I

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 980

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to protect the speech and

association rights of students attending institutions of higher education.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 6, 1997

Mr. LIVINGSTON (for himself, Mr. LAHOOD, Mr. MICA, Mr. TIAHRT, and Mr.

SENSENBRENNER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Education and the Workforce

A BILL

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to protect

the speech and association rights of students attending

institutions of higher education.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Freedom of Speech

5 and Association on Campus Act of 1997’’.
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1 SEC. 2. PROTECTION OF STUDENT SPEECH AND ASSOCIA2 TION RIGHTS.

3 Title XII of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20

4 U.S.C. 1141 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end

5 the following new section:

6 ‘‘SEC. 1214. PROTECTION OF STUDENT SPEECH AND ASSO7 CIATION RIGHTS.

8 ‘‘(a) PROTECTION OF RIGHTS.—No student attend9 ing an institution of higher education on a full- or part10 time basis shall, on the basis of protected speech and asso11 ciation, be excluded from participation in, be denied the

12 benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination or official

13 sanction under any education program, activity, or divi14 sion directly or indirectly receiving financial assistance

15 under this Act, whether or not such program, activity, or

16 division is sponsored or officially sanctioned by the institu17 tion.

18 ‘‘(b) SANCTION.—

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No funds shall be made

20 available under this Act to any institution of higher

21 education that the Secretary finds, after notice and

22 opportunity for a hearing, has violated subsection

23 (a) of this section.

24 ‘‘(2) INAPPLICABILITY TO STUDENT ASSIST25 ANCE.—Paragraph (1) shall not apply to any funds
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1 that are provided under this Act for student finan2 cial assistance.

3 ‘‘(c) EXCEPTION.—This section shall not apply to an

4 institution of higher education that is controlled by a reli5 gious or military organization, if the speech or association

6 is not consistent with the religious tenets or military train7 ing of the institution.

8 ‘‘(d) SANCTIONS FOR DISRUPTION PERMITTED.—

9 Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the

10 imposition of an official sanction on a student that has

11 willfully participated in the disruption or attempted dis12 ruption of a lecture, class, speech, presentation, or per13 formance made or scheduled to be made under the aus14 pices of the institution of higher education.

15 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—

16 ‘‘(1) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—

17 The term ‘institution of higher education’ has the

18 meaning given in section 1201(a).

19 ‘‘(2) PROTECTED SPEECH.—The term ‘pro20 tected speech’ means speech that is protected under

21 the 1st and 14th amendments to the United States

22 Constitution, or would be so protected if the institu23 tion of higher education were subjected to those

24 amendments.
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1 ‘‘(3) PROTECTED ASSOCIATION.—The term

2 ‘protected association’ means the right to join, as3 semble, and reside with others that is protected

4 under the 1st and 14th amendments to the United

5 States Constitution, or would be protected if the in6 stitution of higher education were subject to those

7 amendments.

8 ‘‘(4) OFFICIAL SANCTION.—The term ‘official

9 sanction’—

10 ‘‘(A) means expulsion, suspension, proba11 tion, censure, condemnation, reprimand, or any

12 other disciplinary, coercive, or adverse action

13 taken by an institution of higher education or

14 administrative unit of the institution; and

15 ‘‘(B) includes an oral or written warning

16 made by an official of an institution of higher

17 education acting in the official capacity of the

18 official.’’.

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