This election cycle’s summer of rage has gotten an early start, as seemingly organized encampments have popped up on college campuses across the country.
Although the national media has made the situation out to be an exercise of free speech under the First Amendment, these campus protests look more like riots and calls for acts of terrorism.
This week, House leadership announced plans to examine the billions of dollars of federal funding to colleges and universities that have allowed antisemitic mobs to disrupt classes and threaten Jewish students.
Here are five concrete ways Congress can respond to the campus riots:
First, the direct line of credit from American taxpayers to these universities must end.
The core of federal funding to large universities comes in the form of federal research grants. While private foundations offer little to no overhead costs for research, the American taxpayer is on the hook for the massive costs of overhead used to fund increasingly ideological research. Congress should end this gigantic subsidy to universities.
Student loans also continue to be a major cash flow for universities. In particular, graduate student loans account for almost half of all federal student loan debt. The proposed Graduate Opportunity and Affordable Loans Act or GOAL Act, sponsored by Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., would eliminate the PLUS loan program, which subsidizes graduate education, and allow colleges to cap borrowing.
Second, the flow of foreign funding to these universities must be addressed. In December, the House passed the DETERRENT Act, sponsored by Rep. Michelle Steel, with bipartisan support. This bill would amend Section 117 of the Higher Education Act to lower universities’ threshold for reporting foreign gifts to $50,000 and prohibit foreign gifts from countries of concern.
The DETERRENT Act, which awaits Senate action, represents a vital policy to improve existing disclosure requirements for foreign gifts that haven’t been adequately enforced under the Biden administration.
Third, Congress should use its oversight powers to investigate who is funding these anti-Israel campus protests, which seem to enjoy sophisticated levels of coordination.
U.S.-based funders are committing a federal crime if they aid and abet violence across state lines. Foreign funding from hostile nations such as Iran would be a significant national security concern.
Congressional leaders already have shown the ability to use their oversight power to get real results on this matter after Harvard University President Claudine Gay was forced to resign after being exposed during a hearing before the House Education and Workforce Committee.
More hearings to investigate funding sources for these college protests and the lack of leadership from university presidents are warranted.
Fourth, Congress should show public support for states and universities seeking to enforce laws that prohibit wearing masks and face coverings such as keffiyehs on campus, through a nonbinding “Sense of Congress” resolution.
Many colleges already have policies against wearing masks, since doing so obstructs the ability of law enforcement to determine the identities of anyone violating the law or committing an act of terrorism.
Fifth, Congress should tackle head-on all programs that advance so-called diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI, and critical race theory.
The Combatting Racist Teaching in Schools Act in the House and the Stop CRT Act in the Senate would prohibit federal funds from going to any elementary or secondary school or institution of higher education that promotes race-based ideologies through compelled speech and other mechanisms.
Congress is long overdue in tackling the very source through which these harmful ideologies proliferate in institutions around the country.
States, colleges and universities, and local law enforcement will be on the front lines of addressing these campus uprisings. However, Congress long has funded and promoted the apparatus that led to this situation.
These five recommendations outline the unique role that Congress must play in protecting national security and restoring a civil environment for all who choose to pursue higher education.
The post Top 5 Ways Congress Can Respond to Campus Riots appeared first on The Daily Signal.
