Fact Check

Did Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Pass the 'Change Unfit New Textbooks Act'?

Robert Edward Lee was an American and Confederate soldier, best known as a commander of the Confederate States Army.

Published Jan. 20, 2019

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Claim:
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez passed a 'Change Unfit New Textbooks Act' requiring that school textbooks be scrubbed of any mention of Confederate General Robert E. Lee.

On 20 January 2019 the 'America's Last Line of Defense' posted a meme positing that freshman U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had passed a 'Change Unfit New Textbooks' Act (a puerile acronym) requiring that school textbooks be scrubbed of any mention of Confederate General Robert E. Lee:

This meme was a complete fabrication. As of this writing, Ocasio-Cortez (who, like all members of Congress, can only propose legislation, not "pass" a bill on her own) had not yet sponsored any bills in the House. She was listed as a co-sponsor of some fifteen bills, none of them related to textbooks or Robert E. Lee.

America's Last Line of Defense is part of a network of websites and social media accounts that publishes political disinformation under the guise of proffering "satire."

David Mikkelson founded the site now known as snopes.com back in 1994.