[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 184 (Wednesday, October 20, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7128-S7129]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE RESOLUTION 425--RECOGNIZING THE IMPORTANCE OF PROTECTING FREEDOM 
 OF SPEECH, THOUGHT, AND EXPRESSION AT INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION

  Mrs. BLACKBURN (for herself, Mr. Cotton, Mr. Tillis, Mr. Lankford, 
Mr. Braun, Mr. Grassley, Ms. Ernst, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Hawley, Mr. Scott of 
South Carolina, and Mr. Cruz) submitted the following resolution; which 
was referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 
Pensions:

                              S. Res. 425

       Whereas the First Amendment to the Constitution of the 
     United States guarantees that ``Congress shall make no law . 
     . . abridging the freedom of speech'';
       Whereas, in Healy v. James, 408 U.S. 169 (1972), the 
     Supreme Court of the United States held that the First 
     Amendment to the Constitution of the United States applies in 
     full force on the campuses of public colleges and 
     universities;
       Whereas, in Widmar v. Vincent, 454 U.S. 263 (1981), the 
     Supreme Court of the United States observed that ``the campus 
     of a public university, at least for its students, possesses 
     many of the characteristics of a public forum'';
       Whereas lower Federal courts have also held that the open, 
     outdoor areas of the campuses of public colleges and 
     universities are public forums;
       Whereas section 112(a)(2) of the Higher Education Act of 
     1965 (20 U.S.C. 1011a(a)(2)) contains a sense of Congress 
     noting that ``an institution of higher education should 
     facilitate the free and open exchange of ideas'', ``students 
     should not be intimidated, harassed, discouraged from 
     speaking out, or discriminated against'', ``students should 
     be treated equally and fairly'', and ``nothing in this 
     paragraph shall be construed to modify, change, or infringe 
     upon any constitutionally protected religious liberty, 
     freedom, expression, or association'';
       Whereas, despite the clarity of the applicable legal 
     precedent and the vital importance of protecting public 
     colleges in the United States as true ``marketplaces of 
     ideas'', the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education 
     has found that approximately 1 in 10 of the top colleges and 
     universities in the United States quarantine student 
     expression to so-called ``free speech zones'', and a survey 
     of 466 schools found that almost 30 percent maintain severely 
     restrictive speech codes that clearly and substantially 
     prohibit constitutionally protected speech;
       Whereas, according to the American Civil Liberties Union 
     (ACLU), ``Speech codes adopted by government-financed state 
     colleges and universities amount to government censorship, in 
     violation of the Constitution. And the ACLU believes that all 
     campuses should adhere to First Amendment principles because 
     academic freedom is a bedrock of education in a free 
     society.'';
       Whereas the University of Chicago, as part of its 
     commitment ``to free and open inquiry in all matters'', 
     issued a statement in which ``it guarantees all members of 
     the University community the broadest possible latitude to 
     speak, write, listen, challenge, and learn'', and more than 
     50 university administrations and faculty bodies have 
     endorsed a version of the ``Chicago Statement'';
       Whereas, in December 2014, the University of Hawaii at Hilo 
     settled a lawsuit for $50,000 after it was sued in Federal 
     court for prohibiting students from protesting the National 
     Security Agency unless those students were standing in the 
     tiny, flood-prone free speech zone at the university;
       Whereas, in July 2015, California State Polytechnic 
     University, Pomona, settled a lawsuit for $35,000 after it 
     was sued in Federal court for prohibiting a student from 
     handing out flyers about animal abuse outside of the free 
     speech zone at the university, comprising less than 0.01 
     percent of campus;
       Whereas, in May 2016, a student-plaintiff settled her 
     lawsuit against Blinn College in Texas for $50,000 after 
     administrators told her she needed ``special permission'' to 
     advocate for Second Amendment rights outside of the tiny free 
     speech zone at the college;
       Whereas, in February 2017, Georgia Gwinnett College agreed 
     to modify its restrictive speech policies after two students 
     sued in Federal court to challenge a requirement that 
     students obtain prior authorization from administrators to 
     engage in expressive activity within the limits of a tiny 
     free speech zone, comprising less than 0.0015 percent of 
     campus;
       Whereas, in March 2017, Middlebury College students and 
     protesters from the community prevented an invited speaker 
     from giving his presentation and then attacked his car and 
     assaulted a professor as the two attempted to leave, 
     resulting in the professor suffering a concussion;
       Whereas, in January 2018, Kellogg Community College in 
     Michigan settled a lawsuit for $55,000 for arresting two 
     students for handing out copies of the Constitution of the 
     United States while talking with their fellow students on a 
     sidewalk;

[[Page S7129]]

       Whereas, in June 2018, the University of Michigan agreed to 
     change its restrictive speech code on the same day the United 
     States Department of Justice filed a statement of interest in 
     support of a lawsuit in Federal court challenging the 
     constitutionality of the speech code of the university;
       Whereas, in December 2018, the Los Angeles Community 
     College District, a 9-campus community college district that 
     includes Pierce College, settled a lawsuit for $225,000 and 
     changed its restrictive speech policies after it was sued in 
     Federal court for prohibiting a Pierce College student from 
     distributing Spanish-language copies of the Constitution of 
     the United States on campus unless he stood in the free 
     speech zone, which comprised approximately 0.003 percent of 
     the total area of the 426 acres of the college;
       Whereas, in December 2018, the University of California, 
     Berkeley, home of the 1960s campus free speech movement, 
     settled a lawsuit for $70,000 and changed its restrictive 
     policies after it was sued in Federal court for singling out 
     one student group, apart from other student groups, with the 
     imposition of stricter rules for inviting ``high-profile'' 
     public speakers;
       Whereas the States of Virginia, Missouri, Arizona, 
     Kentucky, Colorado, Utah, North Carolina, Tennessee, Florida, 
     Georgia, Louisiana, South Dakota, and Iowa have passed 
     legislation prohibiting public colleges and universities from 
     quarantining expressive activities on the open outdoor areas 
     of campuses to misleadingly labeled free speech zones; and
       Whereas free speech zones have been used to restrict 
     political speech from all parts of the political spectrum and 
     have thus inhibited the free exchange of ideas at campuses 
     across the country: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) recognizes that free speech zones and restrictive 
     speech codes are inherently at odds with the freedom of 
     speech guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution 
     of the United States;
       (2) recognizes that institutions of higher education should 
     facilitate and recommit themselves to protecting the free and 
     open exchange of ideas;
       (3) recognizes that freedom of expression and freedom of 
     speech are sacred ideals of the United States that must be 
     vigorously safeguarded in a world increasingly hostile to 
     democracy;
       (4) encourages the Secretary of Education to promote 
     policies that foster spirited debate, academic freedom, 
     intellectual curiosity, and viewpoint diversity on the 
     campuses of public colleges and universities; and
       (5) encourages the Attorney General to defend and protect 
     the First Amendment across public colleges and universities.

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