PITTSBURGH — Pennsylvania Congressman John Joyce (PA-13) introduced a bill to “safeguard access to historical literature and combat growing threats to Americans’ First Amendment rights.”
In a news release, the bill - called the GRINCH Act for short, or Guarding Readers’ Independence and Choice Act - would “protect authors and literature from the cancel culture that has become intertwined with public education.” It would prohibit states and local government agencies from receiving funding under the Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants program if they banned books.
“Oh, the books they will ban! Cancel culture is rapidly encroaching on American institutions – starting in our elementary schools. To push back, I am working to safeguard children’s access to historic books and characters,” said Joyce in a news release. “As we have seen time and time again, the ‘woke’ horde will target just about anyone, even Dr. Seuss. No American taxpayer should be forced to participate in this scheme against their will. The GRINCH Act will prohibit taxpayer dollars from funding bureaucrats’ attempts to censor children’s literature and determine what our kids are permitted to read. We must not allow the left to wage further attacks on students’ First Amendment rights.”
The news release stated Joyce introduced the bill in response to several Dr. Seuss works being criticized and removed from libraries, schools and websites nationwide for material deemed to be offensive.
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