Rep. Greg Murphy, R-N.C., said he has received positive feedback from college students, professors, and administrators regarding his legislative pitch to incentivize colleges into become more free-speech friendly.
Speaking to Newsmax on Thursday, Murphy cited a recent survey in which 70% of college students felt "inhibited" by what they want to say on campuses, which tend to lean left politically.
"[The students] fear the repercussions of going against a professor" or other groups, Murphy said on "American Agenda." "Free speech is here [in America] for a reason. It's also the First Amendment for a reason. Every single inch of a college campus should be about 'free speech' ... at the college level, you should be taught to think — not what to think."
In what's being touted as Campus Free Speech and Restoration Act, Congressman Murphy wants to require public and private universities to report First Amendment violations to the Department of Education.
He also wants colleges to publicly acknowledge campus policies on free speech.
Any failure to do so, according to Murphy's office, would restrict Title IV funding.
It also rankles Murphy that college students believes they have the freedom to be discourteous to another person's opinions in public places, if it doesn't align with their own.
"This nonsense ... of shouting people down needs to stop," said Murphy. "And it starts at the top. College presidents shouldn't be allowed to abuse the power" of limiting free speech.
Ideally, Murphy says college presidents should be "absolutely agnostic" when it comes to promoting political views.
"Unfortunately, many institutions teach diversity in all things except opinion," Murphy stated in his press release promoting the legislation. "This bill would ensure that taxpayer dollars go to colleges that are doing their best to protect their students right to free speech."
During his Newsmax interview, Murphy lamented how most television news networks haven't been proper role models for impressionable college students.
When asked why the majority of networks have outright ignored "The Twitter files" exposé from the past two weeks, Murphy said "it doesn't surprise me at all. They didn't publish anything about Hunter Biden's laptop [before the 2020 presidential election], so why would it be any different now?"
Murphy added: "It's very, very sad that the mainstream media no longer seeks the truth. It seeks to influence the public. ... We need to get back to a world of balance."
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