WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Jim Risch (R-Idaho) and Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-Kan.), in partnership with U.S. Representative Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas), introduced the National Treasures Act to prohibit the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) from attaching a content warning to any document drafted by a Founding Father. This legislation is being introduced as a result of the NARA placing a “harmful content” warning on the U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Declaration of Independence in the National Archives’ online catalog and web pages, claiming that “materials presented here may reflect outdated, biased, offensive, and possibly violent views and opinions.”

“The suggestion that the United States’ founding documents contain ‘harmful content’ is ludicrous and wrong,” said Risch. “Our Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Declaration of Independence are among the most magnificent documents ever written – dishonoring them with ‘trigger warnings’ to appease Democrats’ woke agenda is a serious miscalculation.”

“Censorship of the very ideals our nation was founded on is a direct assault on the rights and freedoms associated with being an American,” said Marshall. “This attack on our country’s founding principles and attempt to diminish the hard fought history of the American people falls in line with the Democrats’ obsession with corrupting U.S. history for the sake of their ‘woke’ agenda. This legislation puts an end to another battle in the cultural war against radical leftists, and we owe it to our Founding Fathers to come out victorious."

“The left is engaging in a Marxist cultural revolution, attempting to undermine our founding and our history and our sense of what it means to be an American. These little steps, slapping warning labels on our founding documents, are all part of their effort to tear down our founding principles, and it must be stopped,” said Crenshaw. “This bill makes sure the National Archives is prohibited from including content warnings alongside founding documents of the United States. Whoever decided to put those warning labels up in the first place should also resign.”

Background: In addition to the National Treasures Act prohibiting the NARA from attaching a content warning to any document drafted by a Founding Father, the legislation would prevent the NARA from making any changes to the National Archives Rotunda or other spaces under their jurisdiction that display these founding documents, unless those changes are necessary for maintenance or routine operations. This prohibits the NARA’s plan to “reimagine” the portrayal of our founding through the placement of “trigger warnings” throughout the National Archives Rotunda.

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