Senators Ask Ashcroft to Defend Military's Ability to Recruit on College Campuses

SENATORS ASK ASHCROFT TO DEFEND MILITARY'S ABILITY TO RECRUIT ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES

"Those who have harshly attacked senior administration officials for the disturbing misconduct that occurred at Abu Ghraib should be especially supportive of your efforts to defend the Solomon Amendment."

Monday, May 2, 2005

WASHINGTON - Four U.S. Senators on Tuesday asked U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft to continue to defend equal access for the United States military to the campuses of any college or university that receives federal funds. In addition, the letter draws attention to the fact that veterans and other supporters of the military have increasing need to be concerned with the composition of the federal judiciary.

The letter was in response to a recent decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit invalidating a federal law governing military recruiting, commonly known as the Solomon Amendment. The decision allows universities receiving federal funds to deny access to military recruiters.

The letter was signed by U.S. Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas), Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.). All four serve on the Armed Services Committee; Cornyn, Sessions and Graham also serve on the Judiciary Committee.

In the letter, the Senators wrote that, "Our military must have the ability to recruit our nation's best and brightest young men and women to serve as soldiers and the nation's best and brightest law students to serve in the JAG Corps - a need that is especially acute in wartime. Indeed, those who have harshly attacked senior administration officials for the disturbing misconduct that occurred at Abu Ghraib should be especially supportive of your efforts to defend the Solomon Amendment. After all, to prevent future such abuses, it is not enough just to investigate misconduct and to prosecute and punish those who violate the law, as the Administration has already been doing. In addition, we must also make sure that our military is comprised of our nation's finest - men and women who know how to defend our country in a manner consistent with our values and principles."

Sen. Cornyn chairs the subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Property Rights, and is the only former judge on the committee. He served previously as Texas Attorney General, Texas Supreme Court Justice, and Bexar County District Judge.

Full text of the letter follows, and is available at: http://www.cornyn.senate.gov/doc_archive/jc_other/Ashcroft_Letter_1.4.05.pdf

January 4, 2005

Honorable John Ashcroft

Attorney General of the United States

950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW

Washington, DC 20530

Dear General Ashcroft:

As members of the United States Senate Committees on the Judiciary and Armed Services, we are deeply disturbed by a recent decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit invalidating a federal law governing military recruiting, commonly known as the Solomon Amendment, and we request your continued effort to defend that law.

Congress enacted the Solomon Amendment in 1994 to guarantee equal access for the United States military to the campuses of any college or university that receives federal funds. Specifically, the law ensures that U.S. military recruiters have an equal opportunity to recruit students for employment in the armed services. Moreover, Congress recently strengthened that law to reflect the Amendment's special importance to national security in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. But in Forum for Academic & Institutional Rights v. Rumsfeld, 390 F.3d 219 (3rd Cir. 2004), the Third Circuit invalidated the Solomon Amendment. By a 2-1 vote, the court held that colleges and universities that receive federal funds have a constitutional right under the First Amendment to discriminate against the United States military by excluding them from on-campus recruiting.

We are concerned not simply because the Third Circuit's ruling against the Solomon Amendment is legally flawed. This ruling is potentially dangerous to our national security, and especially so in a time of war. Our military must have the ability to recruit our nation's best and brightest young men and women to serve as soldiers and the nation's best and brightest law students to serve in the JAG Corps - a need that is especially acute in wartime. Indeed, those who have harshly attacked senior Administration officials for the disturbing misconduct that occurred at Abu Ghraib should be especially supportive of your efforts to defend the Solomon Amendment. After all, to prevent future such abuses, it is not enough just to investigate misconduct and to prosecute and punish those who violate the law, as the Administration has already been doing. In addition, we must also make sure that our military is comprised of our nation's finest - men and women who know how to defend our country in a manner consistent with our values and principles.

Moreover, the court decision is an insult to our military. Veterans across the country are rightly concerned that academic and legal elites - unable to promote their hostility to the military through the democratic process - have been conducting an active and aggressive campaign in the courts to deepen the divide between military and civilian culture in our nation. It is especially alarming that such efforts have seen extraordinary and increasing success. Liberal interest groups have long actively litigated against patriotic values such as the Pledge of Allegiance and respect for the United States flag. These same groups have also recently campaigned to force the Boy Scouts off of military bases and to micromanage the war against terrorism from the bench. And now, the Solomon Amendment and the ability of our military to effectively recruit personnel is under attack. Surely the men and women of our U.S. Armed Forces deserve greater respect than this.

Accordingly, we ask that you continue to vigorously defend, and to take every step necessary to enforce, the Solomon Amendment - up to and including review by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Sincerely,

John Cornyn

Lindsey Graham

Saxby Chambliss

Jeff Sessions

http://cornyn.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=237153