[House Hearing, 118 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]







                  PROTECTING KIDS: COMBATING GRAPHIC,
                  EXPLICIT CONTENT IN SCHOOL LIBRARIES

=======================================================================

                                HEARING

                               Before The

    SUBCOMMITTEE ON EARLY CHILDHOOD, ELEMENTARY, SECONDARY EDUCATION

                                 of the

                COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND THE WORKFORCE
                     U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                    ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS

                             FIRST SESSION

                               __________



            HEARING HELD IN WASHINGTON, DC, OCTOBER 19, 2023

                               __________

                           Serial No. 118-26

                               __________

  Printed for the use of the Committee on Education and the Workforce








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        Available via: edworkforce.house.gov or www.govinfo.gov   
        
        
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                 U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 
                 
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                COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND THE WORKFORCE

               VIRGINIA FOXX, North Carolina, Chairwoman

JOE WILSON, South Carolina           ROBERT C. ``BOBBY'' SCOTT, 
GLENN THOMPSON, Pennsylvania             Virginia,
TIM WALBERG, Michigan                  Ranking Member
GLENN GROTHMAN, Wisconsin            RAUL M. GRIJALVA, Arizona
ELISE M. STEFANIK, New York          JOE COURTNEY, Connecticut
RICK W. ALLEN, Georgia               GREGORIO KILILI CAMACHO SABLAN,
JIM BANKS, Indiana                     Northern Mariana Islands
JAMES COMER, Kentucky                FREDERICA S. WILSON, Florida
LLOYD SMUCKER, Pennsylvania          SUZANNE BONAMICI, Oregon
BURGESS OWENS, Utah                  MARK TAKANO, California
BOB GOOD, Virginia                   ALMA S. ADAMS, North Carolina
LISA McCLAIN, Michigan               MARK DeSAULNIER, California
MARY MILLER, Illinois                DONALD NORCROSS, New Jersey
MICHELLE STEEL, California           PRAMILA JAYAPAL, Washington
RON ESTES, Kansas                    SUSAN WILD, Pennsylvania
JULIA LETLOW, Louisiana              LUCY McBATH, Georgia
KEVIN KILEY, California              JAHANA HAYES, Connecticut
AARON BEAN, Florida                  ILHAN OMAR, Minnesota
ERIC BURLISON, Missouri              HALEY M. STEVENS, Michigan
NATHANIEL MORAN, Texas               TERESA LEGER FERNANDEZ, New Mexico
JOHN JAMES, Michigan                 KATHY E. MANNING, North Carolina
LORI CHAVEZ-DeREMER, Oregon          FRANK J. MRVAN, Indiana
BRANDON WILLIAMS, New York           JAMAAL BOWMAN, New York
ERIN HOUCHIN, Indiana

                       Cyrus Artz, Staff Director
              Veronique Pluviose, Minority Staff Director
                                 ------                                

  SUBCOMMITTEE ON EARLY CHILDHOOD, ELEMENTARY, AND SECONDARY EDUCATION

                     AARON BEAN, Florida, Chairman

GLENN THOMPSON, Pennsylvania         SUZANNE BONAMICI, Oregon,
BURGESS OWENS, Utah                    Ranking Member
LISA McCLAIN, Michigan               RAUL GRIJALVA, Arizona
MARY MILLER, Illinois                GREGORIO KILILI CAMACHO SABLAN,
MICHELLE STEEL, California             Northern Mariana Islands
KEVIN KILEY, California              JAHANA HAYES, Connecticut
NATHANIEL MORAN, Texas               JAMAAL BOWMAN, New York
BRANDON WILLIAMS, New York           FREDERICA WILSON, Florida
VIRGINIA FOXX, North Carolina        MARK DeSAULNIER, California
                                     DONALD NORCROSS, New Jersey
                                     
                                     
                                     
                                     
                                     
                                     
                                     
                                     
                                     
                                     
                                     
                                     
                                     
                                     
                                     
                                     
                                     
                                     
                         C  O  N  T  E  N  T  S

                              ----------                              
                                                                   Page

Hearing held on October 19, 2023.................................     1

                           OPENING STATEMENTS

    Bean, Hon. Aaron, Chairman, Subcommittee on Early Childhood, 
      Elementary, and Secondary Education........................     1
        Prepared statement of....................................     4
    Bonamici, Hon. Suzanne, Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Early 
      Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education.............     6
        Prepared statement of....................................     9

                               WITNESSES

    Smith, Lindsey, Parent, Chapter Chair for Moms for Liberty...    12
        Prepared statement of....................................    15
    Friedman, Dr. Jonathan, Director of Free Expression and 
      Education Programs, PEN America............................    17
        Prepared statement of....................................    19
    Eden, Max, Research Fellow, American Enterprise Institute....    25
        Prepared statement of....................................   128
    Degenfelder, Megan, State Superintendent of Public 
      Instruction, Wyoming Department of Education...............    32
        Prepared statement of....................................    35

                         ADDITIONAL SUBMISSIONS

    Ranking Member Bonamici:
        Letter dated October 19, 2023, from the American Library 
          Association (ALA)......................................    40
        Letter dated October 17, 2023, from Penguin Random House.    43
    Foxx, Hon. Virginia, a Representative in Congress from the 
      State of North Carolina:
        Statement dated October 19, 2023, from Nicole Solas......    50

                        QUESTIONS FOR THE RECORD

    Responses to questions submitted for the record by:
        Mr. Max Eden.............................................    56
        Dr. Jonathan Friedman....................................    59
        Mrs. Lindsey Smith.......................................    67

 
                  PROTECTING KIDS: COMBATING GRAPHIC, 
                  EXPLICIT CONTENT IN SCHOOL LIBRARIES 

                              ----------                              


                       Thursday, October 19, 2023

                  House of Representatives,
  Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and 
                                Secondary Education
                  Committee on Education and the Workforce,
                                                    Washington, DC.
    The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:18, a.m., 
2175 Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Aaron Bean [Chairman 
of the Subcommittee] presiding.
    Present: Representatives Bean, Owens, Miller, Foxx, 
Bonamici, Grijalva, DeSaulnier, and Norcross.
    Staff present: Cyrus Artz, Staff Director; Nick Barley, 
Deputy Communications Director; Mindy Barry, General Counsel; 
Isabel Foster, Press Assistant; Daniel Fuenzalida, Staff 
Assistant; Sheila Havenner, Director of Information Technology, 
Paxton Henderson, Intern, Amy Raaf Jones, Director of Education 
and Human Services Policy; Andrew Kuzy, Press Assistant; 
Georgie Littlefair, Clerk; RJ Martin, Professional Staff 
Member; Hannah Matesic, Deputy Staff Director; Eli Mitchell, 
Legislative Assistant; Rebecca Powell, Staff Assistant; Brad 
Thomas, Senior Education Policy Advisor; Maura Williams, 
Director of Operations; Jonah Berthelsen, Minority Legal 
Intern; Nekea Brown, Minority Director of Operations; Ilana 
Brunner, Minority General Counsel; Rashage Green, Minority 
Director of Education Policy & Counsel; Christian Haines, 
Minority General Counsel; Stephanie Lalle, Minority 
Communications Director; Raiyana Malone, Minority Press 
Secretary; Shyann McDonald, Minority Staff Assistant; Kota 
Mizutani, Minority Deputy Communications Director; Veronique 
Pluviose, Minority Staff Director; Banyon Vassar, Minority IT 
Administrator; Joan Hoyte, Minority NLRB Detailee; Jay Palmer, 
Minority GAO Detailee.
    Chairman Bean. Ladies and gentlemen, a very good morning. 
Welcome to Washington, DC. The House of Representatives and the 
Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary 
Education, we are glad to have you here. This meeting is hereby 
called to order, and without objection, the Chair is authorized 
to call a recess at any time.
    That recess is going to come really close to probably 11 
o'clock. The Subcommittee hearing today is to hear testimony to 
examine the prevalence of inappropriate content in libraries in 
schools. The Biden administration's troubling response, and 
State and local level solutions.
    Before I get started, I need to make a disclaimer. If you 
are watching at home or if you are in the Committee room, we 
are going to be handling some very sensitive mature issues 
today. We will be discussing widely inappropriate books that 
are accessible in school libraries. This content is 
uncomfortable for Members of Congress, and it is certainly 
inappropriate for young children.
    As such, the Committee recommends anyone with small 
children in the audience, or if you are watching on C-SPAN, or 
if this is a tape recording and you are watching it, you just 
want to reconsider young people watching this meeting. 
Additionally, children should not watch at home.
    We are holding this hearing to make sure that young 
children are never exposed to this type of graphic content, not 
to further expose them to it. With that warning out of the way, 
welcome. We are glad to have you here. We have got some great 
witnesses. I have met with some of you this morning. I think we 
are going to have a great chat, a great discussion as we go 
forward on this hearing.
    Like every flashpoint in the America's culture war, the 
media has distorted the truth, and fueled public outrage, and 
discontent. Today, this Committee will set the record straight 
with the American people. Inappropriate books in school 
libraries, and local communities are within their right to 
remove them.
    Some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle will 
inevitably accuse Republicans of engaging on widespread 
campaign to ban books. You will hear that term today, ban 
books. What does that mean? What are we doing to ban books 
because of animus or prejudice against LGBT students, however 
the evidence suggests books are being removed for no other 
reason than it is just inappropriate.
    It is explicit content. In fact, 7 of the 10 most 
frequently removed books feature explicit heterosexual content. 
Additionally, the LGBT books are being challenged by parents, 
such as Lawn Boy and Gender Queer. They are so sexually 
explicit that their respective authors have advised that nobody 
below a teenager is ready for these books.
    I do not recommend this book to kids, that is what the 
author has said. These books are so obscene that reciting the 
passages, these passages, mere passages has gotten adults 
censored in adult forums. School board officials in Clay 
County, Florida had to cut a microphone. A father who was 
talking about reading from the book that his daughter had 
access to for reading Lucky, for fear the explicit passages 
would violate the FCC laws regarding, since the school board 
meeting was being televised.
    Late night television refused to air an ad featuring 
language from Gender Queer. If these books are too 
inappropriate for adults, then they are certainly inappropriate 
for children. The Committee will ask ourselves today do 
communities have the right to remove inappropriate content from 
library shelves? Of course they do.
    School boards, communities and parents constantly set 
standards of decency, but removing a book from a library shelf 
is not akin to pouring gasoline on it and setting it ablaze. It 
is not criminalizing the ownership of the book it is not even 
making them less accessible.
    If you can check out a book from a public library, it is 
not banned. If you can order a book from Amazon and have it 
delivered to your home the next day, it is not banned. In fact, 
the most removed books are still wildly popular on Amazon. Age-
appropriate content, moderation by local school officials and 
the districts is a right deeply engrained in the principles of 
localism and federalism.
    Federalizing the book review process by putting it in the 
hands of D.C. bureaucrats that are taking parents out of the 
equation would be the worst possible solution, yet that is 
exactly what the Biden administration is doing. President Biden 
appointed a book review czar to monitor the actions of local 
school boards and potentially penalize them for simply 
reviewing books.
    I see this as a dangerous step, and a violation of Federal 
principles. Today's hearing should not be about creating more 
bureaucrats or more laws, or scoring cheap political points, 
but how to best empower parents to be the greatest possible 
advocate for their child's education.
    My final appeal goes to parents. Keep demanding that your 
school board reflect the values of your communities. Keep 
involving yourself in your children's education, and most 
importantly keep doing what is best for your kids. With that, I 
yield to the Ranking Member for her opening statement.
    [The prepared statement of Chairman Bean follows:]

    [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
    

    Ms. Bonamici. Thank you, Chair Bean, and thank you to our 
witnesses. More than 7 months ago our Republican colleagues sat 
in this hearing room and vehemently denied any interest in 
addressing the banning of books. Then House Republicans passed 
a bill they said was about parental rights, but in fact should 
be called the Politics Over Parents Act because it is 
essentially a blueprint for book banning.
    Now, today the majority is holding a hearing specifically 
about what books should or should not be allowed in school 
libraries. I will note that this, the U.S. Congress, is not a 
school board meeting. Sadly, this far right conservative 
movement is having a profound real-life effect on children, 
educators, and importantly on school librarians.
    Research shows that as of 2021, more than 4 million 
students had their freedom to read curtailed because of book 
bans. That includes students across more than 5,000 schools, 
138 school districts and 32 states. Specifically, PEN America 
found that 41 percent of banned content focuses on LGBTQI+ 
themes, protagonists, or characters.
    40 percent focuses on characters of color. Rates of 
teachers citing burnout and what they feel are unsafe working 
conditions as a reason for leaving the profession have 
skyrocketed. At least seven states have passed draconian laws 
in the past 2 years, subjecting school librarians to years of 
imprisonment and fines for providing books deemed to be 
explicit, obscene, or harmful. That is incarceration.
    These censorship laws are being enacted by extreme MAGA 
politicians under the pretext of parental rights, while in 
reality it is a coordinated and apparently well-funded vocal 
minority of parents and conservative organizations pushing 
their personal agenda on others.
    We can all agree that books in school libraries should be 
age appropriate, and we all use to agree that the Federal 
Government should not dictate school curricula, or what books 
are in school libraries. Regrettably, it seems that my 
Republican colleagues have abandoned these previously shared 
values, although I do note that Superintendent Degenfelder 
expressly says in her testimony, ``so how do we solve this 
issue? It certainly should not be up to the Federal 
Government.''
    A book's age appropriateness and its ability to tell 
challenging, culturally significant stories representing 
diverse perspectives--those are not mutually exclusive. For 
example, The Hate You Give is a powerful novel taught in middle 
and high schools about a young, black girl who finds her voice 
and stands up for racial justice as she grapples with the 
trauma of witnessing her friend being murdered by police 
officers.
    This important book elevates black voices, and centers a 
historic civil rights struggle, but it has been challenged by 
Republican officials and parents in at least four states. I 
want to remind my colleagues that it is students who are most 
affected by these policies.
    In 1982 a group of students stood up for their rights, and 
they challenged the constitutionality of book bans. The case, 
the Board of Education Island Tree Union Free School District 
Number 26 vs. PICO, went to the U.S. Supreme Court, which 
considered whether a local school board's decision to prohibit 
certain books from its junior high and high school libraries 
because of their content violated the First Amendment free 
speech safeguards.
    The Court decided that local school boards may not remove 
books from school library shelves simply because they dislike 
the idea contained in those books. I am concerned that my 
colleagues are waging these cultural wars in part to undermine 
our public education system, and to try to justify defunding 
public schools and libraries, preferring instead to funnel 
public dollars into low-quality private voucher programs. We 
have seen that before.
    Thankfully, under President Biden's leadership the 
Department of Education is using its legal authority under the 
Civil Rights Act to fight book bans in schools, including in 
Texas and Georgia, and is working to protect the civil rights 
of students. Well, we do not have students testifying today, 
Mr. Chairman, but their voices should be heard.
    I am just going to share just a few, and these are students 
from across the country. This is from a New York Times article 
last year titled, What Students Are Saying About Banning Books 
from School Libraries. Deeya, who is from Arkansas said, 
``Hiding away things that make us uncomfortable doesn't make 
them go away, even if we don't talk about it. Racism, sexual 
assault, genocide and many other complex issues will still 
exist. We have to face the discomfort to keep it from happening 
again. While those supporting the book banning movement claim 
that it is an issue of parental rights, it's really an issue of 
people trying to ban things that make them uncomfortable.''
    Jason, a student from Maine said, ``As a teenager, I'm 
still trying to find my way into this world, and I want to know 
as many other viewpoints as possible, so I know my thoughts are 
my own, and not just a product of a limited amount of 
information. Trying to force a community to get rid of a book 
is a way of forcing one's beliefs on the entire community.''
    Jordan, from Norwood High School said, ``Reading the 
article about book banning and these comments just makes me 
think, geez, the fact that these books are being challenged 
shows how much some people need education on the subjects in 
them.''
    Finally, the Democrats on this Subcommittee will continue 
to reiterate our focus during each hearing this Congress. Let 
us work together on important issues that will help our 
students succeed. According to the American Library 
Association, 2 and a half million students nationwide are 
enrolled in school districts where there are no school 
libraries.
    At a time when many students are not proficient in reading 
and still struggling with literacy, we should focus on 
supporting librarians and educators, and their work to help 
every student read and feel safe and welcome in their school. 
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I look forward to the discussion.
    [The prepared statement of Ranking Member Bonamici 
follows:]

    [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    Chairman Bean. Thank you, Ranking Member Bonamici. Pursuant 
to Committee Rule 8-C, all Committee members who wish to insert 
written comments into the file may do so by submitting them to 
the Committee Clerk electronically in Word format by 5 p.m., 14 
days after the hearing, which is November 2, 2023. Without 
objection, the hearing record will remain open for 14 days 
after this hearing to allow such statements and other 
extraneous materials referenced during the hearing to be 
submitted for the official hearing record.
    I note for the record that the Subcommittee from my 
colleague from Pennsylvania, Mr. Smucker, waives on to the 
Subcommittee for the purposes of today's hearing. Ladies and 
gentlemen, we have got an all-star panel. We went across the 
Nation to find some minds and opinions that could bring light 
on this subject.
    To help me introduce our all-star panel, I first will yield 
to the gentleman from Utah, Mr. Owens. Ms. Miller from 
Illinois, Ms. Miller, Mary Miller.
    Ms. Miller. Thank you. It is my honor to introduce Mrs. 
Lindsey Smith. Mrs. Smith is a Montgomery County, Maryland, 
Chapter Chair for Moms for Liberty. She worked as a nurse for 
15 years until 2 years ago when she became a full-time at home 
mom. She is a mother of four, author of two books, 45 Days of 
Prayer and Daughter of the King, and she is usually found on a 
sporting field supporting her kids.
    Thank you so much for the work you are doing and for being 
our witness.
    Chair Bean. Ranking Member Bonamici also would like to 
introduce an all-star panelist.
    Ms. Bonamici. Dr. Johnathan Friedman is a Director of Free 
Expression and Education Programs at PEN America. He oversees 
research, advocacy, and education related to academic freedom, 
educational gag orders, book bans, and general free expression 
in schools, colleges, and universities.
    Dr. Friedman was a 2019-2020 fellow of the University of 
California's National Center for Free Speech and Civic 
Engagement. He holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in international 
education from NYU.
    Chairman Bean. Thank you so much. Our third panelist is Mr. 
Max Eden, he is a Research Fellow at the American Enterprise 
Institute right here in Washington, DC. Mr. Eden is a research 
fellow at the American Enterprise Institute where he focuses on 
education reforms, specifically K through 12 and early 
childhood education.
    Before joining AEI, he was a Senior Fellow at the Manhattan 
Institute, in addition to a number of reports and studies on 
education Mr. Eden is the co-author, there he goes, there is so 
many Wall Street Journal, U.S. Today bestseller, Why Meadow 
Died, the People and Policies that Created the Parkland Shooter 
and Endanger American Students. He has been publishing policy 
journals and the popular press including the Hill, The 
Washington Post, and USA Today. Welcome Mr. Max Eden.
    Finally, our final witness. We will now go to Mr. Burgess 
Owens, the gentleman from Utah. Got it. Let me do this if it is 
okay, and I am sorry I did not coordinate with you, but our 
final panelist is Megan. She is the Superintendent from the 
Wyoming, and I met with her earlier. She has the State that is 
rocking in Wyoming. Yes. Burgess Owens, you have got the full 
story. Let us go back to the gentleman from Utah.
    Mr. Owens. Sorry about that guys. Ms. Megan Degenfelder, 
Superintendent, Wyoming Department of Education in Cheyenne, 
Wyoming. Ms. Megan, Megan is elected to the Wyoming State 
Superintendent of the Public Instruction. In November 2022, 
Megan was one of the youngest elected statewide officials in 
Wyoming history.
    Megan grew up in a six generation ranching family in Casper 
and graduated from the University of Wyoming. Megan serves as 
the Chief Policy Officer at the Wyoming Department of Education 
under Superintendent Jillian Balow. She oversaw multiple 
divisions, including standards and assessments, accountability 
and a halfway scholarship, as well as 30-million-dollar budget, 
and a 25 person staff.
    Megan also comes from years of private sector experience in 
the field of coal and gas, oil and gas where she worked to 
lessen regulation burdens, and government overreach. Welcome 
Megan.
    Chair Bean. Welcome, Ms. Smith and Mr. Owens. I talked to 
some of you about the 5-minute rule. There will be a clock. 
Five minutes is if you hear this try to wrap it up. Dr. 
Friedman, welcome, I did not get a chance to talk to you, but 
you are familiar with our 5-minute rule. Let us go ahead and 
get to testimony. Ms. Smith, first of all welcome to the 
Committee. You are recognized for 5 minutes.

THE STATEMENT OF MS. LINDSEY SMITH, PARENT, MONTGOMERY COUNTY, 
                            MARYLAND

    Mrs. Smith. Thanks. Chairman Bean, Ranking Member Bonamici 
and members of the Subcommittee. Thank you for having me today. 
Today I sit in front of you wondering how in the world did we 
get here. How did we get from protecting our children to the 
argument of stop book banning?
    This is not a case of heterosexual verses LGBT Plus, nor is 
this the political issue as many would call it, book banning. 
This is about the innocence and protection of our children. I 
would not expect my child to walk into one of your homes and be 
able to easily access Playboys or pornographic photos, yet here 
we are today discussing the argument of these kinds of books 
being accessible in our public school's library, all in the 
name of education.
    I sit here in front of you as a mother of four, three of 
them were students of the public school system, and what I have 
witnessed in the last 18 months being allowed access into our 
schools is appalling. Instead of education being the focus, we 
have completely lost our focus, and now have an issue of 
sexually explicit books being accessible to children 3 years 
and older.
    Books easily available to children within their own school 
media centers. One example is an innocent looking book with 
bright colors and a puppy dog on the front. To three-and 4-
year-olds this book is appealing to them, yet the language of 
this book is far from appropriate.
    In the hide and find glossary, three-to 4-year-olds are 
encouraged to find images of leather, drag queen and underwear. 
I want you to imagine very briefly with me that your 3-year-old 
son with a speech delay, who is in the school for a language 
delay comes home with this book, and also read it out loud in 
class.
    This was my story, and one of the reasons why I am here 
before you today. When I found that this was available to my 
youngest son, and would be used as curriculum, this mom began 
to speak up. In speaking up in front of my Board of Education 
and asking questions about the appropriateness, and age 
appropriateness, I found out that not only did parents not know 
this existed, but they had been approved by committees not even 
known to the lay public.
    One book brought to my attention during this was Gender 
Queer, and the purchase of eight copies at one high school 
alone by adults. Adults I do not even know will not even look 
at this book. Let me tell you why. On the pages of this graphic 
novel we see a sexual fantasy play out.
    If you need help imagining this book, in one portion of the 
book a strapped-on penis on the partner, with oral sex being 
performed graphically. The nexus of a sexual position of two 
sexual adults with both parties private parts all being 
displaced. This is just one of the 70 plus books in my county's 
media libraries available to kids 18 and younger.
    One schoolteacher alone requested eight copies for his 
class and media center. Keep in mind policy states that any 
book can also be used for resources in classrooms in my county. 
I would like to address too, the lie that parental groups and 
Mom's for Liberty are book banning. If removing a sexually 
explicit book from school library is what you see as book 
banning, then we need to re-evaluate our language.
    These books are available to anyone who wishes to purchase 
them, they are available at my local library, my Amazon 
account, Barnes and Noble, or anywhere else that you wish to 
purchase the book. The books that are being addressed are 
sexually explicit books, like the one example above, and go 
against the very laws and policies that State representatives 
of the people created.
    We call these laws in most states minor indecency and 
obscenity laws. According to my State, Maryland Code Criminal 
Law Title 11 Indecency and Obscenities, Subtitle II, obscene 
matter section, ``Sale or display of obscene item to a minor 
states that obscenity is the act of human genitals, sexual 
intercourse, sodomy, fondling of/or eroded touching of human 
genitals.''
    This law goes on to State that it is prohibited to show any 
minor willingly, or unwillingly, display or exhibit to a minor, 
and person may willingly or knowingly, engage in the business 
of displaying, exhibiting, showing or distributing to a minor, 
an item with obscenity.
    Gender Queer is just one of the many examples that parent 
groups and so-called book banners are actually speaking up 
against. The sexually explicit and detailed content does not 
belong in our schools, and we are here asking you to hold the 
very laws and policies that were created on the very local 
level. We do not show porn in the name of education to 
children, and children as young as 3, like my son, were exposed 
to these books.
    What will start as library books will flow into the 
classrooms. Montgomery County is a perfect example of this, as 
it became the pilot across the Nation for the next phase of 
anything new. It has been since the 70's from the research I 
have heard and seen, and it already is spilling into the 
classrooms of elementary kids in my county.
    It is time for us to actually be the adults and leave the 
sexually explicit books out of the schools, and refocus our 
attention on the failing of our schools to our children in 
regards to reading, writing and mathematics. A generation of 
kids needs to stop being divided over sexuality, and actually 
start to stand up for the innocence of their minds.
    How do we start? Parent representatives from all different 
walks of life should be a part of committees that review these 
books, one of the things that we have seen since we started to 
speak to the Board of Education at the local level is the 
ability for parents to actually begin to review these books and 
have a 30 day window for them to sit in the library before they 
are put onto a library shelf.
    The parents are advocates for their kids. We should not be 
silencing them, but rather refocusing on the innocence of 
children. Thank you, and I look forward to your questions.
    [The prepared statement of Ms. Lindsey Smith follows:]

    [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
    
    Chairman Bean. Well done. Thank you so much. Right on time, 
and a powerful story that you told. Up next is Dr. Jonathan 
Friedman. Dr. Friedman, welcome to the Committee, you are 
recognized for 5 minutes.

STATEMENT OF DR. JONATHAN FRIEDMAN, DIRECTOR OF FREE EXPRESSION 
    AND EDUCATION PROGRAMS, PEN AMERICA, NEW YORK, NEW YORK

    Mr. Friedman. Thank you, Chairman Bean, Ranking Member 
Bonamici, and distinguished members of the Subcommittee. Thank 
you for the opportunity to testify today. My name is Jonathan 
Friedman, and I serve as Director of Free Expression and 
Education Programs at PEN America.
    PEN America stands at the intersection of literature and 
human rights to protect free expression in the United States 
and worldwide. We are a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization 
with an unwavering commitment to free speech--a principle that 
we view as an underpinning of democracy and a cause above 
politics.
    Today we face an alarming attack on free expression on the 
freedom to read, learn, and teach. Organized groups of 
activists and some politicians have launched a campaign to 
exert ideological control over public education, unprecedented 
in its scope, scale, and size.
    In 2021, after speaking with authors about rising efforts 
to ban their books, first in Texas, but soon after in Florida, 
PEN America launched a research project to track and record 
book bans nationwide. Our most recent report on the 22-23 
school year recorded over 3,000 instances of books banned, an 
increase of 33 percent over the year prior, and these bans 
occurred in 33 states across 153 public school districts.
    Since we started our research, we have maintained a clear, 
consistent, and transparent methodology with one guiding 
principle: student access. If on Monday a student has access to 
a book, and on Tuesday she does not as a result of a challenge 
over that book's content, ideas, or themes, then that book has 
been banned.
    For that student, ready access to the book has been 
diminished, or entirely restricted, whether that book is now 
locked in an administrator's office, moved to an upper-grade 
library or permanently removed from circulation, or whether 
that book eventually gets returned to the shelf after some 
indeterminate period of review.
    For the duration, that student can no longer access that 
book. It is banned. Why? Because the circumstances surrounding 
such decisions are rooted in efforts to restrict access to 
information and ideas implicating students' First Amendment 
rights. In our society, the loss of First Amendment rights, 
even minimally, is injurious.
    Let me be clear. Parents play a primary role when it comes 
to their own children's education. That is why schools have 
Parent Teacher Associations, parent teacher conferences, public 
school board meetings. I am a parent of three school age 
children. I check my kid's homework, read books to them, and 
advocate for them when the need arises.
    We can, and we must, distinguish between a single parent 
raising a concern with a school, and the current campaign to 
disrupt public education writ large. Between a parent who wants 
to accommodate a kid's learning needs, and one who grabs the 
list of books online they have not read, and then demands that 
no other family should be able to access them in public 
institutions.
    Our students deserve to be able to access high-quality 
educational resources, to access works of literature that 
reflect their identities and the complexities of their lives. 
Not every book is for every kid. Not every book is for every 
family. The unifying principle is that a wide variety of choice 
means kids and families can determine what is relevant to them.
    That is the purpose and the power of a public library. That 
is freedom. Around the country that freedom, that liberty is 
being turned on its head, remaking school's librarians from 
educators into censors. Again and again, we see targeted, 
organized, and replicated efforts to ban books with 
protagonists of color, books about African American history, 
books about LGBTQ identifies.
    Efforts to take away the very books that many students, 
families, and educators say they want to access. Books that 
they say save lives. Over the past 2 years I have spoken to 
teachers, librarians, parents, and students across the country. 
The stories I have heard are dire. Some have experienced direct 
threats. Others have been told that if they teach certain 
subjects, order certain books, or fail to ban certain books it 
will put their career in jeopardy, or worse, will lead them to 
being charged with a crime.
    I have spoken with authors whose works have been 
mischaracterized and attacked, over 1,200 offers were affected 
by the bans in the past school year alone. Ask any of them why 
they write. Over and over, they say the same reasons: to help 
kids see themselves, and allow others to be seen, to provide 
kids the books they wish they had when they were growing up.
    As Poet Nicky Grime says, ``to plant seeds of empathy and 
compassion.'' That is what is at stake in today's movement to 
ban books. Whether we can live in a diverse society that 
upholds our traditions of freedom and democracy for us all, or 
whether we want to allow a vocal minority, with a 
discriminatory intent to narrow our students' educational 
horizons. Thank you.
    [The prepared statement of Dr. Friedman follows:]

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    Chairman Bean. Dr. Friedman, well done. Right on the money. 
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and ideas. There 
will be questions for you in just a minute. Let us go to Mr. 
Max Eden, welcome to the Committee. You are recognized for 5 
minutes.

STATEMENT OF MR. MAX EDEN, RESEARCH FELLOW, AMERICAN ENTERPRISE 
                  INSTITUTE, WASHINGTON, D.C.

    Mr. Eden. Thank you. Chairman Bean, Ranking Member 
Bonamici, members of the Subcommittee, thank you for inviting 
me to testify. My name is Max Eden, and I am a Research Fellow 
at the American Enterprise Institutes. For years now, American 
parents have been slandered by left wing advocacy organizations 
and the media as book banners.
    My testimony today is simple. Books are not being banned, 
but many parents prefer that school libraries not stock 
pornographic materials, and some school board members agree 
that this is reasonable. Now citizens who hear the word book 
ban can be forgiven for being alarmed, unfortunately, their 
alarm is not rooted in reality, but rather in the twisted abuse 
of the English language.
    The media keeps using the word banned, but that word does 
not mean what you think it means. In common usage, banned means 
made unavailable, and of course the most banned book, Gender 
Queer, is still available on Amazon. The conversation, rather 
centers on school library availability. If ban means made 
unavailable, then virtually every book ever published has been 
banned, but that is not even what that word means here.
    Indeed, a book can be both banned and freely available to 
students. The media has run with the twisted definition of ban 
offered by PEN America. As Dr. Friedman said, if a book is 
present on Monday, pulled for review on Tuesday, and then back 
on the shelves on Wednesday, that book has, according to them, 
been banned.
    If a parental permission requirement is placed on a book, 
that book has allegedly been banned. If a book is moved to a 
guidance counselor's office, that book has been banned. It is a 
good thing that Orwell is still an author. To provide an 
account that is not utterly linguistically dishonest, the 
Heritage Foundation Jay Green, Madison Marino and I, set out to 
assess how man of the 2,532 books that PEN's 2022 report 
labeled as banned, were actually removed from school libraries.
    We did this with one simple trick. We checked the card 
catalogues. As it turns out, nearly three-quarters of the books 
that PEN labeled as banned, were still in the school libraries. 
You may have heard that books are being banned because of race 
or LGBT issues, but that is not really true.
    PEN America labeled the Black Lives Matter inspired The 
Hate You give, as the fifth most banned book. A book that Ms. 
Bonamici referenced in her opening statements. She will be 
relieved to hear that we found that book in every single school 
library present. You have also heard that this is about LGBT 
issues, but when the Washington Post examined over 1,000 review 
requests made by parents, less than 7 percent said LGBT, 
without also using the word sexual, although those book 
requests may have contained words like pornographic or obscene.
    That is what this issue is really about. The provision of 
sexually explicit material to children by public employees. Now 
this is a question of adult judgment. Hustler has close-up 
genital photos, and most believe this is not appropriate for 
school libraries. Romeo and Juliet have lyrical illusions to 
sex, and most believe this is fine for school libraries.
    A line must be drawn somewhere between those two points, 
but where exactly? Take the previously mentioned Gender Queer, 
that graphic novel famously includes a picture of oral sex 
being performed on a wearable sex toy. Is this okay for kids? I 
have lost count of the number of times that parents have tried 
to read these passages at school board meetings, only to be 
cutoff because school board members insist it is too obscene to 
be read out loud, because you know, kids could be listening.
    If you examine the top ten most actually removed books here 
is what you find. Gender Queer, orally inserting a wearable sex 
toy. This book is gay. A how to guide for meeting strangers for 
sex-on-sex apps. Out of Darkness, Rape. Later Gator, a 
discussion of the finer points of oral sex. All Boys aren't 
Blue, Underage Incest, It's Perfectly Normal, Drawings of kids 
masturbating. Lawn Boy, 10-year-olds performing sodomy on each 
other. Jack of Hearts, disposing of a condom soiled from anal 
sex. Prank, a meth fueled rape. Lucky, rape, no meth involved. 
A Court of Mist and Fury, which contains comparatively tame 
sexual intercourse.
    The Biden Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights 
is investigating and threatening to withdraw Federal funding 
from school districts that even think about removing these 
books. For example, the Forsyth School District in Georgia 
reevaluated Me, Earl and the Dying Girl. Why? Well in one 
passage, which maybe I should not read verbatim, one character 
asks another if he knows how to perform oral sex on a woman.
    The other character replies no, but that he has been taught 
by Papa Gaines how to perform oral sex on an anus. Now if you 
are a school board member who thinks that maybe schools do 
not--libraries do not need reference to oral sex being 
performed on anuses, you will be investigated by the Biden 
Department of Education.
    If you are a mom who believes that maybe a reference to 
oral sex and anuses is inappropriate material for a school 
library, you may be accused of being basically akin to a Nazi 
by an organization like PEN America.
    Why is it exactly that leftwing nonprofits, the media, and 
the Biden administration are so keen to enforce stocking school 
libraries with this material? I am not quite sure, but what I 
do know is it is perfectly reasonable for parents to not want 
this material, and it is perfectly reasonable for school board 
members to meet their preferences.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Max Eden follows:]

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    Chairman Bean. Mr. Eden, thank you very much. There will be 
questions for you in just a moment too. Let us go to 
Superintendent Degenfelder. We are glad to have you here, 
welcome. You are recognized for 5 minutes.

  STATEMENT OF MS. MEGAN DEGENFELDER, SUPERINTENDENT, WYOMING 
           DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, CHEYENNE, WYOMING

    Ms. Degenfelder. Good morning. Thank you, Chairman Bean, 
Ranking Member and Committee for the opportunity to speak with 
you today. My name is Megan Degenfelder, and I am the elected 
State Superintendent of Public Instruction for the State of 
Wyoming.
    I ran for this position because I am passionate about 
public education as one of the most important tools of lifting 
people out of poverty and fulfilling the American dream. The 
fundamental purpose of public education is to prepare students 
for jobs, and to be good American citizens. This purpose 
becomes compromised when our parents lose trust and confidence 
in our public schools.
    During the campaign, I spoke with voters all across the 
State regarding their concerns on public education. At the top 
of the list, among all varying communities, was fear of 
inappropriate and sexually explicit materials in schools. This 
issue is destroying trust and confidence in our public 
education. I met a mother whose teenage daughter approached her 
with a book she was uncomfortable with at school.
    The mother, rather than having a knee jerk reaction, and 
storming a school board meeting, read the book herself. What 
she found was appalling. Sexually depicted, graphic acts. As a 
survivor of childhood sexual abuse, this mother was not only 
triggered by the book, but also fearful that other minors 
reading this book may become conditioned to the material, and 
not speak up as victims themselves.
    When they asked the teacher to opt out of the book, several 
other students spoke up almost immediately. They too felt 
uncomfortable. What came of standing up against this book? The 
teacher became their bully, asking the child what the big deal 
was, and why she was pushing this?
    This child now fears going to school and begs to attend 
virtual education. Her younger siblings will now be home 
schooled because this parent has lost trust in public 
education. Is this happening with every teacher in every 
school? Of course not. We have many incredible teachers and 
librarians, but there are books available, paid for by taxpayer 
dollars, with graphic depictions of sexual acts that are made 
available to minor children under the age of sexual consent.
    I have included in your materials, Excerpts from Wyoming, 
one of the most conservative states in the country. Mentioning 
details of this book feels wildly inappropriate in a 
congressional hearing. Why then is it available to our 
children? Graphic and erotic images of any sexual orientation 
are not suitable for minor children and are a complete misuse 
of taxpayer dollars.
    It is common sense that a child should not have access to 
pornography while at school. When did protecting our children 
become so controversial? Why do parents have to opt in for 
field trips and medical care, but not sexually explicit 
materials?
    We must understand that schools are temporary custodians. 
They do not have free reign. Our parents do not cede their 
rights and responsibilities at the schoolhouse door. There is 
absolutely no room for distractions or inappropriate influences 
when ACT scores are at a record low, and the national average 
of students proficient or above on NAPE are only 26 to 35 
percent.
    How do we solve this issue? It certainly should not be left 
up to the Federal Government. I respect local control in 
government, including authority of books and curriculum by 
locally elected school boards. However, through our research we 
found that many districts do not have a robust system, or 
policies in place for appropriate library materials, and they 
need support from the State level.
    My approach at the State level has become working with 
stakeholder groups to create statewide library guidance, to be 
released in the coming weeks with sample definitions, model 
policy, and allowing for a transparent public process. Our 
committee includes parents, librarians, school administrators, 
school board members, all of varying backgrounds and 
viewpoints.
    This issue of sexually explicit material in schools must be 
addressed, so that we can return our focus to the fundamental 
purpose of education and regain trust in public education. I 
will never stop fighting for the safety of Wyoming children. 
Thank you.
    [The prepared statement of Ms. Megal Degenfelder follows:]

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    Chairman Bean. Well done. All of our panelists are all-star 
panelists, get an A plus for coming in on time. If you are 
watching at home, we are talking adult material here, so a 
warning to all that are watching or are here present. I will 
yield myself 5 minutes for questions. Dr. Foxx, get ready. I 
will yield extra time to you. Let us go with Ms. Smith.
    In Montgomery County, Maryland when you have said this is 
wrong to school board officials, and other elected officials 
there, how have they received you? Have you found them being 
welcoming and say we are going to fix this problem, or have 
they rebuffed you?
    Ms. Smith. To be honest, they do not like when I speak up 
because then other parents start getting involved. What we have 
seen since then has been thousands of parents coming to the 
Board of Education, Muslims, Ethiopians, you name it, and 
parents are just shocked and honestly appalled that we are even 
having these discussions at Board of Education.
    Montgomery County is the richest county in the U.S.
    Chairman Bean. Are we making progress in Montgomery County, 
Maryland?
    Ms. Smith. No, sir.
    Chairman Bean. I am sorry to hear that. Let me go to the 
Superintendent from Wyoming. What do we want to take away? What 
does the rest of the Nation need to take away? You are having 
success in Wyoming. What do other states need to do?
    Ms. Degenfelder. Mr. Chairman, I believe wholeheartedly in 
local control and decisionmaking as close to the people as 
possible. As I mentioned, knowing that school board members are 
made up of volunteers, and have a heavy task ahead of them. My 
father served on our local school board. We need to make sure 
that we provide support to them, model policy and guidance from 
the State level.
    At the local level, I think it is incredibly important to 
have transparency, to have processes in place, and to have 
public input. Those things are important, and for our local 
schools and leaders to remember that again, they cannot step 
beyond the bounds of the rights of parents.
    Chairman Bean. Thank you very much, and Mr. Eden, what is a 
better definition? You have already said others have wild 
definitions of what ban means. What is a real definition of ban 
that you want to put forth that we should consider?
    Mr. Eden. Yes. I mean a book could be considered banned 
when you are no longer able to access it.
    Chairman Bean. That is simply not the case. We are just 
talking about what is appropriate for children?
    Mr. Eden. Correct. As I mentioned, about three-quarters of 
the books that are allegedly banned are actually still in 
school libraries.
    Chairman Bean. Amen. Amen. Thank you very much. I yield the 
remaining 3 minutes to our Chairman Dr. Foxx. You are 
recognized.
    Mrs. Foxx. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I want to thank all 
of our witnesses for being here today to discuss this very 
timely subject. It is something very, very important to the 
American people. Mr. Friedman. I have a quick question for you. 
Do you condemn Hamas?
    Mr. Friedman. Yes, I do.
    Mrs. Foxx. Thank you very much. I am glad we agree on that. 
Mr. Chairman, I will yield back to you. I appreciate that. 
Thank you very much.
    Chairman Bean. Thank you very much. The Committee will now 
yield time to Ranking Member Bonamici for questions. You are 
recognized.
    Ms. Bonamici. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Before I begin, I 
want to enter these into the record, two letters. One from the 
American Library Association pointing out, among other things 
that a parent does not have a right to restrict through 
government action what another parent's child may choose to 
read, which would intrude on the other parent's right to decide 
for their own child.
    Chairman Bean. Without objection.
    [The letter of Ms. Bonamici follows:]

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    Ms. Bonamici. Another letter from the Penguin Random House 
opposing censorship.
    Chairman Bean. Without objection.
    [The letter of Ms. Bonamici follows:]

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    Ms. Bonamici. Mr. Chairman, we are 9 months into this 
Congress, and many of our colleagues on your side of the aisle 
continue to focus on culture war issues, rather than working 
together on bipartisan solutions that support public schools, 
students, parents, and educators, by uplifting extremist 
efforts to ban books, rewrite curriculums, and silence diverse 
perspectives.
    That denies students and their families an inclusive 
representative education that allows students to become 
critical thinkers in the next generation of problem solvers, 
who will lead our Nation. We do not need more efforts that turn 
parents against educators, or transfer taxpayer dollars to 
private schools, or attempt to extinguish the rights of LGBTQ 
students.
    Dr. Friedman, I want to start by setting the record 
straight. There have been some allegations that PEN America's 
statistics on book bans are inaccurate or inflated, so please 
clarify the accuracy of your organization's information, data, 
and research methods.
    Mr. Friedman. Sure. I would be happy to. You know I do a 
lot of work on education, trying to help people understand 
freedom of speech. I think one of the aspects that is so 
troubling about this moment is that a fundamental freedom that 
belongs to us all is being misunderstood, misrepresented, and 
twisted.
    Our definitions with regard to the banning of books and the 
restrictions in schools is tethered very tightly to clear, 
First Amendment juris prudence, numerous decisions in the 
history of this country that honestly, they have not been up 
for debate in half a century.
    The idea that schools have to conduct themselves in 
accordance with the transcendent imperatives of the First 
Amendment, that you know, no official high or petty should be 
prescribing what should be orthodox in public institutions. 
With regard to our data, it is based on news reports. It is 
based on scanning board minutes.
    Our data is completely transparent, and critically our data 
is a snapshot in time. If we are saying these books were banned 
in 21-22 school year, we are tracking the range of 
prohibitions. The reason we are doing that is because the range 
of prohibitions is wildly unprecedented.
    PEN America has been doing work on book bans for on and off 
100 years as these issues have flared up, and I can tell you 
that 3 years ago, 4 years ago, there was nothing like this on 
the scene. When a story would come out about a book ban 
somewhere in the country, it really commanded this attention, 
but something changed.
    A movement to encourage people to try to censor information 
and ideas, and so----
    Ms. Bonamici. Okay. I am going to try to get another 
question in too, Dr. Friedman.
    Mr. Friedman. Sure.
    Ms. Bonamici. I just think that thing was in the mid 1960's 
when Justice Potter Stewart said I know it when I see it for, 
you know, what is pornography. I mean there is so many 
different definitions, and who is defining I think is part of 
the problem. Republicans talk about the danger of exposing 
students to books they deem inappropriate because of their 
personal values or preferences, but we really need to highlight 
the danger of ignoring, or worse, erasing history by removing 
school library books that portray representations of 
marginalized people, culture, experiences.
    Books like Home Going, and The Kite Runner. Those are 
outstanding or modern day works of historical fiction. Books 
like All Boys Aren't Blue, a captivating memoir. It is 
affirming for young LGBTQ readers, especially those who are 
black, as they establish their identity and grow up in a world 
that can be unforgiving and discriminatory.
    I think about the Spanish American philosopher George 
Santayana, who wrote back in 1905 in The Life of Reason, 
``those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat 
it.'' Dr. Friedman, how important is it for students to have 
access to a wide variety of books from which they can learn 
about the world before them, and the world around them?
    Mr. Friedman. Oh, it is absolutely critical, and those are 
the kinds of works that we have seen under attack sometimes 
directly through challenges. Other times almost carelessly, you 
know, somebody gets a list of books and is not even checking 
it, and just issues a prohibition on everything on the list, 
and does not even realize that that book, that that list of 400 
books contains picture books for children, biographies of 
historical figures of color in American history. I mean that is 
what we are facing right now, and it is critical that we stand 
up to it.
    Ms. Bonamici. Thank you, and just for each witness, just 
yes or no please because I'm about out of time. Is it important 
for students to have access to a school library that includes 
books from authors and on topics spanning different cultures, 
backgrounds, identities, and perspectives?
    Ms. Smith. Yes, ma'am.
    Ms. Bonamici. Dr. Friedman, is that important?
    Mr. Friedman. Yes, absolutely.
    Mr. Eden. Yes.
    Ms. Degenfelder. Yes.
    Ms. Bonamici. Thank you very much. I yield back the balance 
of my time.
    Chairman Bean. Thank you very much Ranking Member Bonamici. 
Let us go to Utah where Mr. Owens, Burgess Owens, you are 
recognized for questions.
    Mr. Owens. Thank you. Thank you so much Mr. Chairman, and 
your guests and our witnesses. Some say that we are here today 
to talk about so-called book burning in K through 12 school 
libraries. Our nation's most consequential book banning was 
done by Supreme Court in 1963, when officially mandated Bible 
reading, this book, is banned from all of us, anything to deal 
with Federal it's no longer you can see it, can no longer read 
it.
    I think that some that are listening today, they probably 
think this is totally unconstitutional, and I can even hold it 
up. Due to the banning of this book, generations of Americans 
today have no knowledge of the tenants upon which this country 
has been founded.
    It is based on a belief that with God and time we can truly 
become a more perfect union. To ban the knowledge of basic 
truths of happiness, like the Judeo Christian concepts of the 
Golden Rule, which says we should treat others the way we want 
to be treated, or abandon the knowledge of the Ten 
Commandments, among these, Thou shall not steal, Thou shall not 
kill, Thou shall not commit adultery, Thou shall honor their 
father and their mother.
    We instead find the greatest distain for these laws 
wherever Democrats rule. We find the banning of parents for 
school board meetings. We find where Democrats rule, we find 
the banning of parents from knowledge of the mental State of 
their children. Wherever Democrats rule, we find the banning of 
knowledge what other adults, strangers, are doing to sexualize 
our kids.
    These are samples of books that Democrats, the National 
Library of Association, demand that we do not ban. Gender 
Queer, features pictures of oral sex performed on sex toys. 
This Book is Gay, provides a how to guide for strangers for sex 
on gay sex apps. Out of the Darkness contains rape. Lucky 
contains rape. All Boys are Blue contains underage incest. Lawn 
Boy contains a passage with 10-year-old boys performing oral 
sex on each other.
    These books are available to school age children, and there 
is no shame from those who say this is not right. I am very 
proud of the engagement of parents who now recognize that rot 
and filth is being pushed on innocence of vulnerable children.
    There is a reason why the two words, too young, are never 
spoken by those who have no respect for parents, their 
children, or the family unit defined by God to raise and 
protect them. Last year, Utah passed H.B. 374, a bill that 
prohibits child access to pornography in our school systems, 
because in Utah we get it right. We care more about our kids 
than our ideology.
    Bills have been passed to protect children from internet 
pornography at schools, but students need the same protection 
from books. Our Republican majority this year passed H.R. 5, 
the Parents Bill of Rights, that protects students, and ensures 
parents of their rights to know what books are in school 
libraries.
    Not one of my Democratic friends voted yes. Not one.
    Moving forward, our Republican majority will work to stop 
the entrapment of children in institutions who prioritize 
sexual indoctrination, instead of reading, writing, and 
thinking and succeeding.
    Every child, regardless of city, State, zip code, should 
have the right to educational freedom, as released in the power 
of the free market and our democracy, parents will have the 
civil rights to access a quality education for their child.
    Mrs. Smith, one of the things you mentioned--the library 
books do not stay in the library, essentially on the shelves, 
they can be used directly for school curriculum. Is this 
correct? What is the implication of how this might be used 
inappropriate content?
    Mrs. Smith. Yes, sir. Actually, my second grader last year 
was read one of these books off the shelf, and he was very 
uncomfortable, and actually had to leave the library and asked 
to go to the bathroom because he was uncomfortable. I do not 
think we should ever put a 7 year old in that predicament.
    I think that we need to start thinking that these books 
should not be available to these kids in the first place. For a 
7 year old to be bold enough to actually walk out, that we 
should not even put our kid in that situation in the first 
place.
    Mr. Owens. Thank you. Mr. Eden, we have talked a lot about 
book removal. What do you know--what I would like to know is 
how do these books get into school's libraries in the first 
place?
    Mr. Eden. Yes. They get in, in large part, innocently 
enough on the behalf of school librarians, who look at a list, 
and see that certain titles are recommended as being LGBT 
inclusive, and so they purchase the books. They are looking at 
lists from organizations such as the American Library 
Association, which at this point, is a wholly ideological 
organization run by a self-proclaimed Marxist, who has said 
that school libraries need to be sites of socialist organizing.
    There is an agenda, in terms of what is presented to school 
librarians. School librarians take that agenda, possibly 
innocently at first, and then are surprised and defensive when 
they find that they are being objected to, and that is kind of 
how we are here today.
    Mr. Owens. Thank you. I am running out of time. I will just 
say, Dr. Friedman, that you have made the strongest case I 
could think of, of why we need to have educational choice and 
freedom because people like yourself who will look at facts, 
and studies and try to convince all of us that parents will 
know better for their own children.
    This is a fundamental concept in our country. Parents have 
the rights to make sure their kids are educated, not the way 
other people want, particularly when it comes to sexual 
content, but the way we want. Thank you, and I yield back.
    Chairman Bean. Thank you, Mr. Owens. Thank you very much. 
Let us go to Arizona where Mr. Grijalva is recognized for 5 
minutes of questions.
    Mr. Grijalva. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. As a 
former school board member that spent 12 years on a school 
board with Tucson Unified, back home, the importance of public 
schools, and in particular, the value of libraries, and the 
value of a diverse opportunity for all students to be able to 
access information, and to be able to learn.
    That is the environment and the values that I learned being 
a school board member. They represent the values of this 
country. I think access is the most important thing. The other 
important thing is we are protecting the children that attend 
those schools. Treating those children with the importance that 
they deserve and the teachers.
    One of the things that I see is that erosion of that public 
institution, and part of it is trying to control what people 
read and do not read, and one of the things I was going to ask 
you, Dr. Friedman, and I think that is a huge threat to public 
education. Part of this whole dismantling agenda that goes 
around about our public schools.
    I wanted to ask you a question, Dr. Friedman, and thank you 
for your testimony. I represented that school district, and 
much of the traditional because it was predominantly of color, 
the community that I represent now, and the school district 
then was very significant of color. Traditional academic 
cannons did not reach those students.
    The curriculum did not reflect them. The books did not 
reflect them. The subjects and characters did not look like the 
students that were going to those schools. Can you just expand 
briefly upon the potential impacts of banning books in Florida, 
Roberto Clemente. I mean he is a God, and that was put aside 
for a while.
    Certain poetry. Our superintendent of public education in 
Arizona, Tom Horn, feels that we should not talk about race at 
all because it offends some, and that way we do not have to 
talk about history because it is a part of the story. My 
question is: tell us how it impacts students and communities.
    Mr. Friedman. Yes. Our schools are becoming more diverse, 
and research shows that young people are going to be more 
engaged in learning in schools when their libraries and the 
books that they have ready access to reflects their identifies, 
reflect their families, reflect a range of their life 
experiences, deal with the complexities of the lives that they 
are living.
    The purpose of a library is in fact to be that kind of well 
spring of information. That is what school librarians are 
charged with doing. They are not charged with exercising a kind 
of censorious mindset about how different people in the 
community might feel about one content or other, they are 
charged with producing a robust, diverse collection, and that 
is what is critical.
    Mr. Grijalva. Yes. I think--and I asked that question 
because the efforts at least in my home State, and led by the 
superintendent then, and now again, superintendent, has to do 
more with the discussion today is about protecting children, 
the title, from explicit sexual content. Content is also the 
issue.
    Could you talk about examples where banning has to do with 
the content about what you disagree with an idea, a point of 
view, versus trying to twist ourselves into a pretzel to try to 
fit the people's decision in terms of a definition of banning.
    Mr. Friedman. Yes. I think it is just quite clear, and you 
really cannot separate the facts of what is been going on 
around the country the past years in terms of how many stories 
there are of people who are trying to remove books and being 
successful at removing books that are about black stories by 
black authors, about LGBTQ lives.
    You cannot pretend that is not happening. There are stories 
in the news. There was a story just this week in Iowa about 
hundreds of books being removed under one of these laws, and 
that is been the theme for the past 2 years.
    Mr. Grijalva. I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
    Chairman Bean. Thank you very much. Sadly, we are out of 
time. I want to thank each of our panelists for our all-star 
panelists. You did not disappoint, how about that? Each of you 
has added to this conversation. I want to say that for any 
member who wishes to submit questions for the record please 
submit them to the Committee Clerk electronically by November 
2, 2023.
    I will yield time to Ranking Member Bonamici. Any final 
thoughts before we adjourn?
    Ms. Bonamici. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I think this is an 
important discussion, but I want to also share some words from 
the award-winning children's author, Judy Bloom. She said, ``I 
believe that censorship grows out of fear, and because fear is 
contagious, some parents are easily swayed. Book banning 
satisfies their need to feel in control of their children's 
lives. This fear is often disguised as moral outrage. They want 
to believe that if their children don't read about it, their 
children won't know about it, and if they don't know about it, 
it won't happen.''
    Mr. Chairman, this is an important issue. We have freedom 
of speech in this country, but we also have freedom of 
religion. My colleague with the Bible, I am not sure where he 
was going with that, but we need to continue this conversation, 
but we also need to get back to doing what is best for 
children. Let us talk about the schools where they do not even 
have a library. Let us focus on that and work together.
    Finally, Mr. Chairman, I just want to point out what I 
mentioned about how people have different definitions. There is 
a school I believe in Florida, where a teacher was sanctioned 
for showing students pictures of Michaelangelo's famous statue 
of David.
    That is bordering on the absurd, Mr. Chairman.
    I just want to thank the witnesses, and we can all agree 
that we need to do what is best for our students. Let us 
continue the conversations about how we get there, and I yield 
back.
    Chairman Bean. Thank you very much. Here are our takeaways. 
Inappropriate content is a real problem. All of our witnesses 
really testified, I know we have different angles of how we 
come to the solution. Wyoming should be one of our leaders to 
let local control, I believe, local control is one of the 
answers.
    The Biden administration's book banning tzar is a real 
threat, and hopefully will still allow local control for school 
boards. Each of you traveled a long way, and you have added to 
the conversation to Ranking member, thank you for a great 
Committee today, and with that there being no further business 
before us, this Committee is adjourned.



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    [Whereupon, at 11:16 a.m., the Subcommittee was adjourned.]

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