WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Senate unanimously passed legislation introduced by Senators Thom Tillis, John Cornyn (R-TX), and Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) that clarifies that students may continue to have access to educational enrichment programs and activities such as archery and hunting safety education under the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA). The legislation passed the House of Representatives yesterday.
Senator Tillis spoke on the Senate floor about the legislation.
“The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act was a good faith effort to provide historic funding for mental health, harden safety at schools across the country, and reduce violence while protecting the Second Amendment rights of every law-abiding American,” said Senator Tillis. “The Biden Administration’s partisan interpretation of BSCA to eliminate hunting education in schools is a slap in the face to millions of Americans, particularly in rural areas, and discourages future bipartisan cooperation in Congress when an administration acts in bad faith when implementing laws. I want to thank my colleagues in Congress for quickly passing this legislation.”
Background:
The Protecting Hunting Heritage and Education Act would amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to clarify that the prohibition of use of federal education funds for certain weapons does not apply to the use of such weapons in extracurricular programs such as archery, hunting, other shooting sports, or culinary arts.
The legislation builds on a recent letter Senator Tillis led with 17 of his Senate colleagues urging U.S. Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona to implement the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act as Congress intended and restore federal funding for educational activities like hunting and archery.
Senator Tillis also led a letter with 16 of his Senate colleagues urging leadership of the Senate Committee on Appropriations to clarify that school districts may continue to use their ESEA funding to provide educational enrichment programs and activities, including hunting, outdoor, archery, and culinary education, in the FY24 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies appropriations bill.
###
