H.R. 7740

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7740 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7740

To authorize the Director of the National Museum of African American 
History and Culture to support African American history education 
programs, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

February 26, 2026

Mr. Mfume (for himself, Ms. Norton, Mr. Nadler, Mr. Bishop, Mr. 
Thompson of Mississippi, Mr. Doggett, Ms. Lofgren, Mr. Davis of 
Illinois, Ms. DeGette, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Meeks, Ms. Schakowsky, Ms. 
McCollum, Mr. Lynch, Mr. Green of Texas, Ms. Moore of Wisconsin, Ms. 
Wasserman Schultz, Ms. Clarke of New York, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Johnson of 
Georgia, Mr. Carson, Mr. Himes, Ms. Pingree, Mr. Tonko, Mr. Quigley, 
Mr. Garamendi, Ms. Sewell, Ms. Wilson of Florida, Ms. Bonamici, Ms. 
DelBene, Ms. Titus, Mrs. Beatty, Ms. Brownley, Ms. Lois Frankel of 
Florida, Ms. Meng, Mr. Peters, Mr. Pocan, Mr. Swalwell, Mr. Takano, Ms. 
Kelly of Illinois, Mr. DeSaulnier, Mrs. Dingell, Mr. Lieu, Mr. Moulton, 
Mrs. Watson Coleman, Mr. Evans of Pennsylvania, Ms. Barragan, Mr. 
Espaillat, Ms. Jayapal, Mr. Krishnamoorthi, Mr. Raskin, Mr. Soto, Ms. 
Scanlon, Mr. Casten, Ms. Craig, Mrs. Fletcher, Ms. Garcia of Texas, 
Mrs. Hayes, Mrs. McBath, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Ms. Omar, Ms. Pressley, Mr. 
Stanton, Ms. Tlaib, Ms. Leger Fernandez, Ms. Ross, Mr. Torres of New 
York, Mr. Carter of Louisiana, Mrs. Cherfilus-McCormick, Ms. Balint, 
Ms. Budzinski, Mr. Casar, Ms. Crockett, Mrs. Foushee, Mr. Frost, Mr. 
Goldman of New York, Mr. Ivey, Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Ms. Kamlager-
Dove, Mr. Landsman, Ms. Lee of Pennsylvania, Mr. Moskowitz, Mrs. 
Ramirez, Ms. Scholten, Mr. Thanedar, Ms. McClellan, Mrs. McIver, Mr. 
Bell, Mr. Conaway, Mr. Figures, Mr. Mannion, Mr. Olszewski, Ms. 
Randall, and Ms. Simon) introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on House Administration

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To authorize the Director of the National Museum of African American 
History and Culture to support African American history education 
programs, and for other purposes.

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 ``African American History Act of 
2026''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

In this Act:
(1) African american history.--The term ``African American 
history'' means the history of African Americans, including the 
history of African peoples beginning in the African diaspora 
through the present day, that illuminates the passage to the 
Americas, slavery, abolition, reconstruction, and the civil 
rights movements. This history also includes a focus on the 
innovations and contributions of African Americans to society 
both past and present, and the impact of African Americans on 
the history and development of the United States.
(2) African american history education program.--The term 
``African American history education program'' means an 
educational program relating to African American life, art, 
history, and culture, including programs--
(A) using digital, electronic, and interactive 
technologies; and
(B) carried out in collaboration with elementary 
schools, secondary schools, and postsecondary schools.
(3) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of 
the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
(4) ESEA terms.--The terms ``early childhood education 
program'', ``elementary school'', ``local educational agency'', 
and ``secondary school'' have the meaning given such terms in 
section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).

SEC. 3. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.

(a) In General.--The Director, in accordance with any program of 
the National Museum of African American History and Culture established 
before, on, or after the date of the enactment of this Act, may use the 
funds appropriated under section 5 to carry out any of the following 
activities at the discretion of the Director:
(1) Developing and making available accurate, relevant, and 
accessible resources to promote the understanding of African 
American history, which may include digital resources and other 
types of resources, such as print resources and traveling 
exhibitions.
(2) Through a social justice and anti-bias lens, convening 
experts, providing opportunities for discourse, and engaging 
with the public through programming, educational resources, and 
social media.
(3) Through a social justice and anti-bias lens, increasing 
resource capacity, technical support, and content creation to 
engage various audiences in person and via online platforms.
(4) Creating, expanding, and disseminating scholarly work 
through research, curricula, in-house and traveling 
exhibitions, publications, and programming.
(5) Providing language translation of the work of the 
National Museum of African American History and Culture, 
including scholarly work, research, traveling exhibitions, 
publications, programming, pamphlets, and other information 
distributed about activities funded under this Act.
(6) Expanding the collection acquisition and collection 
access processes, including staffing, conservation, processing, 
and digitization.
(7) Augmenting one or more of the following African 
American history education program activities:
(A) Development, dissemination, and implementation 
of principles of sound pedagogy for teaching about 
African American history.
(B) Provision of professional development, such as, 
but not limited to, through--
(i) local, regional, and national 
workshops;
(ii) teacher trainings or engagement in 
conjunction with African American history 
education centers and other appropriate 
partners;
(iii) engagement with--
(I) local educational agencies; and
(II) early childhood education 
programs, elementary schools, and 
secondary schools that are independent 
of any local educational agency; and
(iv) operation and expansion of a teacher 
fellowship program to cultivate and support 
leaders in African American history education.
(C) Engagement with State and local education 
leaders to encourage the adoption of resources 
supported under this Act into curricula across diverse 
disciplines.
(8) Creating, developing, implementing, replicating, or 
taking to scale entrepreneurial, evidence-based, field-
initiated innovations for museum improvement, and evaluating 
rigorously such innovations.
(b) Online African American History Education Resources.--
(1) Website.--The Director may use the funds appropriated 
under section 5 to develop and maintain on the website of the 
National Museum of African American History and Culture content 
designated for educators, students, and families to improve 
their awareness and understanding of African American history.
(2) Information distribution.--The Director may use such 
funds to distribute information about the activities funded 
under this Act through the website of the National Museum of 
African American History and Culture, and may respond to 
inquiries for supplementary information concerning such 
activities.
(c) Continuation of Activities.--To the extent that the National 
Museum of African American History and Culture is engaged in an 
activity described in subsection (a) or (b) on the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Director may use the funds appropriated 
under section 5 to continue that activity.

SEC. 4. ANNUAL REPORT AND BRIEFINGS.

(a) Report.--Not later than February 1 of each year, the Director 
shall submit to the Congress, and make available to the public, a 
report describing how the funds made available under this Act have been 
used--
(1) to create and promote educational activities; and
(2) otherwise to carry out this Act.
(b) Briefings.--Not later than 6 months after the date on which 
funding is first distributed under this Act, and annually thereafter, 
the Director or the Director's designee shall brief the Committee on 
House Administration of the House of Representatives and the Committee 
on Rules and Administration of the Senate on the programs and 
activities carried out under this Act.
(c) Sunset.--Subsections (a) and (b) shall cease to be effective on 
September 30, 2030.

SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the significance of accurate education of the history 
of minority groups in America through a social justice and 
anti-bias lens should be recognized, and the United States 
Federal Government should strive for a leadership role in 
initiatives aimed at improving the teaching of African 
American, Hispanic and Latino, Asian American and Pacific 
Islander, and Native American history;
(2) the Director of the Smithsonian Museum of the American 
Indian should be empowered to develop and disseminate 
historically accurate materials aimed at improving the teaching 
of Native American history; and
(3) the Directors of the forthcoming Smithsonian American 
Women's History Museum and the forthcoming Smithsonian National 
Museum of the American Latino, as well as the directors of any 
future Smithsonian Museums covering the history of minority 
groups in America, should be empowered to create and 
disseminate quality education materials in their areas of 
expertise.

SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act 
$4,000,000 for fiscal year 2027 and each of the 4 succeeding fiscal 
years.
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