[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 3 (Wednesday, January 5, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S43]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          Local School Boards

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, all the Republican members of the Senate 
Judiciary Committee sent Attorney General Garland two letters about the 
Justice Department's involvement in local school board matters.
  The first one was in October. Then in December, we asked why the 
FBI's counterterrorism division was getting involved in parents' 
expressing their concerns at school board meetings.
  Now, just to be crystal clear, there is no excuse for real threats or 
acts of violence at school board meetings, but if there is such 
threats, these should be handled at the local level, and the Attorney 
General should withdraw his memo that started this whole thing off.
  Well, a couple days before Christmas, the Justice Department 
responded to us Republican members of the Judiciary Committee with a 
single-page letter. In that letter, the Department of Justice had 
nothing to say about why the FBI's counterterrorism division was 
involved in local school board matters. The Department of Justice just 
simply said ``We're not going to withdraw the memo.''
  So the Feds may be keeping track of school board meetings, even if it 
creates a horrible chilling effect at those meetings and maybe even 
discourages people from coming to those meetings. And, of course, the 
FBI looking over your shoulder would then have a chilling effect.
  Now, next week, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on 
domestic terrorism, and I hope the committee will be focusing on the 
serious threats facing our country, and I hope no one thinks the focus 
is going to be on our Nation's parents.
  School boards have to be accountable to the parents and the taxpayers 
that they serve. Some school boards across the country are still 
shutting down classes, even though vaccines have been available for a 
long time and dramatically reduce the chances of major illness to 
teachers.
  Meanwhile, millions of kids across the country are struggling to 
catch up. They are under enormous stress from being separated, one kid 
from their friends in the classroom or in the school building. Schools 
are seeing far more behavioral problems than they ever have before.
  Parents, then, are right to be concerned about these situations in 
their local schools, and it is their right to ask questions. They 
should be telling their school board districts that they want to see 
changes. But will they see changes or will they be afraid to speak up 
at school board meetings? Will the FBI's counterterrorism division be 
keeping track of them as parents ask for changes from their school 
boards?
  The Department of Justice owes the American people a better answer 
than just a single-page letter that says nothing about why the FBI's 
counterterrorism division is involved in local school board matters.
  Now, more than ever, parents should be their kids' strongest and 
their kids' best advocates. They have a God-given right to do so. And, 
of course, the Justice Department ought to be doing everything it can 
to protect that constitutional right, not scare these parents out of 
exercising their constitutional right.
  Attorney General Garland should withdraw his memo, and he should take 
Congress' oversight and concerns for parental rights more seriously.