Jim Jordan Plays Video For Judiciary Committee To Show Free Speech Threats At College Campuses
At today's House Judiciary Committee hearing, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) played a video meant to show that free speech was under threat at college campuses.
Transcript
00:00 >> Thank the gentleman.
00:02 We will now begin with opening statements.
00:06 Chair recognizes himself.
00:07 Over six years ago, we had a hearing about attempts
00:10 to curtail free speech on college campuses right next door
00:14 in the Oversight Committee.
00:15 The hearing touched on emerging threats to the First Amendment,
00:18 safe spaces, cancel culture, and the targeting
00:22 of conservative activist student groups.
00:25 Unfortunately, this was not a fad,
00:27 and the hostility towards certain points of view,
00:29 and particularly conservative points of view,
00:31 has only grown worse.
00:32 And it's no longer universities just censoring their students.
00:36 We now know that American universities were working
00:39 with the federal government
00:40 to systematically target speech on the internet.
00:42 Just this week, the committee released --
00:44 committee Republicans released information showing Stanford
00:48 University worked with the Cybersecurity
00:50 and Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA,
00:52 and the State Department's Global Engagement Center
00:55 to censor certain speech in the lead up to the 2020 election.
00:59 Big government, big academia, and big tech all colluding
01:03 to limit Americans' First Amendment free speech rights.
01:06 They were targeting jokes, political opinions.
01:09 Most importantly, they targeted true information.
01:12 But the speech that was censored all leaned a certain way.
01:16 What used to be the bastions of free speech in the marketplace
01:19 of ideas evolved into institutions
01:21 of activism and suppression.
01:23 With "safe spaces" and free speech zones aimed
01:26 to protect students from violence,
01:28 one would think Jewish students would have somewhere to turn
01:31 as violent pro-Hamas students take to their demonstrations
01:34 and have harmed students on college campuses.
01:37 But that's not the case, as we will see in today's hearing.
01:40 Nearly a 400% increase in anti-Semitic incidents,
01:44 including harassment, vandalism, and assault in the two weeks
01:48 after the Hamas attacks against Israel.
01:50 We need to be doing more
01:52 to protect the freedom of expression.
01:54 We're actually working with the ranking member Nadler
01:58 on some legislation introduced by one of our colleagues,
01:59 trying to see if we can put some legislation forward
02:02 that would help in this area.
02:03 I want to thank my colleagues,
02:05 including Representative Virginia Fox,
02:08 Chairwoman of the Education and Workforce Committee,
02:09 for her important work on these issues.
02:12 I want to thank Representative Murphy, who is a leader
02:15 on this topic, who has introduced two bills
02:16 to advance free speech on campus, and Co-Chair
02:20 of the Campus Free Speech Caucus, Ms. Kamik, for her work
02:23 and passion for this issue.
02:24 I also want to recognize Mr. Kiley, one of our members,
02:27 who introduced a bill just last week
02:29 that denounced anti-Semitism on college campuses.
02:32 We look forward to hearing from all our witnesses today.
02:34 And again, I want to thank you for coming.
02:36 I now will turn to the ranking member for his opening statement,
02:39 and then we'll get right to our witnesses.
02:41 Actually, I forgot.
02:43 Well, I'll wait until you're done,
02:45 then I'll play a short video.
02:46 We have a short 90-second video I wanted to show.
02:48 We'll play it right now.
02:49 Let's play it right now, a 90-second video.
02:51 If we can cue that up, we'll play this
02:53 about what's going on on college campuses.
02:55 [ Pause ]
02:59 >> Free speech debates have roiled college campuses
03:03 with protests against conservative guest speakers.
03:05 >> The fight against conservative speakers
03:08 on college campuses escalated.
03:09 >> Administrators failed to stop some students
03:12 from heckling a conservative speaker on campus.
03:15 >> Former college swimmer, Riley Gates, says she was assaulted
03:18 after giving a speech at San Francisco State University.
03:21 >> I understand and share your objections to a speaker
03:24 whose rhetoric is offensive and clearly intended
03:26 to shock and provoke.
03:27 >> I don't think they're less able to listen
03:29 to opposing views.
03:30 I just think they take less crap.
03:31 >> Students have been making national headlines protesting
03:34 controversial speakers on campuses across the country.
03:36 >> Is free speech dead on campus?
03:39 >> No. We don't want him to speak.
03:40 Hopefully, we can drown him out.
03:41 >> That's conservative podcaster, Michael Knowles,
03:43 being burned in effigy at the University of Pittsburgh.
03:46 >> Their opinions from the bench land
03:48 as absolute disenfranchisement of their rights.
03:51 >> The president of the University of Pennsylvania,
03:53 critics say she is not sending a strong enough message
03:55 against anti-Semitism.
03:57 >> I don't hear people talking about Israeli violence.
04:01 >> Hamas has shifted the balance of power.
04:02 Hamas has changed the tone of the debate.
04:05 >> Jewish fraternity was hit with a graffiti attack
04:09 of the Jews are Nazis.
04:10 >> This is our university.
04:13 >> I don't think our staff are putting it together.
04:20 And Chair now recognizes the ranking member,
04:22 the gentleman from New York for an opening statement.