Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, America's colleges and universities are training the future leaders of our Nation. In an academic setting, all viewpoints on matters of public policy deserve the chance to be heard. This tradition of academic freedom must be protected.
Unfortunately, last week at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, students were denied the opportunity to hear a talk by former Congressman Tom Tancredo by protesters who interrupted his speech. Congressman Tancredo had been invited by the University of North Carolina Chapter of Youth for Western Civilization to speak on the topic of in-State tuition for illegal aliens, an issue that has been hotly debated in the State of North Carolina.
Campus police shut down the event after protesters who shouted accusations of racism shattered a window of the classroom where the talk was to be held.
Following the incident, I had the chance to speak with the University of North Carolina Chancellor Holden Thorp by telephone. Chancellor Thorp said he had called Congressman Tancredo to apologize for how he was treated during his visit to the campus. The chancellor also issued a public statement about the incident.
He said, and I quote, ``We expect protests about controversial subjects at Carolina. That's part of our culture. But we also pride ourselves on being a place where all points of view can be expressed and heard. There's a way to protest that respects free speech and allows people with opposing views to be heard. Here that's often meant that groups protesting a speaker have displayed signs or banners, silently expressing their opinions while the speaker had his or her say.''
That did not happen during Congressman Tancredo's visit.
I commend Chancellor Thorp for extending a personal apology to Congressman Tancredo and for publicly voicing his disappointment that a visitor to the campus was denied the opportunity to express his views.
On behalf of all taxpayers who support North Carolina's public universities and their system, I also would like to apologize to my former colleague, because it all comes down to one simple point: If our public universities cannot protect freedom of speech on their campuses, who will? While his opposition to in-State tuition benefits for illegal immigrants may be controversial to some, Congressman Tancredo is a respected and knowledgeable leader in the immigration reform movement.
It is a shame that those with dissenting viewpoints prevented others from hearing his comments. I hope disciplinary measures will be taken, as warranted, against any student or professor who participated in disrupting Congressman Tancredo's talk. It is my understanding that the school is working with the students and would like to invite Congressman Tancredo back to campus to speak. In fact, Mr. Speaker, former Congressman Virgil Goode, another opponent of illegal immigration, is already scheduled to speak at the school tomorrow, and I hope that his speech will be protected.
I hope the university will take steps to ensure that future student-sponsored discussions on the university campus at Chapel Hill do not get shut down by those with dissenting viewpoints. We have a right to agree and disagree in this country. But if we cannot protect that at a university, I don't know what the future holds, quite frankly.
Again, in closing, I thank the administrators at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for working to protect the integrity of the university by allowing free speech to be exercised on their campus.
If our men and women in uniform or in Afghanistan and Iraq are trying to protect the freedom in those countries, then let's do what is possible to protect the freedom of different views at our universities and our colleges in America, because they are the future leaders of America, and they have a right to participate with those who agree and disagree.
With that, Mr. Speaker, I ask God to bless our men and women in uniform, and I ask God to please bless America.
