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Republican Senators Introduce Legislation to Protect Freedom of Religion on Campus

Republican Senators Introduce Legislation to Protect Freedom of Religion on Campus

“the Equal Campus Access Act of 2019”

This ties directly into the protection of free speech as well. Kudos to these senators.

The College Fix reports:

Republican senators introduce Equal Campus Access Act to protect students’ religious freedom

Three Republican senators have proposed legislation in an effort to protect college students’ freedom of religion on campus.

The Higher Education Act of 1965, which sets many of the federal government’s policies on higher education, is currently up for renewal.

With that, U.S. Senators James Lankford (R-Oklahoma), Roy Blunt (R-Missouri) and Tim Scott (R-South Carolina), introduced in April the Equal Campus Access Act of 2019 as an amendment to the HEA.

The proposed amendment states: “None of the funds made available under this Act may be provided to any public institution of higher education that denies to a religious student organization any right, benefit, or privilege that is otherwise afforded to other student organizations at the institution (including full access to the facilities of the institution and official recognition of the organization by the institution) because of the religious beliefs, practices, speech, leadership standards, or standards of conduct of the religious student organization.”

Sen. Lankford said the measure aims to force administrators to respect students’ religious beliefs and their right to choose their group’s leaders.

“More and more we see free speech and free association restricted on college campuses, especially for religious speech and religious groups, but students do not have to forfeit their First Amendment rights of speech, religion, and association to attend a public college. The Equal Campus Access Act affirms the right of religious groups to choose their own leaders without government interference,” he said in a statement.

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