Brandon Williams

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Aarohi Rastogi, Mia Enders, and Rayna Reed, three Girl Scouts from Girl Scouts of NYPENN Pathways, for demonstrating extraordinary leadership at the 11th Annual Girls Speak Out in commemoration of International Day of the Girl on October 11, 2024, at the United Nations (UN) Headquarters in New York, NY.

International Day of the Girl is an annual and internationally recognized observance on October 11 which acknowledges the importance, power, and potential of adolescent girls. This year's theme, `Girls' vision for the future', conveys the need for urgent action and persistent hope, driven by the power of girls' voices and vision for the future. With the right support, resources and opportunities, the potential of the world's more than 1.1 billion girls is limitless. And when girls lead, the impact is immediate and wide reaching: families and communities are all stronger, our future brighter.

Co-hosted by the Permanent Missions of Canada, Peru, and Turkey, UN Women, UNICEF, and UNFPA, the 11th Annual Girls Speak Out for International Day of the Girl Child called for a push for accountability for girls' rights and investment in girls' leadership and vision for their futures. This year's Girls' Speak Out at UNHQ provided an opportunity for girls to hold direct dialogue with Member States and UN Agencies through a girl-led town hall discussion, followed by a Girls' Action conference, hosted by girls, for girls.

Aarohi, Mia, and Rayna were selected to not only participate as Girl Activists but also as moderators for the town hall to engage with policymakers and emphasize the importance of girls in bringing change to their peers and communities, and facilitators for the Girls' Action conference learning labs.

In their roles as Girl Activists, Aarohi and Rayna shared the work they have done in pursuit of the prestigious Gold Award, the highest award in Girl Scouting.

For Aarohi, the Gold Award is an opportunity to create and deliver a comprehensive mental health education program for 7th-12th grade students in India. Inspired by her family members and peers in India, Aarohi collaborated with NGOs and mental health experts from around the world to create a curriculum covering topics such as stigma, stress and anxiety, depression, and suicide prevention.

For Rayna, the Gold Award is an opportunity to establish a peer mentoring program with three of her friends, including Mia, and her school's Assistant Principal to mitigate learning loss and the effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic. With the launch of the Middle School Mentor Program, Rayna and her peers seek to build community and increase access to free tutoring and mentorship programs at their school.

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the people of New York's 22nd Congressional District, I thank these three outstanding young women for their leadership and wish them the best of luck in their future endeavors.

Mr. Chair, I thank Congresswoman Foxx for her courageous leadership in these historic and important times.

Mr. Chair, I am proud to speak in support of H.R. 3724, which includes my bill, the Respecting the First Amendment on Campus Act.

This package ensures transparency both in the accreditation process and at the institutional level, protecting the right to free speech, the liberty of religious conscience, and the safeguards against discrimination.

Our Nation's colleges and universities are at the very best when they facilitate the free, open, and civil exchange of ideas among students and faculty alike, with robust disagreements serving to teach students how to think and how to engage with those who come to the table with different perspectives.

In the interest of protecting students' ability to learn and grow from these interactions, this legislation ensures the universities do not stray from the guiding principles of the First Amendment. Throughout history, we have witnessed dangerous extremists weaponize educational institutions to promote their ideology and to suppress dissent. The open forum is worth protecting.

In the not-too-distant future, everyone in this Chamber will pass the torch to a new generation of leaders, not just in government, but in business, journalism, and every other sector of life.

We owe it to them to make sure that the educational halls in which they learn are more than a one-way conduit through which ideologues seek to cram their own views of the world on captive students. Their formative educational years should be spent thinking critically and discussing freely the issues that they will grapple with in their adult lives.

The prosperity of our Nation depends on that next generation and the ability

to think independently and engage productively with those who have different perspectives. Those are valuable tools they will have to use throughout their lives.

College students should feel secure in the knowledge that their rights are protected on campus, that campuses follow the law and certify their practices and policies on free speech to prospective students and families. Especially now, as students are increasingly unsure how their school will react to the turbulent political issues of today, it is necessary that institutions of higher education act with transparency and moral clarity, to protect the open forum and, by extension, the students they have been entrusted with.

This legislation speaks to universities directly: If you do not protect the lawful and Supreme Court-tested First Amendment rights of your students, you will lose your funding.

Mr. Chair, I urge the House to do right by our Nation's students and pass this bill.

Mr. Speaker, had I been present, I would have voted AYE on Roll Call No. 251.