February 2, 2005

COLLEGES RECEIVING FEDERAL FUNDS SHOULD
ALLOW MILITARY RECRUITERS,
AKIN SAYS IN HOUSE DEBATE

Washington, D.C. - In remarks made today on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, Congressman Todd Akin (R-MO) said that colleges and universities that receive federal funds should also be required to allow both ROTC and military recruiters on their campuses.

"Colleges and universities receiving federal funding should not harass military recruiters or prevent ROTC chapters on their campuses," said Akin, a Member of the House Armed Services Committee and himself an ROTC veteran. "When college administrators discourage or deny access to our armed forces, they show contempt for the brave men and women who secure their freedom.

"When they do this even as they receive and actively seek substantial federal funding for their other programs, they demonstrate a level of hypocrisy that truly is striking. There would be no federal funding of higher education were there not a vibrant military to protect the prosperity and freedom that makes those fund possible," Akin noted.

Since the 1960s, Congress has withheld funding from schools that maintained policies barring military recruiters from campuses. Over the years, those laws have changed only to address current events and ongoing problems but, overall, the intent of the law has not changed.

In a case brought before the United States District Court of the District of New Jersey in September 2003, the plaintiffs sought a preliminary injunction enjoining enforcement of the so-called Solomon Amendment (section 983, title 10 U.S. Code), which conferred authority on the Secretary of Defense to deny federal funding to institutions of higher education that prohibit or effectively prevent on-campus military recruiting.

Today's House bill, H. Con. Res. 36, expresses the continued support of Congress for the so-called "Solomon law" in title 10, U.S. Code, which improves DOD's ability to establish and maintain ROTC detachments and to ensure military recruiters have access to college campuses and students that is at least equal in quality and scope to that provided to other potential employers.

"The institutions of higher education that believe that the poor are disproportionately represented in our armed forces are the same institutions that deny military recruiters access to their campuses. These campuses generally consist of individuals originating from wealthy backgrounds," Akin continued.

"My son, Perry, is currently serving as a Marine Corps Officer in the Middle East. His service reminds me daily of the many sacrifices that our service men and women, from the Revolutionary War to current operations around the world, have given to secure the blessings of liberty. The institutions that bar military recruiters are the same institutions that are supported both directly and indirectly by the Armed Services they shun," Akin concluded.