Bill on citizenship exam requirement heads to Senate Education Committee

What territory did the United States buy from France in 1803? Why were the Federalist Papers important?

Both questions are on the federal citizenship exam, and you must get a 60 or better to pass. You’d have to do 10 points better to graduate from a state university or community college under a bill before the Senate Education Committee Tuesday. A companion bill requiring the same of high school students already passed both the House and Senate, largely along party lines. 

The bill’s prime sponsor, Rep. Michael Moffett, a Loudon Republican, will tell senators Tuesday he’s been horrified by the lack of civics knowledge among college students he has taught, including those in the University of New Hampshire system. 

“Some will say that a civics requirement is best satisfied by encouraging activism: Send students to a town meeting,” Moffett wrote in remarks shared with the Bulletin ahead of the meeting. “But shouldn’t they know what a warrant article is first? Or what a quorum is?” 

The Senate is scheduled to take up the bill at 9:30 a.m. via a remote hearing. A link to attend is on the Senate’s website. 

Need help with those questions? The United States bought the Louisiana territory in 1803. The Federalist Papers helped people understand, and thereby support, the U.S. Constitution.