Ronald Dellums: “Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment. Let me first set the stage: The amendment offered by the gentleman…”

“Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment. Let me first set the stage: The amendment offered by the gentleman from New York addresses a law that was enacted in the context of an appropriation bill in 1972 against the backdrop of a very tumultuous era in this country and in the world, and that is when the United States was prosecuting the war in Southeast Asia. That amendment passed. What the gentleman seeks to do today by his amendment goes beyond that 1972 law in two fashions. The restriction is extended beyond the universities to include high schools and it also removes, as I read and understand the amendment, the flexibility on the part of the Secretary of Defense to waive the prohibition when the Secretary of Defense perceives this to be in the national interest of the country. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I oppose this amendment to cut off DOD grants and contracts to educational institutions that deny military recruiting on campus. Let me tell you why. We should not, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, chill or abridge privacy, speech, or conscience by threatening a college with a Federal funds termination because it chose for whatever reason to deny access to military recruiters.”