Jerry Nadler: Trump Is 'Taking A Page From The Authoritarian Playbook' In Attacking Elite Universities

Forbes Breaking News

At today's House Judiciary Committee hearing, Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) slammed President Trump's attack on elite universities.

Transcript

00:00We'll now recognize the ranking member, Mr. Nadler, for his opening statement.

00:05Mr. Chairman, before I start my opening statement, let me mention a personal stake in this.

00:15I am the first member of my family to go to college.

00:20We didn't have much money. My father worked on a gas station.

00:23And I was offered full scholarships by two Ivy League colleges, Yale and Columbia.

00:32I chose Columbia, and I never had to pay a cent.

00:36Mr. Chairman, this hearing, like so much else that we have done in this committee under Republican control,

00:42takes a serious issue and uses it as little more than an excuse to launch a decidedly unserious so-called investigation.

00:50Let's be clear. The cost of tuition at many colleges and universities, not just Ivy League institutions,

00:59is too high and is unaffordable for too many families.

01:03But the same Republicans who today claim to be concerned about the ability of students and their families to afford college tuition

01:09proudly cast their votes two weeks ago for a budget reconciliation bill

01:15that would take direct aim at student loan programs and other vital student aid.

01:20If they really cared about consumer prices, they would not undermine the ability of all students,

01:28especially low-income students, to access and afford higher education.

01:33They would not make cuts to Pell Grants that would reduce or eliminate access for up to 4 million students.

01:40They would not cut student loan subsidies, raising costs for an average borrower by up to $200 a month.

01:47They would not make student loan repayments even more difficult and push more students into the predatory private loan market.

01:55And they would not include devastating cuts to Medicaid, which would deprive roughly 3.4 million low-income students of much-needed health care.

02:04But Republicans showed us very clearly that their priority is tax cuts for billionaires, not affordable higher education.

02:12So it is a little difficult to take their concerns seriously today.

02:17This hearing also comes in the context of the Trump administration's all-out assault on education and research

02:24at colleges and universities across the country, and particularly at Ivy League and other elite universities.

02:31The administration has slashed billions of dollars in research grants to universities,

02:36which will set back technological innovation and medical advances by decades,

02:42not to mention harming our economic growth.

02:46At the same time, they are revoking student visas and sending an unmistakable message

02:51to prospective students around the globe that they are not welcome.

02:54The result is that the brightest minds in the world who once flocked to this country

02:59will now look to bring their brains and talents elsewhere.

03:04But this attack on higher education has an even more sinister purpose.

03:08Its real target is academic freedom.

03:11Taking a page from the authoritarian playbook,

03:15the Trump administration is using every tool at its disposal

03:18in a pressure campaign to impose its ideology on independent academic institutions

03:24and to bend them into submission.

03:27And unfortunately, they have a willing partner in the Republicans on the Judiciary Committee.

03:33Instead of using their power as legislators to make education cheaper,

03:37more accessible, and easier to pay off for all Americans,

03:41Republicans are using the power of this committee

03:43to aid and to bet President Trump's ideological war

03:47against a very narrow slice of higher ed institutions.

03:51How absurdly narrow is their focus?

03:54They are targeting eight schools out of about 4,000 in the United States.

03:59That amounts to a focus upon less than one-half of one percent

04:02of the American undergraduate population.

04:06While President Trump threatens individual schools with cuts

04:09for not adhering to his ideology,

04:11they are using the power and resources of this committee

04:14to pursue yet another empty antitrust theory

04:17so that they can bully their political targets.

04:20Sadly, this follows a familiar pattern.

04:24Last Congress, this subcommittee unleashed baseless antitrust investigations

04:29designed to undermine the free speech rights

04:32of advertisers and investors

04:34that held views disfavored by the majority.

04:37When advertisers made the reasonable determination

04:42that they did not want their brands associated

04:45with extremist views and hate speech on social media platforms,

04:50Republicans used the flawed antitrust theory

04:52to justify a campaign to threaten and intimidate them

04:56into abandoning their efforts at responsible advertising.

05:01When investors threatened the profits of big oil and gas companies

05:04by considering the risks that climate change pose to our economic future,

05:09the committee rushed to the defense of their corporate allies

05:11with another hollow antitrust investigation.

05:15And now today, they return to the same tired playbook,

05:19using the power of this committee

05:20to support the Trump administration's efforts

05:22to target academic institutions.

05:26After having launched an overbroad fishing expedition

05:28against Ivy League universities,

05:31they are now holding a hearing today

05:32to justify these efforts at harassment and intimidation.

05:37As I noted at the outset,

05:38there are real concerns when it comes to the cost of tuition

05:41at colleges and universities.

05:43If there is indeed collusion among the Ivy League schools,

05:46enforcement by our antitrust agencies,

05:49the Federal Trade Commission,

05:50and the Department of Justice is the answer.

05:53Not a partisan probe

05:54that merely serves as another broadside

05:56against education in America

05:58under President Trump.

06:00There is much we could do together

06:01to bring down the cost of tuition

06:03and broaden access to education.

06:06Unfortunately, Republicans would rather

06:08slash student loans

06:09to pay for tax cuts for billionaires

06:13while threatening universities

06:14that do not bend to Donald Trump's will.

06:17Unfortunately, there is one clear loser

06:19in the Republican war on science and education.

06:22It is the students they claim to support,

06:25and I should add,

06:26the public that benefits

06:27from scientific and medical discoveries

06:29that will not now happen in the United States.

06:33I appreciate our witnesses for appearing today.

06:35I look forward to hearing from them,

06:37and I yield back the balance of my time.

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