-9999

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, many times my fellow Senators have heard me say that my definition of a university is a place where controversy ought to run rampant. The point of going to college is not for all students to come out thinking exactly the same way. College is for ideas to be challenged. To weed out ideas we disagree with, we need open debate, not to shut down the conversation. Students of all stripes should be able to say what is on their mind.

Institutional free speech should not be partisan. You can have partisan discussions, but the merely speaking of it, right or wrong, you agree or disagree, should not be a partisan issue or even be a controversial issue. Everyone is hurt if ideas are not frankly discussed by the next generation.

Thankfully, Iowa has recognized this reality. So this spring, Governor Reynolds signed a bill into law that helps codify free expression in Iowa's public colleges.

Now, it sometimes feels like Washington, DC, can forget common sense on this issue as well as a lot of other issues. But in Des Moines, the bill passed both chambers of the Iowa Legislature with just 1 single ``no'' vote out of 150 senators and representatives.

But here we are nationally. We seem to be heading in the wrong direction in regard to free speech on campus and discussion of some controversial issues. As recent as 2016, majorities of students were confident that the First Amendment was secure, but now it looks like there has been a chilling effect on too many campuses.

According to a more recent poll, 80 percent of the students now say that they self-censor. In other words, 80 percent of the students are afraid to voice and give their support or opposition on certain issues. Hostility to freedom of expression is being heard loud and clear by our students.

But somehow it doesn't seem like the donors seem to be listening to what is happening on these college campuses. I have tried to highlight this overlooked group of donors in the free speech debate. Students and faculty are limited by the threat of getting canceled on campus. But donors have much more sway if they want to take advantage of it.

Now, it seems, unfortunately, these alumnae don't seem to consider free speech when they make a decision to donate, because their donation would have some power behind it if they would take the time to say what they think about how universities ought to be an environment where controversy runs rampant.

We have a poll of donors to one college that found that the vast majority thought that freedom of expression should be a priority on campus, but only 20 percent said it was clear their alma mater protects speech in practice. Now, this is among donors, those who have already given despite their concerns. That is despite donations representing up to 19 percent of college budgets.

There are more examples than I can count of donors withholding contributions and making real concrete change. Donors have stopped speakers from being deplatformed and overrode the veto of the crowd.

It is time to stop pretending that alumni have no say. Earlier this year, I joined the Campus Free Speech Caucus here in the Congress. That caucus tries to preserve this trend. I am also a cosponsor of the Campus Free Speech Resolution, which urges greater First Amendment protection in America's universities.

But this is not a problem that can be solved by any bill in the Senate. Thankfully, that tide is starting to turn. One of the first colleges to make a move was the University of Chicago. In 2015, the university president sent a statement on free expression to the incoming freshmen. He showed in that letter how both sides of the aisle are hurt when campuses clamp down on open debate. He called out what are considered ``trigger warnings'' and ``safe spaces'' while praising academic freedom.

Now other colleges in our country are slowly starting to follow suit. So far, 75 schools have released similar statements, but, of course, 75 schools is only a fraction of all the colleges in the United States.

To continue this progress we need individual Americans to make their voices heard. Ultimately, being a democracy means that we are able to listen to each other and do it civilly. We ought to be able to respectfully talk about where we agree and disagree, not sweep those disagreements under the rug and, in the process, silence those who do have the guts to speak out.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source