Press Releases

In Case You Missed It, Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) joined NewsNation’s The Hill to discuss the Committee’s newly released report that shows 63 percent of students believe the political and social climate on their campus prevents free speech and expression, and as many as 20 percent of students admit to self-censoring because of this atmosphere. This is a direct affront to the purpose of postsecondary education. Video and key excerpts from the interview are below:


What’s the problem?

“[T]he problem is that two-thirds of the students on college campuses feel that they cannot speak up freely on their campus without being in some way taken to task for their speech… Our country is built on the issue of freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom to assemble. That is being stymied on college campuses all across the country and we cannot have that.”

What on earth are free speech zones?

“[T]here are some campuses where they designated very, very small places…where you can go say anything you want to, but on the rest of the campus you are not allowed to. That again is totally wrong. That is not what the Constitution says when it says…that the Congress shall make no laws infringing upon free speech.”

Do you have support in Congress to protect free speech?

“I believe we will have very strong support in Congress on this, because it does not matter whether you are liberal or conservative, you should want to preserve the ability for people who have your philosophy to speak freely wherever they are — not just on campuses, but anywhere in the country…  You know, there’s a saying, ‘I may not agree with you, but I will fight to the death for your freedom to express yourself.’ And that’s how the opinion has been in the past in this country.”

Find more coverage on the Committee’s “Freedom of Speech and Its Protection on College Campuses” report:

• The Left’s thought policies are destroying America’s colleges (Washington Examiner, Rep. Virginia Foxx)
• Congressional Report Details ‘Pervasive Degradation’ Of First Amendment Rights on College Campuses (The Daily Caller, Nicole Littlefield)
• Congress unveils report that shows 'pervasive degradation' of First Amendment rights on college campuses (Fox News, Kendall Tietz)