[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2220 Introduced in House (IH)]
103d CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2220
To amend the Education Amendments of 1972 to ensure that students
attending institutions of higher education that receive Federal funds
are able to exercise the right to freedom of speech, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 20, 1993
Mr. Hefley introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Education and Labor
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Education Amendments of 1972 to ensure that students
attending institutions of higher education that receive Federal funds
are able to exercise the right to freedom of speech, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Freedom of Speech on Campus Act of
1993''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds that--
(1) free speech is a fundamental right and a safeguard
against political and intellectual tyranny;
(2) curtailment of free speech strikes twice at
intellectual freedom, for whoever deprives a person of the
right to state unpopular views necessarily deprives other
persons of the right to listen to the views;
(3) the primary and traditional function of a university is
to disseminate knowledge and assist in the search for truth,
and, in order to carry out the function, to do everything
possible to ensure the free exchange of ideas and the fullest
degree of intellectual freedom;
(4) therefore, to carry out the function of the university,
every member of the university has an obligation to permit free
expression, and every university official has a special
obligation to foster freedom of speech and to ensure that the
speech is not obstructed, at the university; and
(5) unfortunately, some universities and other institutions
of higher education are using Federal funds to institute prior
restraints on speech, by taking action such as instituting
behavior codes and harassment policies that require
``politically correct'' speech, with the effect of suppressing
unpopular viewpoints.
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that students attending universities,
or other institutions of higher education, that receive Federal funds
should be able to exercise full rights to freedom of speech on campus
free from official intrusion.
SEC. 4. PROHIBITION OF DISCRIMINATION.
(a) In General.--Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 is
amended by inserting after section 901 (20 U.S.C. 1681) the following
new section:
``SEC. 901A. PROHIBITION OF DISCRIMINATION BASED ON PROTECTED SPEECH.
``(a) Prohibition.--
``(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), no
student attending an institution of higher education shall, on
the basis of protected speech, be excluded from participation
in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to
discrimination or official sanction under, any education
program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance
under the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 et
seq.).
``(2) Religious and military institutions.--Paragraph (1)
shall not apply to an institution of higher education--
``(A) that is controlled by or affiliated with a
religious organization, if the application of this
section would not be consistent with the religious
tenets of such organization; or
``(B) whose primary purpose is the training of
individuals for--
``(i) the military service of the United
States; or
``(ii) the merchant marine.
``(b) Construction.--Nothing in subsection (a) shall be construed
to prevent--
``(1) the imposition of an official sanction on a student
determined to have willfully participated in the disruption or
attempted disruption of a lecture, class, speech, presentation,
or performance, made or scheduled to be made, under the
auspices of the institution of higher education; or
``(2) actions by the institution of higher education that
are necessary to ensure--
``(A) the physical safety of individuals;
``(B) the protection of property; and
``(C) the continuation of the academic and
administrative process without interference.
``(c) Definitions.--As used in this section:
``(1) Institution of higher education.--The term
`institution of higher education' has the meaning given the
term in section 1201(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 1141(a)).
``(2) Protected speech.--The term `protected speech' means
speech that is protected under the first and fourteenth
amendments to the United States Constitution, or would be so
protected if the institution of higher education were subject
to those amendments.
``(3) Official sanction.--The term `official sanction'--
``(A) means expulsion, suspension, probation,
censure, condemnation, reprimand, or any other
disciplinary, coercive, or adverse action taken by an
institution of higher education or an administrative
unit of the institution; and
``(B) includes an oral or written warning made by
an official of an institution of higher education
acting in the official capacity of the official.''.
(b) Federal Administrative Enforcement.--Section 902 of the
Education Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1682) is amended in the first
sentence by striking out ``section 901'' and inserting ``sections 901
and 901A''.
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