US Congressman’s bill would block Biden admin from withholding funding for schools with hunting, archery programs

A U.S. Republican Representative introduced legislation last week to protect federal funding for schools that have archery and hunting education courses.

Rep. Mark Green, R-Tennessee, said his Protecting Hunting Heritage and Education Act would amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) to clarify archery, hunting, or other shooting sports are eligible for funding.

The legislation comes after a report was published showing the Biden administration was blocking federal funding for schools with such programs, according to Fox News.

The Department of Education claims the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA) passed last year included an amendment to the ESEA which prohibits funding for any programs that provide students with weapons or “training in the use of a dangerous weapon.”

The two GOP sponsors of the BSCA, John Cornyn and Thom Tillis, wrote a letter to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, expressing concern that the agency misinterpreted the purpose of the act, according to Fox News. 

“We were alarmed to learn recently that the Department of Education has misinterpreted the BCSA to require the defunding of certain longstanding educational and enrichment programs — specifically, archery and hunter education classes — for thousands of children, who rely on these programs to develop life skills, learn firearm safety and build self-esteem,” Cornyn and Tillis wrote to Cardona. 

Tommy Floyd, the president of the National Archery in the Schools Program, said this will negatively affect schools and their students. 

“It’s a negative for children,” Floyd said, according to Fox News. “As a former educator of 30-plus years, I was always trying to find a way to engage students. In many communities, it’s a shooting sport, and the skills from shooting sports, that help young people grow to be responsible adults. They also benefit from relationships with role models.” 

Floyd’s organization has 1.3 million students from nearly 9,000 schools across the United States enrolled. Some of those schools have already canceled plans to include archery or hunting education courses in their curriculum due to the Education Department guidance, Fox News reports.