Rep's Bacon and Carbajal Jointly Co-Sponsor Bipartisan Bill to Educate Children About Holocaust

Press Release

Today, Congressmen Don Bacon (R-NE) and Salud Carbajal (D-CA) jointly announced their decision to co-sponsor H.R. 5460, the Never Again Education Act. So far, 18 sets of bipartisan Members have agreed to cosponsor this legislation, which will ensure our children and students understand the dangers of rising anti-Semitism and its history.

H.R. 5460 will provide our teachers with the resources and training they need to teach our children the important lessons of the Holocaust and the consequences of intolerance and hate. According to a survey released last April by the Claims Conference in Germany, 49 percent of millennials cannot name a single concentration camp; 31 percent of Americans believe that two million or fewer Jews were killed in the Holocaust; and 52 percent of Americans think Hitler came to power by force.

The lack of knowledge about the horrors of the Holocaust, combined with the recent horrific act of violence in Pittsburgh, have made it clear to both Representative Bacon and Carbajal that this legislation is sorely needed.

"It is troubling that so many of our young people do not know about the horrors of the Holocaust and how millions of Jewish people were murdered," said Rep. Bacon. "My friend Salud and I decided to put our names on this piece of legislation together because it rises above party division. It is fitting to honor the victims of Pittsburgh and the Holocaust with this legislation."

"The tragedy in Pittsburgh and a startling lack of public knowledge about the Holocaust should alarm all Americans, regardless of political party. We must work together to educate our children about the history and consequences of anti-Semitism," said Rep. Carbajal. "I'm proud to be joining this critical, bipartisan legislation in tandem with my friend and Republican colleague, Rep. Bacon."

The legislation will help create a fund at the Department of Education to provide grants to schools and teachers, create a Holocaust education website, develop curriculum, and create an Advisory Board to help develop the program.

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