Monday, October 01, 2007

Death of the First Amendment

This sounds like something that would come ou of the Utah Legislature, not the United States Congress.

But, here it is, HR 3675: To prohibit Federal grants to or contracts with Columbia University

I'm going to skip over Section 1 (I'll come back to it later) and move to the rest of the text:

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Congress finds the following:

(1) Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called for the destruction of the State of Israel, a critical ally of the United States.

(2) In January 2007, commander of Multinational Corps-Iraq, Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno stated that the United States had traced back to Iran serial numbers of weapons captured in Iraq, including rocket-propelled grenades, roadside bombs and Katyusha rockets.

(3) These types of weapons have been used in Iraq to kill and injure members of American, Iraqi, and coalition forces and undermine the nascent Iraqi government.

(4) Despite Iran's support for terrorism, Columbia University extended an invitation to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to address students and faculty from the University campus.

(5) Columbia University dissolved its long-standing Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program on campus because of disagreement with United States military policy, and for nearly four decades has not invited the return of any ROTC program to the University campus.

(6) Despite this fact, Columbia University has continued to accept funds made available through ROTC scholarships, while University faculty continue to oppose United States military policies and law.

(7) Through their invitation, Columbia University provided a public, prestigious platform on United States soil from which on September 24, 2007, President Ahmadinejad spoke and defended his wide-ranging support for terrorist activities.


SEC. 3. DENIAL OF FUNDS.

(a) Denial of Funds for Permitting State Terrorist Access to Campus- No funds described in subsection (b)(1) may be provided by contract or by grant to Columbia University of New York, New York, or any subelement of Columbia University.

(b) Covered Funds-

(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the limitations established in subsection (a) apply to the following:

(A) Any funds made available for the Department of Defense.

(B) Any funds made available for any department or agency for which regular appropriations are made in a Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act.

(C) Any funds made available for the Department of Homeland Security.

(D) Any funds made available for the National Nuclear Security Administration of the Department of Energy.

(E) Any funds made available for the Department of Transportation.

(F) Any funds made available for the Central Intelligence Agency.

(2) Any Federal funding specified in paragraph (1) that is provided to an institution of higher education, or to an individual, to be available solely for student financial assistance, related administrative costs, or costs associated with attendance, may be used for the purpose for which the funding is provided.

(c) Notice of Determinations- Whenever the head of a Federal department or agency makes a determination under subsection (a) or (b), the head of such department or agency--

(1) shall transmit a notice of the determination to the Secretary of Education, to the head of each other department and agency the funds of which are subject to the determination, and to Congress; and

(2) shall publish in the Federal Register a notice of the determination and the effect of the determination on the eligibility of Columbia University for contracts and grants.


By even debating this resolution, Congress delivers a vctory to those who hate the Frst Amendment.

The terrorists have won.

Oh, and what does section 1 say? It gives an allowed short title of the bill:

This Act may be cited as the `Restore Patriotism to University Campuses Act'.


Forced patriotism was a hallmark of the Nazis, wasn't it?

-Bob

2 comments:

Misty Fowler said...

The US government hasn't known what patriotism was since the Patriot Act was signed into law. What does my allergy medication have to do with terrorism, again?

derekstaff said...

Whoops, Bob. I guess you missed it when Congress passed the law making it a federal offense to raise comparisons between the U.S. government and the Nazi regime. Have fun at Gitmo.