a radical, leftist ideology.
As it is currently being pushed, critical race theory advances the idea that America is not merely flawed but inherently and systematically evil and that fixing this problem requires tearing down our institutions.
I don't need to tell anyone that the United States has an imperfect history, and any genuine approach to American history has to examine those times when we failed to live up to our ideals as well as those times when we have succeeded. But while there are sins in our past that we cannot ignore, like the great sins of slavery and segregation, there is also greatness.
Our Founders did something that was pretty much unprecedented in the history of the world. They sat down and built a country based not on who conquered whom but on a set of principles, on a shared belief in liberty and unalienable human rights. While we haven't always lived up to those beliefs, we have never stopped trying, and we continue to hold out the promise of liberty not only to our country but to the whole world. There is a reason individuals around the globe have fled to these shores for the promise of freedom and have found in the United States the refuge they were searching for.
Critical race theory distorts the reality of American history. It sees our failures but none of our successes. More than that, it actively misrepresents our history. The 1619 Project, for example, advances the totally fabricated claim that a primary motivation for the American Revolution was a desire to preserve slavery. That couldn't be further from the truth. It is no surprise that leading historians have criticized the 1619 Project for its historical distortions and factual inaccuracies.
On top of that, by demonizing the United States, critical race theory also invites students to despise our country and ignore the tremendous freedoms and blessings that we enjoy. We are incredibly fortunate to live in the United States of America, and we let our students down when we fail to give them the perspective to see the blessings our country provides.
By dividing the world into oppressors and oppressed, critical race theory promotes resentment and victimization. It encourages individuals to look at the world through one lens and one lens only and tends to reduce individuals to little more than their racial background.
I am glad that the Department of Education chose not to give preference to applicants with a focus on the radical ideas of critical race theory. This was good news for America's students, who deserve a balanced accounting of our Nation's history, which critical race theory does not provide.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that I be able to complete my remarks before the vote starts.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, there is still a lot of reason to be concerned. The Department's reversal was cloaked in bureaucratic language, leaving room for a future flip-flop by the administration. Too many schools around the country are already considering or adopting outlandish proposals informed by critical race theory, from a math course that suggests that focusing on the right answer in math is grounded in racism to materials implying that the nuclear family is somehow inherently racist.
This is a grave disservice to students of all races, and we need to make sure that Federal education dollars are going to genuine history and civics education and not radical propaganda. We owe all American students better than historically inaccurate history lessons.
I yield the floor.
Alerts Sign-up