Israeli Lobby Slips Anti-Free Speech Bill Through House of Representatives

[plurality]

http://www.aljazeerah.info/News%20archives/2004%20News%20archives/March/21n/Israeli%20Lobby%20Slips%20AntiFree%20Speech%20Bill%20Through%20House%20of%20Representatives.htm

Bill Can Still Be Defeated in Senate if Citizens Act Now.

By Michael Collins Piper, 3/21/04

The Israeli lobby has launched an all-out drive to ensure congressional passage of a bill (approved by the House and now before a Senate committee) that would set up a virtual federal tribunal to investigate and monitor criticism of Israel on American college campuses.

Ten months ago the New York-based Jewish Week newspaper claimed that the report by American Free Press that Republican members of the Senate were planning to crack down on college and university professors who were critical of Israel was "a dangerous urban legend at best, deliberate disinformation at worst." In short, they were saying AFP lied.

Now the truth has come out. On September 17, 2003 the House Subcommittee on Select Education unanimously approved H.R. 3077, the International Studies in Higher Education Act, which was then passed by the full House of Representatives on October 21. The chief sponsor of the legislation was Rep. Peter Hoekstra, a conservative Republican from Michigan.

snip

One other group has lent its support: the U.S. India Political Action Committee, an Indian-American group that has been working closely with the Israeli lobby now that Israel and India are geopolitically allied.

H.R. 3077 is innocuously worded and quite bureaucratic in its tone, decipherable only to those with the capacity to wade through legislative linguistics, but essentially it would set up a seven-member advisory board that would have the power to recommend cutting federal funding for colleges and universities that are viewed as harboring academic critics of Israel.

[ixion]

1. well, that certainly sucks...

Seriously folks... we need to take the ability for the Bill of Rights and Constitution hating freepers to cloak themselves in the flag while simultaneously, and systematically, eliminating the freedoms on which this country was founded.

I really can't believe that they're being allowed to get away with all this kind of tripe. :-(

[plurality]

4. they get away with it, because

they get plenty of money to sell their souls, and no one cares, and there's plenty of bought and sold media to cover their asses. And it's unfortunate that this shit is going to continue to happen until these bastards (Congresspeople) wake up to find a mob with pitchforks and torches outside their house.

[papau]

12. Bill below - nothing there - this is anti-jewish BULLSHIT - I guess

far-right anti-semite Michael Collins Piper, Anti Semite Spotlight's newly named Liberty Lobby and its "news" arm AFP (not be confused with the legitamate AFP), and Al-Jazeera are not always credible. This group only puts together a report - nothing more - so anti-semetic folks fear being in a report?

H.R.3077
International Studies in Higher Education Act of 2003
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; REFERENCES; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Sec. 1. Short title; references; table of contents.
SEC. 2. INTERNATIONAL AND FOREIGN LANGUAGE STUDIES.
SEC. 3. BUSINESS AND INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS.
SEC. 4. INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC POLICY.
`SEC. 621. PROGRAM FOR FOREIGN SERVICE PROFESSIONALS. ';
SEC. 5. EVALUATION, OUTREACH, AND DISSEMINATION.
`SEC. 632. EVALUATION, OUTREACH, AND DISSEMINATION.
SEC. 6. ADVISORY BOARD.
`SEC. 633. INTERNATIONAL HIGHER EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD.
SEC. 633. INTERNATIONAL HIGHER EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD.

`(a) ESTABLISHMENT AND PURPOSE-

`(1) ESTABLISHMENT- There is established in the Department an independent International Higher Education Advisory Board (hereafter in this section referred to as the `International Advisory Board'). The International Advisory Board shall provide advice, counsel and recommendations to the Secretary and the Congress on international education issues for higher education.

`(2) PURPOSE- The purpose of the International Advisory Board is--

`(A) to provide expertise in the area of national needs for proficiency in world regions, foreign languages, and international affairs;

`(B) to make recommendations that will promote the excellence of international education programs and result in the growth and development of such programs at the postsecondary education level that will reflect diverse perspectives and the full range of views on world regions, foreign language, and international affairs; and

`(C) to advise the Secretary and the Congress with respect to needs for expertise in government, the private sector, and education in order to enhance America's understanding of, and engagement in, the world.

`(b) INDEPENDENCE OF INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY BOARD- In the exercise of its functions, powers, and duties, the International Advisory Board shall be independent of the Secretary and the other offices and officers of the Department. Except as provided in this subsection and subsection (f), the recommendations of the International Advisory Board shall not be subject to review or approval by any officer of the Federal Government. Nothing in this title shall be construed to authorize the International Advisory Board to mandate, direct, or control an institution of higher education's specific instructional content, curriculum, or program of instruction. The Board is authorized to study, monitor, apprise, and evaluate a sample of activities supported under this title in order to provide recommendations to the Secretary and the Congress for the improvement of programs under the title and to ensure programs meet the purposes of the title. The recommendations of the Board may address any area in need of improvement, except that any recommendation of specific legislation to Congress shall be made only if the President deems it necessary and expedient.

`(c) MEMBERSHIP-

`(1) APPOINTMENT- The International Advisory Board shall have 7 members of whom--

`(A) 3 members shall be appointed by the Secretary;

`(B) 2 members shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, upon the recommendation of the Majority Leader and the Minority Leader; and

`(C) 2 members shall be appointed by the President pro tempore of the Senate, upon the recommendation of the Majority Leader and the Minority Leader.

`(2) REPRESENTATION- Two of the members appointed by the Secretary under paragraph (1)(A) shall be appointed to represent Federal agencies that have national security responsibilities, after consultation with the heads of such agencies. The members of the International Advisory Board shall also include (but not be limited to) representatives of States, institutions of higher education, cultural organizations, educational organizations, local education agencies, students, and private citizens with expertise in international concerns.

`(3) QUALIFICATION- Members of the International Advisory Board shall be individuals who have technical qualifications, professional standing, experience working in international affairs or foreign service occupations, or demonstrated knowledge in the fields of higher education and international education, including foreign languages, world regions, or international affairs.

`(d) FUNCTIONS OF THE COMMITTEE-

`(1) IN GENERAL- The International Advisory Board shall provide recommendations in accordance with subsection (b) regarding improvement of programs under this title to the Secretary and the Congress for their review. The Board may--

`(A) review and comment upon the regulations for grants under this title;

`(B) monitor, apprise, and evaluate a sample of activities supported under this title based on the purposes and objectives of this title in order to provide recommendations for improvement of the programs under this title;

`(C) make recommendations that will assist the Secretary and the Congress to improve the programs under this title to better reflect the national needs related to the homeland security, international education, and international affairs, including an assessment of the national needs and the training provided by the institutions of higher education that receive a grant under this title for expert and non-expert level foreign language training;

`(D) make recommendations to the Secretary and the Congress regarding such studies, surveys, and analyses of international education that will provide feedback about the programs under this title and assure that their relative authorized activities reflect diverse perspectives and the full range of views on world regions, foreign languages, and international affairs;

`(E) make recommendations that will strengthen the partnerships between local educational agencies, public and private elementary and secondary education schools, and grant recipients under this title to ensure that the research and knowledge about world regions, foreign languages, and international affairs is widely disseminated to local educational agencies;

`(F) make recommendations on how institutions of higher education that receive a grant under this title can encourage students to serve the nation and meet national needs in an international affairs, international business, foreign language, or national security capacity;

`(G) make recommendations on how linkages between institutions of higher education and public and private organizations that are involved in international education, language training, and international research capacities to fulfill manpower and information needs of United States businesses; and

`(H) make recommendations to the Secretary and the Congress about opportunities for underrepresented populations in the areas of international relations, international affairs, and international economics, in order to effectively carry out the activities of the Institute under part C.

`(2) HEARINGS- The International Advisory Board shall provide for public hearing and comment regarding the matter contained in the recommendations described in paragraph (1), prior to the submission of those recommendations to Secretary and the Congress.

`(e) OPERATIONS OF THE COMMITTEE-

`(1) TERMS- Each member of the International Advisory Board shall be appointed for a term of 3 years, except that, of the members first appointed (A) 4 shall be appointed for a term of 3 years, and (B) 3 shall be appointed for a term of 4 years, as designated at the time of appointment by the Secretary. A member of the International Advisory Board may be reappointed to successive terms on the International Advisory Board.

`(2) VACANCIES- Any member appointed to fill a vacancy occurring prior to the expiration of the term of a predecessor shall be appointed only for the remainder of such term. A member of the International Advisory Board shall, upon the Secretary's request, continue to serve after the expiration of a term until a successor has been appointed.

`(3) NO GOVERNMENTAL MEMBERS- Except for the members appointed by the Secretary under subsection (c)(1)(A), no officers or full-time employees of the Federal Government shall serve as members of the International Advisory Board.

`(4) MEETINGS- The International Advisory Board shall meet not less than once each year. The International Advisory Board shall hold additional meetings at the call of the Chair or upon the written request of not less than 3 voting members of the International Advisory Board.

`(5) QUORUM- A majority of the voting members of the Board serving at the time of a meeting shall constitute a quorum.

`(6) CHAIR- The International Advisory Board shall elect a Chairman or Chairwoman from among the members of the International Advisory Board.

`(f) SUBMISSION TO DEPARTMENT FOR COMMENT- The International Advisory Board shall submit its proposed recommendations to the Secretary of Education for comment for a period not to exceed 30 days in each instance.

`(g) PERSONNEL AND RESOURCES-

`(1) COMPENSATION AND EXPENSE- Members of the International Advisory Committee shall serve without pay for such service. Members of the International Advisory Board who are officers or employees of the United States may not receive additional pay, allowances, or benefits by reason of their service on the International Advisory Board. Members of the International Advisory Board may each receive reimbursement for travel expenses incident to attending International Advisory Board meetings, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, as authorized by section 5703 of title 5, United States Code, for persons in the Government service employed intermittently.

`(2) PERSONNEL- The International Advisory Board may appoint such personnel as may be determined necessary by the Chairman without regard to the provisions of title 5, United States Code, governing appointments in the competitive service, and may be paid without regard to the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of such title relating to classification and General Schedule pay rates, but no individual so appointed shall be paid in excess of the rate authorized for GS-18 of the General Schedule. The International Advisory Board may appoint not more than 1 full-time equivalent, nonpermanent, consultant without regard to the provisions of title 5, United States Code. The International Advisory Board shall not be required by the Secretary to reduce personnel to meet agency personnel reduction goals.

`(3) CONSULTATION- In carrying out its duties under the Act, the International Advisory Board shall consult with other Federal agencies, representatives of State and local governments, and private organizations to the extent feasible.

`(4) ASSISTANCE FROM OTHER AGENCIES-

`(A) INFORMATION- The International Advisory Board is authorized to secure directly from any executive department, bureau, agency, board, commission, office, independent establishment, or instrumentality information, suggestions, estimates, and statistics for the purpose of this section and each such department, bureau, agency, board, commission, office, independent establishment, or instrumentality is authorized and directed, to the extent permitted by law, to furnish such information, suggestions, estimates, and statistics directly to the International Advisory Board, upon request made by the Chairman.

`(B) SERVICES AND PERSONNEL- The head of each Federal agency shall, to the extent not prohibited by law, consult with the International Advisory Board in carrying out this section. The International Advisory Board is authorized to utilize, with their consent, the services, personnel, information, and facilities of other Federal, State, local, and private agencies with or without reimbursement.

`(5) CONTRACTS; EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS- The International Advisory Board may enter into contracts for the acquisition of information, suggestions, estimates, and statistics for the purpose of this section. The International Advisory Board is authorized to obtain the services of experts and consultants without regard to section 3109 of title 5, United States Code and to set pay in accordance with such section.

`(h) TERMINATION- Notwithstanding the sunset and charter provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App. I) or any other statute or regulation, the International Advisory Committee shall be authorized through September 30, 2009.

`(i) FUNDS- The Secretary shall use not more than one-half of the funds available to the Secretary under section 632 to carry out this section.'.



SEC. 7. RECRUITER ACCESS TO STUDENTS AND STUDENT RECRUITING INFORMATION; SAFETY.
`SEC. 634. RECRUITER ACCESS TO STUDENTS AND STUDENT RECRUITING INFORMATION.
`SEC. 635. STUDENT SAFETY.
SEC. 8. NATIONAL STUDY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE HERITAGE COMMUNITIES.
`SEC. 636. NATIONAL STUDY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE HERITAGE COMMUNITIES.

[Malikshah]

14. Read up on the bill then "judge"

HR 3077 aims to destroy academic freedom.

Many of its key supporters are ardent Pro-Israeli officials--Martin Kramer, Daniel Pipes, et al.

Avoid the labels.

[papau]

19. It makes reports - if supporters include folks with labels "pro-Israeli"

I choose to avoid the labels.

The content of this bill is a big zero in terms of the Arab/Israeli question(s) -

unless the anti-semetics are afraid of the light of a simple report, there is nothing to complain about.

[plurality]

23. You're right, it doesn't have to do specifically with I/P

And that is a problem with this article, but there are larger issues at stake.

What this bill does do is open the door for Congress to withhold funding to Universities that have professors whose views they don't like. Try removing pro or anti- Israel from the equation and replacing it with evolution or global warming.

The point is the government has NO business deciding what gets taught in schools PERIOD. Whether it's about Israel, American History, whatever.

The best thing about College/University is that it opens the door for people to learn about things they haven't been exposed to before. Such as some of America's past history that is whitewashed in High School history classes. This bill opens the door for Congress to remove funding for schools that employ professors who teach that the Pilgrims weren't poor opressed religious people fleeing intolerable Europe, who had to fight against those horrible savage Indians that were living on the land that God saved for them.

[tlcandie]

16. For starters these two parts bother me .... it leaves the door open IMO

<snip>
(D) make recommendations to the Secretary and the Congress regarding such studies, surveys, and analyses of international education that will provide feedback about the programs under this title and assure that their relative authorized activities reflect diverse perspectives and the full range of views on world regions, foreign languages, and international affairs;
<snip>

<snip>
(H) make recommendations to the Secretary and the Congress about opportunities for underrepresented populations in the areas of international relations, international affairs, and international economics, in order to effectively carry out the activities of the Institute under part C.
<snip>

[w4rma]

22. Why do the supporters of this bill think we need these extra laws? (n/t)

[colonel odis]

2. i can't believe it, either.

since when do we let zionists start rewriting our bill of rights? what's next? will the govt allow israeli hit squads safe passage to our college campuses to kidnap or assassinate professors they don't like?

no wonder so many people pull for the palestinians.

[The Backlash Cometh]

3. "Israel and India are geopolitically allied."

Boy, is that the understatement of the day. Israel determines our foreign policy and now is working on taking away our first amendment rights and India is taking our jobs. Just out of curiousity, when did we concede our rights to foreign countries?

[no_hypocrisy]

5. Pat Buchanon may have been right about Israeli lobbyists determining

our foreign policy -- and our domestic affairs. It sounded anti-semitic when he first said it because there was no proof of it. Now I'm listening . . .

[chimpymustgo]

7. This creeps me out COMPLETELY.

Gives new meaning to "taking back our government."

[plurality]

6. to be fair to Israel

Our government has been looking to destroy the Bill of Rights for years, Sharon and Co. are just a convienent test case. That way they can deflect all criticism of it to Israel.

While it bugs me to no end, I think our ire needs to be for the Congresspeople who take the checks and listen to the lobbyists instead of us and the Constitution.

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

8. guys -- Source is EXTREMEMLY dubious

Michael Collins Piper is a far-right anti-semite (whose biggest work argues that Mossad killed Kennedy) & AFP is the new arm of the Liberty Lobby (since Spotlight closed down) -- Willis Carto's far-right propaganda outfit.

Al-Jazeera is al-jazeera.

This smells like pure anti-semitic bollocks to me & I'd look into it a lot deeper before jumping to any conclusions.

[plurality]

9. here's the bill

I don't have time to read it all right now, but to any who wish, look through it and report if the article is acurate or not.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c108:3:./temp/~c1083qUXAb::

H.R.3077
International Studies in Higher Education Act of 2003 (Referred to Senate Committee after being Received from House)

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

11. Cheers -- there may well be a story somewhere here

about "Campus Watch" & attempts to meddle with university curriculums, but the article IMHO is just inflamatory & written by someone who simply should not be seen as credible here.

[plurality]

17. it's true the article does have it's biases

But it's the only place I've seen this reported so it's best to filter through that and get down to what this bill portends.

The site that reported it is obviously worried about what the bill could mean to academics critical of Israel. While I believe that is a legitimate concern from this bill, I don't think the bill was meant to quell only anti-Israel voices, but any voices that don't quite fit the regime line of 'America is always right.'

So while the rhetoric is somewhat inflammatory and only directed at what the bill means for the Israel/Palestine conflict, I think it remains an affront to liberty, and it's sickening that a bill like this is even considered, much less passed by the House.

[Art_from_Ark]

10. Perhaps you'd like to take a look at this web site

http://www.campus-watch.org/survey.php/id/48

[thebigidea]

24. and so is your talk re: the source

"Al-Jazeera is al-jazeera."

which would be relevant if this were published by Al-Jazeera the satellite news channel and not Al-Jazeerah the completely unrelated website.

[western mass]

13. Here's what CUNY faculty say about it

http://www.campus-watch.org/article/id/1030

--- snip ---

the membership of this advisory board will consist of seven members, including three appointed by the Secretary of Education, two of whom "shall be appointed to represent Federal agencies that have national security responsibilities, after consultation with the heads of such agencies"

--- snip ---

included among the functions of this advisory board will be to:
"review and comment upon the regulations for grants under this title;
"monitor, apprise, and evaluate a sample of activities supported under this title based on the purposes and objectives of this title in order to provide recommendations for improvement of the programs under this title;

--- snip ---

the consequence of this advisory board, if not the motive behind it, may be to politicize the awarding of grants and to discourage scholarship critical of U.S. foreign policy in Foreign Language Area Studies, particularly those programs focusing on the Middle East, and

[papau]

20. "may be"as to motive- and for this we raise a cry about our civil liberty

get real.

[yltlatl]

15. Read the Bill!!

People, people read the bill. While I'm not one to dispute the larger point that our government frequently bends over backwards for a certain narrow, militaristic view of Israel's interests, I don't think that this bill is particularly strong evidence for that argument. I'm not a lawyer, but it sounds to me like the ultimate impact of this bill will boil down to who gets appointed to this board and what the executive branch decides to do with the recommendations of the board--I don't see anywhere that the board would actually have control over funding. I would tend to agree w/ the posters who think this is a some anti-Semitic hysteria.

P.S.--anyone interested in Israel's constantly improving relationship w/ India should check into the major arms sales within the past year or two--including if memory serves some advanced radars.

[papau]

21. I Agree on all your points

:-)

[Joanne98]

18. This is an outrage

and all it will do is make people "speak" more.

[NashVegas]

25. I'm Locking This Thread

Although the bill in question is, in itself, a newsworthy topic, there's no questioning the bias of its source, and the lack of anything resembling proof that some AIPAC conspiracy is the driver.

To anyone who wants to seriously discuss this bill's potential impact on higher education without throwing conspiracy charges around, take it up in the Education forum. Or, strip the source story text of its biases and repost, IF you wish to discuss the educational aspects here.