U.S. Rep. Dale Strong (R-Huntsville) thinks American students aren’t taught proper patriotism in public schools and has introduced legislation to change that dynamic.
The congressman introduced the “Promoting American Patriotism in Our Schools Act,” which requires all elementary and secondary schools receiving federal funding to recite the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of each school day, prominently display the United States flag in all classrooms and gymnasiums, and incorporate educational materials on the history, significance, and proper display of the American flag.
Strong discussed the importance of his bill during a recent appearance on Newsmax’s “Conversations With Nancy Brinker.”
“My grandmother taught second grade for 38 years at Monrovia Elementary School in Huntsville, Alabama,” Strong said. “And I remember starting our day off with prayer and a pledge of allegiance. I can tell you right now, that’s something that’s not going on all over our country. And I think that one of the things that we’re offering in this legislation would be where we start the day off in every classroom with a pledge of allegiance to our country. And then also we would have a flag in every classroom and even in the gymnasiums, in every school.”
“What we’ve got to do is re-emphasize patriotism,” he added. “And I think it starts at a young age. I think we failed in many cases of doing that, and it’s time to take it back to the forefront.”
Strong believes teaching proper American values in schools is one of the best ways to fight back against the rise of socialism.
“When you see what’s going on in our country today — socialism, Marxism. I can only imagine if my grandfather and my great-grandfather were here today to see this,” Strong argued. “This is absolutely against the principles of America. You think about it. This country was based on Christian principles.”
He also pointed to the problem of mass immigration without a focus on assimilation.
“And what we’ve done is we’ve allowed others to come into this country, and in many cases, they’ve failed to assimilate,” he said. “They want to wave a flag of another country. We want them to wave the American flag. We’re the most generous country this world has ever seen. Somewhere between 800,000 to 1.2 million people are allowed to come into America legally every year. But I can tell you this right here: when the last administration allowed 15 million to cross the southern border, it’s totally unsustainable. And this is against everything America stands for.”
Strong’s bill is endorsed by 12 school districts within Alabama’s Fifth District: Madison City Schools, Huntsville City Schools, Madison County Schools, Athens City Schools, Limestone County Schools, Scottsboro City Schools, Jackson County Schools, Decatur City Schools, Hartselle City Schools, Morgan County Schools, Lawrence County Schools, and Lauderdale County Schools.
Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on X @Yaffee
