Some time ago, the Senate passed The American History and

Civics Education Act of 2003, which I’ve summarized earlier.

Identical legislation has now been introduced in the House as H.R.

1078. The House leadership apparently regards this legislation as

well-intentioned, bipartisan, Mom-and-apple-pie stuff, and they would

like to get it out of the House as quickly as possible. They don’t

want to take time for hearings and amendments, because they face battles

over appropriations, Iraq, and health care this fall. They intend

to put the bill on the “Suspension Calendar,” which permits no amendments

and requires a 2/3 vote to pass (thus requiring Democratic support).

Many people in the civic education business believe that the bill

would be better if amended. In particular, there is some concern that

it will be funded at the expense of other history programs in the

National Endowment for the Humanities. Thus it would be desirable

to hold hearings and allow amendments in the House.