I

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.

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 on Campus Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds that—
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1 (1) free speech is a fundamental right and a

2 safeguard against political and intellectual tyranny;

3 (2) curtailment of free speech strikes twice at

4 intellectual freedom, for whoever deprives a person

5 of the right to state unpopular views necessarily de6 prives other persons of the right to listen to the

7 views;

8 (3) the primary and traditional function of a

9 university is to disseminate knowledge and assist in

10 the search for truth, and, in order to carry out the

11 function, to do everything possible to ensure the free

12 exchange of ideas and the fullest degree of intellec13 tual freedom;

14 (4) therefore, to carry out the function of the

15 university, every member of the university has an

16 obligation to permit free expression, and every uni17 versity official has a special obligation to foster free18 dom of speech and to ensure that the speech is not

19 obstructed, at the university; and

20 (5) unfortunately, some universities and other

21 institutions of higher education are using Federal

22 funds to institute prior restraints on speech, by tak23 ing action such as instituting behavior codes and

24 harassment policies that require ‘‘politically correct’’
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1 speech, with the effect of suppressing unpopular

2 viewpoints.

3 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

4 It is the sense of Congress that students attending

5 universities, or other institutions of higher education, that

6 receive Federal funds should be able to exercise full rights

7 to freedom of speech on campus free from official

8 intrusion.

9 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION OF DISCRIMINATION.

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title IX of the Education Amend11 ments of 1972 is amended by inserting after section 901

12 (20 U.S.C. 1681) the following new section:

13 ‘‘SEC. 901A. PROHIBITION OF DISCRIMINATION BASED ON

14 PROTECTED SPEECH.

15 ‘‘(a) PROHIBITION.—

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para17 graph (2), no student attending an institution of

18 higher education shall, on the basis of protected

19 speech, be excluded from participation in, be denied

20 the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination or

21 official sanction under, any education program or

22 activity receiving Federal financial assistance under

23 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001

24 et seq.).
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1 ‘‘(2) RELIGIOUS AND MILITARY INSTITU2 TIONS.—Paragraph (1) shall not apply to an institu3 tion of higher education—

4 ‘‘(A) that is controlled by or affiliated with

5 a religious organization, if the application of

6 this section would not be consistent with the re7 ligious tenets of such organization; or

8 ‘‘(B) whose primary purpose is the train9 ing of individuals for—

10 ‘‘(i) the military service of the United

11 States; or

12 ‘‘(ii) the merchant marine.

13 ‘‘(b) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in subsection (a)

14 shall be construed to prevent—

15 ‘‘(1) the imposition of an official sanction on a

16 student determined to have willfully participated in

17 the disruption or attempted disruption of a lecture,

18 class, speech, presentation, or performance, made or

19 scheduled to be made, under the auspices of the in20 stitution of higher education; or

21 ‘‘(2) actions by the institution of higher edu22 cation that are necessary to ensure—

23 ‘‘(A) the physical safety of individuals;

24 ‘‘(B) the protection of property; and
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1 ‘‘(C) the continuation of the academic and

2 administrative process without interference.

3 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section:

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

5 The term ‘institution of higher education’ has the

6 meaning given the term in section 1201(a) of the

7 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1141(a)).

8 ‘‘(2) PROTECTED SPEECH.—The term ‘pro9 tected speech’ means speech that is protected under

10 the first and fourteenth amendments to the United

11 States Constitution, or would be so protected if the

12 institution of higher education were subject to those

13 amendments.

14 ‘‘(3) OFFICIAL SANCTION.—The term ‘official

15 sanction’—

16 ‘‘(A) means expulsion, suspension, proba17 tion, censure, condemnation, reprimand, or any

18 other disciplinary, coercive, or adverse action

19 taken by an institution of higher education or

20 an administrative unit of the institution; and

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

22 made by an official of an institution of higher

23 education acting in the official capacity of the

24 official.’’.
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1 (b) FEDERAL ADMINISTRATIVE ENFORCEMENT.—

2 Section 902 of the Education Amendments of 1972 (20

3 U.S.C. 1682) is amended in the first sentence by striking

4 out ‘‘section 901’’ and inserting ‘‘sections 901 and 901A’’.

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