Rep. McCollum Statement on H.R. 4795

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to H.R. 4795, the Protect Economic and Academic Freedom Act of 2025. This bill would condition federal funding based on a university’s choices regarding investments, procurement, partnerships, and other institutional activities in Israel and the West Bank. 

Peaceful dissent and the protesting of injustice are the right of all Americans guaranteed by the Constitution. It is called freedom of speech. H.R. 4795 would infringe on that right to free speech. In a political environment where the President of the United States is canceling federal grants for academic institutions that don’t align with his views or his policies, H.R. 4795 would give President Trump one more tool to infringe on that right to free speech and retaliate against our colleges and universities where he sees fit.

My Republican colleagues are advancing this bill to punish academic institutions that divest from Israeli companies or end partnerships with Israeli universities. But this bill won’t punish the institutions. It will punish the students at those institutions who rely on federal student loans or Pell Grants to afford college. In my district and across the country, many low- and middle-income students, rely on financial aid to afford a college education. Congress should be working to make higher education more affordable for students, not less affordable.

Rather than considering H.R. 4795, the House should take up legislation that would actually protect students on college campuses and condemn all forms of hate. Threats, harassment, and hate based on race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender or any other identity have no place in our communities, on our college campuses, or in our society. But this bill does not even attempt to address the recent rise in antisemitism, nor does it address the rise in Islamophobia. Instead, it does real harm to Jewish students by conflating antisemitism with criticism of the state of Israel. 

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to oppose the bill. I yield back.