Accreditation for College Excellence Act of 2023

Floor Speech

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Ms. BONAMICI. Mr. Chair, I rise today in opposition to the so-called End Woke Higher Education Act.

There is a lot we could be doing in Congress to improve higher education, and this is not it. This bill combines two extreme bills into one, attacking intellectual freedom and diversity on college campuses while fanning the flames of culture war rhetoric to score political points.

This so-called End Woke Higher Education Act would allow institutions of higher education to eliminate policies and programs that protect students and staff from discrimination because of who they are, where they come from, what they believe, or who they love.

By forbidding accreditors from considering diversity and inclusion efforts and allowing schools to require all applicants and employees to abide by a statement of faith, colleges and universities would be free to remove curricula that highlight the historical experience of marginalized groups. They could reject students from attending federally funded institutions based on the student's religious beliefs.

Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia on college campuses is a pervasive problem, yet this bill would open the door for more schools to discriminate against Jewish or Muslim students solely because of their faith.

Is it woke to believe that Jewish and Muslim students should be able to attend the schools they choose and join the clubs that fit their interests? Is it woke to ask schools not to subsidize speakers that make certain groups of students feel unsafe on campus?

Though it is not typical to have a term in a bill that is undefined, there is no definition of ``woke'' in this bill. What is it? Do they believe it when they see it, or do they define it when they want to?

Instead of limiting access to inclusive, accurate curricula, we should be focused on vigorous enforcement of our civil rights laws that protect all students and provide equal opportunities.

For this reason, at the appropriate time, I will offer a motion to recommit this bill back to committee. If the House rules permitted, I would have offered the motion with an important amendment to this bill.

My amendment would increase funding for the Office for Civil Rights at the Department of Education. That is important because the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights, OCR, enforces a number of civil rights laws that apply to colleges and universities receiving Federal funding. The Office for Civil Rights has the crucial responsibility to uphold and enforce core nondiscrimination statutes that protect students on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, and age.

Despite the massive increase in complaints received over the past several years, this office has only half the staff it had when it was established 45 years ago. In fact, House Republicans on the Appropriations Committee recently proposed a $10 million cut to the Office for Civil Rights. That is right. They proposed a $10 million cut to the Office for Civil Rights.

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Ms. BONAMICI. Mr. Chair, if they are seriously concerned about religious discrimination on college campuses, why diminish the Federal enforcement agency's power to prevent cases of discrimination and, importantly, take enforcement action when these cases occur?

Federal anti-discrimination laws are critical tools, especially in today's political climate, to protect the civil rights of all students.

I hope my colleagues will join me in voting for the motion to recommit and opposing H.R. 3724 because we don't need the End Woke Higher Education Act.

Mr. Chair, I include in the Record the text of my amendment.

Ms. Bonamici of Oregon moves to recommit the bill H.R. 3724 to the Committee on Education and the Workforce with instructions to report the same back to the House forthwith with the following amendment:

Add at the end the following: SEC. __. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE OFFICE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS.

There are authorized to be appropriated to the Office for Civil Rights of the Department of Education $280,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 through 2029.

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Ms. BONAMICI. Mr. Speaker, I have a motion to recommit at the desk.

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Ms. BONAMICI. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

The yeas and nays were ordered.

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