The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) joined major publishers and national literary and library advocacy groups in urging US representatives to protect students’ freedom to read by opposing a piece of legislation that would compel nationwide book censorship.
Among the groups are Penguin Random House, the National Coalition Against Censorship, Macmillan Publishers, Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal, and the American Library Association.
The organizations and publishers issued a joint statement on April 13, 2026, reading, “We urge the US House of Representatives to vote NO on H.R. 7661 or, better yet, to not take it up for a vote at all.”
The legislation in question would modify the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 by prohibiting the use of funds under the act “to develop, implement, facilitate, host, or promote any program or activity for, or to provide or promote literature or other materials to, children under the age of 18 that includes sexually oriented material, and for other purposes.”