August 3, 2020 - Issue: Vol. 166, No. 137 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 2nd Session

[Page S4653]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            ACADEMIC FREEDOM

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, everybody now in the Senate remembers 
Senator Hatch. I want to tell you how he is still on the job, reminding 
Americans of our traditions.
  Recently, my friend from Utah, former Senator Orrin Hatch, wrote 
about American academia and our so-called cancel culture. I encourage 
all Americans to read his essay that was published in the Wall Street 
Journal. Senator Hatch calls for a ``renewed commitment to intellectual 
diversity'' and for a ``radical overhaul of campus culture.''
  I agree with Senator Hatch.
  Our institutions of higher learning need to wake up and welcome the 
open exchange of ideas in the classrooms and across campuses, and if 
that isn't what universities and colleges are for, I don't know what 
they are for. Silencing or shaming students from sharing divergent 
views is antithetical to the American way.
  Our next generation of leaders deserves better. As colleges begin the 
school year, they should focus on keeping their students safe from the 
virus, but--and a big ``but''--they shouldn't worry one bit about 
keeping students safe from the free exchange of ideas or prevent 
professors from teaching different schools of thought. The herd 
mentality limits intellectual curiosity, and that is bad for freedom, 
particularly academic freedom.
  I yield the floor.

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