Ohio congressman partners with Young America’s Foundation in battling censorship on campus

Mesa, AZ – Decades of censorship of dissenting voices on far-left college campuses have forced millions of students into silence on matters of political ideology and American culture, and one high-ranking member of Congress is doing something about it.

“The First Amendment is under attack on campuses across the country,” says Jim Jordan (R-Oh), ranking member on the powerful House Judiciary Committee. “Every day, students and faculty are forced to self-censor out of fear that they will be ‘canceled’ by the mob. The Campus Free Speech Caucus, led by Rep. Kat Cammack and inspired by Young America’s Foundation (YAF), will work with Congress to push back on ‘woke’ cancel culture and defend freedom for Americans everywhere.”

The formation of the Campus Free Speech Caucus drew high praise from Citizens for Free Speech (CFFS), a non-profit First Amendment advocacy organization.

“Since the founding of CFFS, we have been warning of the dangers that exist at public universities and colleges when it comes to free speech and expression,” said CFFS founder and executive director Patrick Wood. “The time has come for people in power to do something to ensure that all voices are heard, particularly from the future leaders of this country who reside on these campuses right now. It’s one thing for us to call for open dialogue, but it’s quite another for a leading member of congress to do so through the formation of a caucus.”

In an exclusive interview with CFFS, Jordan underscored the importance of the newly-created caucus, and its partnership with YAF, which is described as being at the forefront of the campus free speech battle for decades.

“Every single liberty we’ve enjoyed under the first amendment has been attacked; no place worse than on college campuses, particularly your right to speak freely. The idea is to draw more attention to this very dangerous trend we’re seeing, where some speech is allowed, if it’s in agreement with the woke mob—and conservative speech isn’t—and that’s just not the way it’s supposed to be in this great country.”

YAF President Scott Walker—the former governor of Wisconsin—agreed, saying, “Free speech is guaranteed in our Constitution. It should be revered on our college campuses. Sadly, this is where it’s most at risk.”

That risk, according to Wood, is one that our society cannot afford to take.

“At CFFS, we do not believe that progressive speech should be canceled or limited any more than conservative speech should. We are not taking sides. We just believe that our country would be best served, now and in the coming years when today’s students will be leading the way for future generations, if college campuses were truly open marketplaces for the free exchange of ideas. Differing ideological viewpoints should be debated and considered—not suppressed and censored.”

In his exclusive with CFFS, Jordan recalled a previous effort to eliminate ideological bias on campuses that confirmed the need for more deliberate steps to be taken:

“A few years ago, we were having a hearing on this subject, and I asked a professor, ‘On a college campus, can a safe space and a free speech zone be at the same location?’ He chuckled, but then I asked him a more fundamental question: ‘On a college campus, in a safe space, can I say the sentence Donald Trump is president’? And literally his response began with, ‘Well Congressman, it depends…’” And I told him there is no ‘it depends’! So some places where it’s a safe space on campus, you can’t even state the facts and say the truth! So that’s when it’s getting really scary, and that’s why we put this caucus together.”

Congressman Jordan is spot-on regarding the need for governmental intervention in defense of the first amendment on campuses, summarized Wood.

“Serious college students expect to learn not just by absorbing the information they’re given, but by getting answers to the questions they’re asking. That learning simply cannot happen if their questions are suppressed for fear of ‘offensiveness’ before they can even be considered.”

For more information about CFFS or the Campus First Amendment Caucus, please visit www.CitizensForFreeSpeech.org.

Contact:

Bob Frantz

National Director of Communications

[email protected]