Davis: Speaker Pelosi and Congressman Walz Should Deny Funding for Universities that Restrict ROTC Programs

Davis notes that Pelosi's voting record has been consistently against the military and the ROTC For Immediate Release April 21, 2008 Contact: Brad Biers 651.261.2182 (Rochester, MN) - Today, Brian Davis, the endorsed Republican candidate for the First District of Minnesota, called upon House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and First District freshman Congressman Tim Walz to move forward with legislation that would remove the authority that universities exercise in banning Reserve Officers' Training Corp (ROTC) instruction from their campuses. Universities that fail to comply with the proposed ban would be denied all federal research funding and student financial aid. Speaker Pelosi is scheduled to meet Congressman Walz today at a veterans hospital in Minneapolis. "In 1996, Congress passed the Solomon amendment which requires universities to allow ROTC and military recruiters on campus or risk losing federal funding. As recently as 2005, Speaker Pelosi was among only 20% of Congress to vote against a similar house resolution granting military recruiters equal access to institutions of higher education. When I was a graduate student, I was appalled to learn that ROTC students from a nearby campus had to meet, drill and receive instruction at our university because their school didn't allow a ROTC program even though they were well-funded in every other respect. I thought this was absolutely outrageous, and I still do," said Davis. Davis continued, "Speaker Pelosi and Congressman Walz are meeting with First District veterans today. If they really want to help the military, Pelosi and Walz should ensure our military receives the respect it deserves on our college campuses. Any university that forbids ROTC instruction on campus should lose all federal funding, plain and simple. This will be one of the first bills I introduce in Congress." Brad Biers, campaign manager and a National Guard veteran, remarked, "Tim Walz continues to cozy up to the anti-military leftists in Congress. This just doesn't sit well with the overwhelming majority of people in southern Minnesota who respect and honor our military." Brian Davis is a physician who resides in Rochester along with his wife, Lori, and their four children.