CHALLENGES TO FREEDOM OF SPEECH ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES JOINT HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON HEALTHCARE, BENEFITS AND ADMINISTRATIVE RULES AND THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS OF THE COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION JULY 27, 2017 Serial No. 115–30 Printed for the use of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.fdsys.gov http://oversight.house.gov U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 26–855 PDF WASHINGTON : 2017 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Publishing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate Nov 24 2008 10:41 Oct 02, 2017 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 H:\26855.TXT APRIL KING-6430 with DISTILLER COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM Trey Gowdy, South Carolina, Chairman John J. Duncan, Jr., Tennessee Elijah E. Cummings, Maryland, Ranking Darrell E. Issa, California Minority Member Jim Jordan, Ohio Carolyn B. Maloney, New York Mark Sanford, South Carolina Eleanor Holmes Norton, District of Columbia Justin Amash, Michigan Wm. Lacy Clay, Missouri Paul A. Gosar, Arizona Stephen F. Lynch, Massachusetts Scott DesJarlais, Tennessee Jim Cooper, Tennessee Blake Farenthold, Texas Gerald E. Connolly, Virginia Virginia Foxx, North Carolina Robin L. Kelly, Illinois Thomas Massie, Kentucky Brenda L. Lawrence, Michigan Mark Meadows, North Carolina Bonnie Watson Coleman, New Jersey Ron DeSantis, Florida Stacey E. Plaskett, Virgin Islands Dennis A. Ross, Florida Val Butler Demings, Florida Mark Walker, North Carolina Raja Krishnamoorthi, Illinois Rod Blum, Iowa Jamie Raskin, Maryland Jody B. Hice, Georgia Peter Welch, Vermont Steve Russell, Oklahoma Matt Cartwright, Pennsylvania Glenn Grothman, Wisconsin Mark DeSaulnier, California Will Hurd, Texas Jimmy Gomez, California Gary J. Palmer, Alabama James Comer, Kentucky Paul Mitchell, Michigan Greg Gianforte, Montana SHERIA CLARKE, Staff Director WILLIAM MCKENNA, General Counsel KEVIN EICHINGER, HealthCare, Benefits and Administrative Rules Subcommittee Staff Director CHRISTINA AIZCORBE, Intergovernmental Affairs Subcommittee Staff Director SHARON CASEY, Deputy Chief Clerk DAVID RAPALLO, Minority Staff Director (II) VerDate Nov 24 2008 10:41 Oct 02, 2017 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 H:\26855.TXT APRIL KING-6430 with DISTILLER SUBCOMMITTEE ON HEALTHCARE, BENEFITS AND ADMINISTRATIVE RULES Jim Jordan, Ohio, Chairman Mark Walker, North Carolina, Vice Chair Raja Krishnamoorthi, Illinois, Ranking Darrell E. Issa, California Minority Member Mark Sanford, South Carolina Jim Cooper, Tennessee Scott DesJarlais, Tennessee Eleanor Holmes Norton, District of Columbia Mark Meadows, North Carolina Robin L. Kelly, Illinois Glenn Grothman, Wisconsin Bonnie Watson Coleman, New Jersey Paul Mitchell, Michigan Stacey E. Plaskett, Virgin Islands SUBCOMMITTEE ON INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS Gary Palmer, Alabama, Chairman Glenn Grothman, Wisconsin, Vice Chair Val Butler Demings, Florida, Ranking John J. Duncan, Jr., Tennessee Minority Member Virginia Foxx, North Carolina Mark DeSaulnier, California Thomas Massie, Kentucky Matt Cartwright, Pennsylvania Mark Walker, North Carolina Wm. Lacy Clay, Missouri Mark Sanford, South Carolina Vacancy (III) VerDate Nov 24 2008 10:41 Oct 02, 2017 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 H:\26855.TXT APRIL KING-6430 with DISTILLER VerDate Nov 24 2008 10:41 Oct 02, 2017 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 H:\26855.TXT APRIL KING-6430 with DISTILLER C O N T E N T S Page Hearing held on July 27, 2017 ............................................................................... 1 WITNESSES Ms. Nadine Strossen, John Marshall Harlan II Professor of Law, New York Law School Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 7 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 10 Mr. Ben Shapiro, Editor-in-Chief, The Daily Wire Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 21 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 23 Mr. Adam Carolla, Comedian and Filmmaker, No Safe Spaces Documentary Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 26 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 28 Dr. Michael Zimmerman, Former Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, The Evergreen State College Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 33 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 35 Mr. Frederick Lawrence, Secretary and CEO, The Phi Beta Kappa Society on behalf of the Anti-Defamation League Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 40 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 42 APPENDIX Ms. Taylor A. Dumpson Congressional Statement submitted by Ms. Demings . 96 ‘‘Kellogg Community College Responds to Political Organizations Lawsuit’’ submitted by Ms. Demings .................................................................................. 99 (V) VerDate Nov 24 2008 10:41 Oct 02, 2017 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 H:\26855.TXT APRIL KING-6430 with DISTILLER VerDate Nov 24 2008 10:41 Oct 02, 2017 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 H:\26855.TXT APRIL KING-6430 with DISTILLER CHALLENGES TO FREEDOM OF SPEECH ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES Thursday, July 27, 2017 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SUBCOMMITTEE ON HEALTHCARE, BENEFITS, AND ADMINISTRATIVE RULES, JOINT WITH THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS, COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM, Washington, D.C. The subcommittees met, pursuant to call, at 9:04 a.m., in Room 2167, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Jim Jordan [chairman of the Subcommittee on Health Care, Benefits, and Administrative Rules] presiding. Present from Subcommittee on HealthCare, Benefits, and Admin- istrative Rules: Representatives Jordan, Walker, Meadows, Grothman, Mitchell, Krishnamoorthi, Norton, Kelly, and Plaskett. Present from Subcommittee on Intergovernmental Affairs: Rep- resentatives Palmer, Grothman, Foxx, Massie, Walker, Demings, and DeSaulnier. Also Present: Representatives DeSantis, Hice, Brat, Rooney, and Raskin. Mr. JORDAN. The joint subcommittees will come to order. We are going to start with a short 50-second video clip, then opening statements, and then get right to our esteemed panel of witnesses, so let’s start with the video. [Video shown.] Mr. JORDAN. Well, trigger warnings, safe spaces, safe zones, shout-downs, microaggressions, bias response teams, and, as we saw from the video, even riots on campuses today. I want to thank you all for joining us in the audience and cer- tainly our witnesses today. This is our second in a series of hear- ings to highlight the First Amendment. ‘‘The history of intellectual growth and discovery clearly demonstrates the need for unfettered freedom, the right to think the unthinkable, discuss the unmen- tionable, and challenge the unchallengeable.’’ That quote, taken from the 1974 Woodward Report at Yale, summarizes the policy that was for years the gold standard of what free speech on campus should look like. College is a place for young minds to be intellectually bombarded with new, challenging ideas. Unfortunately, today, on many cam- puses students and faculty are forced into self-censorship out of fear of triggering violating a safe space, a microaggression, or being targeted by a bias response team. Restricting speech that does not conform to popular opinion contradicts the First Amendment prin- (1) VerDate Nov 24 2008 10:41 Oct 02, 2017 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 H:\26855.TXT APRIL KING-6430 with DISTILLER 2 ciples and the right to speak freely without regard to offensiveness. Shout-downs, disinvitations, and even violent rioting, as we saw on the video, are some of the tactics used to silence opposing views. In the most recent example of how not to promote free speech on campus, students and even faculty at Evergreen State College be- rated and threatened a professor for questioning why a new cam- pus initiative could not be debated. The police eventually stepped in to warn the professor it was no longer safe—think about this— no longer safe for him to actually come to campus. The college administrators stood by and did nothing. In fact, when asked to come and defend their speech policies at today’s hearing, Evergreen’s president George Bridges refused to testify, suggesting such policies truly are indefensible. And he was not the only one to decline an invitation to defend the policies that limit speech and ideas on our college campuses. I see in this past academic year violent disruptions and silencing of opposing opinions are detrimental to an educational environment where students can learn and engage in civil discourse. This has serious ramifications for our public education system. This committee is committed to help colleges reinstate