Flyer: Bill would let Communists teach

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LONG BEACH, Calif., Oct. 31 (UPI) -- A Republican congressional candidate in California says his Democratic opponent authored a bill that would have allowed communists to teach at state colleges.

Gary DeLong made the accusations in a Vietnamese-language flyer mailed in the 47th Congressional District, which has a large population of Vietnamese-Americans who endured communism in their native country, The Orange County Register reported Tuesday.

His opponent, Alan Lowenthal, authored a bill while serving in the California Legislature in 2008 that removed a provision in the state Education Code making membership in the Communist Party by community college employees a firing offense.

The bill was approved by the Legislature but vetoed by then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

In his flyer, DeLong charged the bill would have allowed communists to teach without a formal check of their family history.

Lowenthal, who has strong name recognition and an 11 percent advantage in party voter registration, responded that his bill retained a ban on openly advocating communism in school.