[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 28 (Tuesday, March 7, 2006)]
[House]
[Pages H573-H574]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         THE SOLOMON AMENDMENT

  Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, on Monday, the Supreme Court unanimously 
upheld a Federal law ensuring that colleges and universities who 
receive Federal funds permit open access for military recruiting on 
their campus. This ruling will allow the United States military to 
recruit the best and the brightest this Nation has to offer and will 
also greatly enhance our national security. I commend the Supreme Court 
for upholding this law.
  This issue is of particular interest to me. I attended college on an 
Air Force ROTC scholarship and know firsthand the importance of the 
Armed Forces. Therefore, in order for the United States to win the 
global war on terrorism, the Armed Forces need access to the highest 
caliber of people, and that is why we must ensure equal access for 
military recruiters.
  In 1996, Congress enacted a provision of law that came to be known as 
the Solomon amendment. This provision is named for our former colleague 
from New York and former Rules Committee chairman, the late Jerry 
Solomon. This provision provides for the Secretary of Defense to deny 
Federal funding to colleges and universities if they do not provide 
military recruiters entry to campuses and access to students that is at 
least equal in quality and scope to that provided to any other 
employer.
  The Solomon amendment was made necessary when a number of 
universities began restricting the access of military recruiters 
because of disagreement with certain military policies, such as the 
military's ``don't ask, don't tell'' policy.
  Mr. Speaker, I will include the entire list of these universities in 
the Record.
  Monday's ruling stems from a challenge from a group of law schools on 
the constitutionality of the Solomon amendment. A number of 
universities are denying equal access to military recruiters in protest 
of the ``don't ask, don't tell'' policy. Last year, I had an amendment 
on the floor that was patterned after the Solomon amendment, and it 
also passed.
  Mr. Speaker, some of the universities who are denying equal access to 
military recruiters, are also receiving millions and millions of 
hardworking Americans' tax dollars every year in terms of research 
dollars and other things.
  Harvard Law School, for example, allowed military recruiters to 
interview students at the offices of its Veterans Association, but did 
not use its open personnel to set up the interviews as it did for other 
recruiters. In the wake of the Supreme Court hearing last fall, Harvard 
has reversed its decision and now plans to fully cooperate with the 
military recruiters.
  Another example is Yale Law School, who had been letting recruiters 
use a room to meet with students, but had not been helping to arrange 
the interviews, as they did with other recruiters. These universities 
allow IBM, General Electric and other corporations full access, but not 
the military.
  Equal access for military recruiters is an urgent issue. With the 
U.S. engaged in the global war on terrorism, it is more important than 
ever for the Armed Forces to recruit high-quality, well-qualified and 
well-trained personnel. This is why it is so important that the Supreme 
Court made such a strong statement in support of full and equal access 
to military recruiters on campus.
  Chief Justice John Roberts, who wrote for the courts, said that the 
Solomon amendment ``neither limits what law schools may say nor 
requires them to say anything. Law schools remain free under the 
statute to express whatever views they may have on the military's 
congressionally mandated employment policy. Nothing about recruiting 
suggests that the law schools agree with any speech by recruiters, and 
nothing in the Solomon amendment restricts what the law schools may say 
about the military's policies.''
  The Court went on to say that the law regulates conduct, not speech, 
and the hosting of recruiters is not expressive conduct that sends out 
a message as a former protest.
  Mr. Speaker, so in conclusion, once again, I commend the Supreme 
Court for unanimously upholding the Solomon amendment. As the U.S. is 
engaged in the global war on terrorism, it is more vital than ever to 
our national

[[Page H574]]

security that the United States Armed Forces have access to recruit the 
best people to serve in this country.
  The material previously referred to is as follows:

                       [From SolomonResponse.Org]

                     FAIR Participating Law Schools

       The members of FAIR willing to be named publicly are:
       1. The Faculty of Capital University Law School
       2. The Faculty of Chicago-Kent College of Law
       3. The Faculty of City University of NY (CUNY) Law School
       4. The Faculty of DePaul University College of Law
       5. The Faculty of University of the District of Columbia 
     David A. Clarke School of Law
       6. The Faculty of Fordham University School of Law
       7. The Faculty of Georgetown University Law Center
       8. George Washington University Law School
       9. Golden Gate University School of Law
       10. The Faculty of Hofstra University Law School
       11. The Faculty of the John Marshall School of Law
       12. New York Law School
       13. New York University School of Law
       14. Northeastern University School of Law
       15. The Faculty of the University of Minnesota Law School
       16. The Faculty of Pace University School of Law
       17. The Faculty of the University of Puerto Rico School of 
     Law
       18. The Faculty of Roger Williams University Ralph R. 
     Papitto School of Law
       19. The Faculty of the University of San Francisco School 
     of Law
       20. The United Faculty of Stanford Law School
       21. The Faculty of Suffolk University Law School
       22. Vermont Law School
       23. The United Faculty of Washington University School of 
     Law
       24. The Faculty of Whittier Law School
       faculties: 24 (18 public)
       institutions: 12 (6 public)

       

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