Equal Access for Military Recruiters at Institutions of Higher Education

Equal Access for Military Recruiters at Institutions of Higher Education
February 18, 2005

Recently, I voted with an overwhelming, bipartisan majority of my House colleagues to support a House Resolution expressing the continued support of Congress for equal access for military recruiters at institutions of higher education (H. Con. Res. 36).

Unbelievably, this resolution was needed because a significant number of institutions of higher education decided to ban military recruiters from their campuses. Who would imagine that our colleges and universities, which receive federal funds, would claim they need to "protect" their adult students from the influences of US military recruiters. Yale Law School, for example, recently announced such a ban in a decision announced in a school-wide email. Harvard University also bars military recruiters.

Yale began banning military recruiters from its campus on the heels of a Third Circuit Court of Appeals decision that ruled against the Department of Defense actively enforcing the 1995 Solomon Amendment. The Solomon Amendment blocks federal funding to schools that ban military recruiters from campus. Congress passed the amendment to safeguard military recruiting. The amendment links federal funding of educational institutions to the willingness of those schools to provide access by military recruiters to campuses and students. This access must be at least equal in quality and scope to that provided to other prospective employers.

Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution specifically provides Congress with the power to raise and support armies and maintain a Navy, and make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces. The Nation's security interests, especially during these difficult times, require a high level of military personnel readiness and thus, effective recruitment programs.

College and university campuses are among the most important locations for military recruitment. The same colleges that would stand in line for federal funding should not be able to turn away recruiters from the Armed Forces or any other branch of the federal government. Once on campus, the recruiters have no more rights or persuasive powers than any other potential employer and the student has the right to contract their future service with whom they choose, in the free market system.

Following all federal policies is a responsibility that comes with accepting federal funding. When institutions fail to allow military recruiters onto campuses on an equal basis with other potential employers the government, and thus national security, including the potential personal security of every American family, are endangered. Schools that ban military recruiters are harming our nation's military readiness and preparedness.

It is ironic that the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled in favor of a coalition of law schools and professors, who were suing the Department of Defense, found that the Solomon Amendment "is not narrowly tailored to advance a compelling government interest and thus unjustifiably burdens the faculty members' First Amendment right of expressive association."

I can think of no government interest more compelling than protecting the country, which requires raising suitable Armed Forces. Further, faculty members need not have any expressive association with the Armed Services or any other employer, just as no student need have any association. Each potential employer on campus represents an option each student can choose to accept or ignore in the free market of ideas.

This case may ultimately be decided by the Supreme Court. However, my House colleagues and I have weighed in with overwhelming bipartisan support for a resolution expressing the continued support of Congress for equal access for military recruiters to institutions of higher education, as well as reaffirming our support for the Solomon Amendment enacted by Congress a decade ago.

http://www.house.gov/apps/list/hearing/oh03_turner/Military_Recruiters.html