[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 191 (Monday, November 1, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7527-S7528]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          Local School Boards

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Last week, Attorney General Garland said something

[[Page S7528]]

very extraordinary. He said he would not withdraw his memo in which he 
instructed the FBI to get involved with local school boards.
  Why would the FBI be interested in parents' meetings with their 
school board? If there is a reason for law enforcement to be involved, 
it is probably something local law enforcement can handle.
  So the direction will have the effect of intimidating parents who 
speak out about their children's education. And make no mistake about 
it, we have heard those reports from the parents themselves. The 
Attorney General should then withdraw the memo.
  Here are the facts:
  No. 1, on September 29, the National School Boards Association sent a 
letter to President Biden asking for help from Federal law enforcement 
against concerned parents who are getting involved at local school 
board meetings. That letter compared parents to domestic terrorists. It 
even suggested the PATRIOT Act should be used against them. Now, 
remember, the PATRIOT Act was passed 20 years ago, written to protect 
Americans against terrorists.
  Point No. 2: On October 4, Attorney General Garland put out a memo 
telling the FBI and other parts of the Department of Justice to work 
with local governments on the supposed spike in harassment, 
intimidation, and threat of violence against local school boards. The 
National Security Division is included as well, apparently because they 
deal with domestic terrorists and the PATRIOT Act.
  Attorney General Garland has since testified that he gave the 
Department of Justice this instruction because of what he read in the 
National School Boards Association letter to President Biden just 5 
days earlier of when the memo was issued. This is an extraordinary 
deployment of Federal law enforcement in local issues when we have 
problems--very big problems--like a historic murder surge and 
especially an open southern border. That latter, the southern border, 
you see the chaos and the crisis every day on television.
  From these two points, what have we learned since the memo was put 
out? First, we learned the White House helped write the original letter 
from the National School Boards Association sent to the White House, 
not to the Department of Justice. Next, we learned that the State 
school board associations, affiliated with the national association, 
had nothing to do with putting together the letter. Over 20 of these 
State organizations have publicly disavowed the National School Boards 
Association's letter that brought about this directive.
  Now, think about that. The White House helped write a letter to 
itself comparing parents who love their kids to domestic terrorists, 
but the actual members of the National School Boards Association had 
nothing to do with it.
  On October 22, the National School Boards Association actually 
apologized for its original letter that started this whole mess in the 
first place and was never even authorized by its own board.
  Meanwhile, 17 State attorneys general have written to Attorney 
General Garland saying there has been no spike in violence against 
local school boards. So the idea that parents pose any sort of Federal 
threat to local school boards is all just simply made up by what looks 
to be the White House for political purposes.
  Despite all that, the Attorney General says he will not change one 
thing about his memo telling the Department of Justice to continue 
focusing on local school boards. That memo stands, as far as the 
Attorney General is concerned.
  Attorney General Garland says that he doesn't see how it could be 
interpreted to mean the FBI will go after impassioned parents. He says 
there are lines in constitutional law that law enforcement can't cross. 
Well, that is true, but he has been working with the Constitution his 
entire life. However, most parents and most school board members aren't 
experts on the First Amendment.
  These parents are reading the Attorney General's own words to mean 
that when they speak passionately at local school board meetings, they 
could get in trouble with Federal officials. So parents are going to 
stop speaking up at local school board meetings, and that is what is 
known as a chilling effect.
  That might be what some at the White House or the National School 
Boards Association wanted all along, but it is a horrible thing for our 
democracy, and it should never happen in the United States of America.
  Attorney General Garland has said he wants to depoliticize the 
Department of Justice. Now, he wants Federal prosecutors parsing what 
parents say to their local school board members. This is because he 
thinks there is a disturbing spike in violence by parents, but he is 
not actually sure if that is right. And this instruction is going to 
scare parents out of speaking their minds at local school board 
meetings. But the Attorney General won't change his instructions to the 
FBI.
  Mr. Attorney General, parents are not domestic terrorists, and you 
have only one reasonable choice: Withdraw this memo and focus on the 
real threats and dangers that American citizens face. Stop being a pawn 
for the White House by politicizing the Department of Justice.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont.