On April 14, 2026, PEN America rolled out a joint statement - more than a hundred grassroots groups - asking Congress to kill H.R. 7661. They read the bill as federal pressure that would chill a broad swath of books and programs in schools and libraries; PEN's Freedom to Read director ties it to the documented spike in bans, especially work by and about LGBTQ+ people and authors of color.
Critics say the text blurs obscenity with identity, shrinks what teachers can assign, and nudges districts toward self-censorship by dangling funding behind vague rules. PEN points people to a direct action page to ping their reps.
(Shortened and summarised to avoid devaluing the source)