Establishing the President's Advisory 1776 Commission
| Published date | 05 November 2020 |
| Citation | 85 FR 70951 |
| Record Number | 2020-24793 |
| Section | Presidential Documents |
| Court | Executive Office Of The President |
Federal Register, Volume 85 Issue 215 (Thursday, November 5, 2020)
[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 215 (Thursday, November 5, 2020)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 70951-70954]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-24793]
[[Page 70949]]
Vol. 85
Thursday,
No. 215
November 5, 2020
Part IVThe President-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Executive Order 13958--Establishing the President's Advisory 1776
Commission
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 85 , No. 215 / Thursday, November 5, 2020 /
Presidential Documents
___________________________________________________________________
Title 3--
The President
[[Page 70951]]
Executive Order 13958 of November 2, 2020
Establishing the President's Advisory 1776
Commission
By the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and the laws of the United States of
America, and in order to better enable a rising
generation to understand the history and principles of
the founding of the United States in 1776, and, through
this, form a more perfect Union, it is hereby ordered
as follows:
Section 1. Purpose. The American founding envisioned a
political order in harmony with the design of ``the
Laws of Nature and of Nature's God,'' seeing the rights
to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as
embodied in and sanctioned by natural law and its
traditions.
The formation of a republic around these principles
marked a clear departure from previous forms of
government, securing rights through a form of
government that derives its legitimate power from the
consent of the governed. Throughout its national life,
our Republic's exploration of the full meaning of these
principles has led it through the ratification of a
Constitution, civil war, the abolition of slavery,
Reconstruction, and a series of domestic crises and
world conflicts. Those events establish a clear
historical record of an exceptional Nation dedicated to
the ideas and ideals of its founding.
Against this history, in recent years, a series of
polemics grounded in poor scholarship has vilified our
Founders and our founding. Despite the virtues and
accomplishments of this Nation, many students are now
taught in school to hate their own country, and to
believe that the men and women who built it were not
heroes, but rather villains. This radicalized view of
American history lacks perspective, obscures virtues,
twists motives, ignores or distorts facts, and
magnifies flaws, resulting in the truth being concealed
and history disfigured. Failing to identify, challenge,
and correct this distorted perspective could fray and
ultimately erase the bonds that knit our country and
culture together.
The recent attacks on our founding have highlighted
America's history related to race. These one-sided and
divisive accounts too often ignore or fail to properly
honor and recollect the great legacy of the American
national experience--our country's valiant and
successful effort to shake off the curse of slavery and
to use the lessons of that struggle to guide our work
toward equal rights for all citizens in the present.
Viewing America as an irredeemably and systemically
racist country cannot account for the extraordinary
role of the great heroes of the American movement
against slavery and for civil rights--a great moral
endeavor that, from Abraham Lincoln to Martin Luther
King, Jr., was marked by religious fellowship, good
will, generosity of heart, an emphasis on our shared
principles, and an inclusive vision for the future.
As these heroes demonstrated, the path to a renewed and
confident national unity is through a rediscovery of a
shared identity rooted in our founding principles. A
loss of national confidence in these principles would
place rising generations in jeopardy of a crippling
self-doubt that could cause them to abandon faith in
the common story that binds us to one another across
our differences. Without our common faith in the equal
right of every individual American to life, liberty,
and the pursuit of happiness, authoritarian visions of
government and society could become increasingly
alluring alternatives to self-government based on the
consent of the people. Thus it is necessary to provide
America's young people access to what
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is genuinely inspiring and unifying in our history, as
well as to the lessons imparted by the American
experience of overcoming great national challenges.
This is what makes possible the informed and honest
patriotism that is essential for a successful republic.
A restoration of American education grounded in the
principles of our founding that is accurate, honest,
unifying, inspiring, and ennobling must ultimately
succeed at the local level. Parents and local school
boards must be empowered to achieve greater choice and
variety in curriculum at the State and local levels.
The role of the Federal Government is to protect and
preserve State and local control over the curriculum,
program of instruction, administration, and personnel
of educational institutions, schools, and school
systems. Indeed, that is why my Administration rejects
the Common Core curriculum and all efforts to have the
Federal Government impose a national curriculum or
national standards in education.
Vigorous participation in local government has always
been America's laboratory of liberty and a key to what
makes us exceptional. The best way to preserve the
story of America's founding principles is to live it in
action by local communities reasserting control of how
children receive patriotic education in their schools.
Sec. 2. The President's Advisory 1776 Commission. (a)
Within 120 days of the date of this order, the
Secretary of Education shall establish in the
Department of Education the President's Advisory 1776
Commission (``the 1776 Commission'') to better enable a
rising generation to understand the history and
principles of the founding of the United States in 1776
and to strive to form a more perfect Union.
(b) The 1776 Commission shall be composed of not
more than 20 members, who shall be appointed by the
President. Members shall serve for a term of 2 years
and shall not be removed except for inefficiency,
neglect of duty, or malfeasance. The 1776 Commission
may include individuals from outside the Federal
Government with relevant experience or subject-matter
expertise. The 1776 Commission shall also include the
following ex-officio members or such senior officials
as those members may designate:
(i) the Secretary of State;
(ii) the Secretary of Defense;
(iii) the Secretary of the Interior;
(iv) the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development;
(v) the Secretary of Education;
(vi) the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy; and
(vii) the Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs.
(c) The 1776 Commission shall:
(i) produce a report for the President, within 1 year of the date of this
order, which shall be publicly disseminated, regarding the core principles
of the American founding and how these principles may be understood to
further enjoyment of ``the blessings of liberty'' and to promote our
striving ``to form a more perfect Union.'' The Commission may solicit
statements and contributions from intellectual and cultural figures in
addition to the views of the Commission members;
(ii) advise and offer recommendations to the President and the United
States Semiquincentennial Commission regarding the Federal Government's
plans to celebrate the 250th anniversary of American Independence and
coordinate with relevant external stakeholders on their plans;
(iii) facilitate the development and implementation of a ``Presidential
1776 Award'' to recognize student knowledge of the American founding,
including knowledge about the Founders, the Declaration of Independence,
the Constitutional Convention, and the great soldiers and battles of the
American Revolutionary War;
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(iv) advise executive departments and agencies (agencies) with regard to
their efforts to ensure patriotic education--meaning the presentation of
the history of the American founding and foundational principles, the
examination of how the United States has grown closer to those principles
throughout its history, and the explanation of why commitment to America's
aspirations is beneficial and justified--is provided to the public at
national parks, battlefields, monuments, museums, installations, landmarks,
cemeteries, and other places important to the American Revolution and the
American founding, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law;
(v) advise agencies on prioritizing the American founding in Federal grants
and initiatives, including those described in section 4 of this order, and
as appropriate and consistent with applicable law; and
(vi) facilitate, advise upon, and promote other activities to support
public knowledge and patriotic education on the American Revolution and the
American founding, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law.
(d) The 1776 Commission shall have a Chair and Vice
Chair, designated by the President from among its
members. An Executive Director, designated by the
Secretary of Education in consultation with the
Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy, shall
coordinate the work of the 1776 Commission. The Chair
and Vice Chair shall work with the Executive Director
to convene regular meetings of the 1776 Commission,
determine its agenda, and direct its work, consistent
with this order.
(e) The Department of Education shall provide
funding and administrative support for the 1776
Commission, to the extent permitted by law and subject
to the availability of appropriations.
(f) Members of the 1776 Commission shall serve
without compensation but shall be reimbursed for travel
expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, as
authorized by law for persons serving intermittently in
the Government service (5 U.S.C. 5701-5707).
(g) Insofar as the Federal Advisory Committee Act,
as amended (5 U.S.C. App.), may apply to the 1776
Commission, any functions of the President under that
Act, except that of reporting to the Congress, shall be
performed by the Secretary of Education, in accordance
with the guidelines issued by the Administrator of
General Services.
(h) The 1776 Commission shall terminate 2 years
from the date of this order, unless extended by the
President.
Sec. 3. Celebration of Constitution Day. All relevant
agencies shall monitor compliance with Title I of
Division J of Public Law 108-447, which provides that
``each educational institution that receives Federal
funds for a fiscal year shall hold an educational
program on the United States Constitution on September
17 of such year for the students served by the
educational institution,'' including by verifying
compliance with each educational institution that
receives Federal funds. All relevant agencies shall
take action, as appropriate, to enhance compliance with
that law.
Sec. 4. Prioritize the American Founding in Available
Federal Resources. The following agencies shall
prioritize Federal resources, consistent with
applicable law, to promote patriotic education:
(a) the Department of Education, through the
American History and Civics Academies and American
History and Civics Education-National Activities;
(b) the Department of Defense, through the Pilot
Program on Enhanced Civics Education; and
(c) the Department of State, through the Bureau of
Educational and Cultural Affairs, and through
opportunities in the Fulbright, U.S. Speakers, and
International Visitors Leadership programs, as well as
in American Spaces.
Sec. 5. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order
shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
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(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or
the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget
relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with
applicable law and subject to the availability of
appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not,
create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural,
enforceable at law or in equity by any party against
the United States, its departments, agencies, or
entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any
other person.
(Presidential Sig.)
THE WHITE HOUSE,
November 2, 2020.
[FR Doc. 2020-24793
Filed 11-4-20; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3295-F1-P
