Reserve Officers Association

To Extend the Solomon and Pombo Amendment to JROTC
Resolution No. 10-17 

WHEREAS, the Solomon Amendment, 10 U.S.C. § 983(b)(1), initially enacted on September 30, 1996, as part of the Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act , 1997 (Public Law 104-208), as amended on October 28, 2004, by the Ronald W. Reagan National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005 (Public Law 108-375), withholds specified federal funds from institutions of higher education that deny military recruiters the same access to campuses and students that they provide to other employers;

WHEREAS, the Pombo Amendment, 10 U.S.C. § 983(a),initially enacted on September 30, 1996, as part of the Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act , 1997 (Public Law 104-208), as amended on October 28, 2004, by the Ronald W. Reagan National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005 (Public Law 108-375), withholds specified federal funds from institutions of higher education that have denied or restricted the establishment, maintenance or efficient operation of a Senior Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) unit, but not a Junior ROTC unit at high school; and

WHEREAS, on March 6, 2006, in a unanimous decision entitled Rumsfeld v. Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights (FAIR), 547 U.S. 04-1152, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Solomon Amendment; and

WHEREAS, under Article I of the Constitution of the United States, Congress is given the spending power, as well as obligations to “raise and support Armies, . . . provide and maintain a Navy”, and “made Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and Naval Forces”; and

WHEREAS, the Congress’ use of the spending power and fulfillment of the requirements to maintain the military under Article I do not unreasonably burden free speech, and, therefore, do not offend the First Amendment; and

WHEREAS, under the balance-of-interests test, the interest of protecting the national security of the United States outweighs the indirect and attenuated interest in any individual’s or institution’s speech, expressive association, or academic freedom rights; and

WHEREAS, the City of Berkeley, California, declared in 2008 that military recruiters are not welcome in that city;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Reserve Officers Association of the United States, chartered by Congress, urge the Congress to continue supporting the principles of using the spending power of the Congress to support the Armed Forces, as embodied in the Solomon and Pombo Amendments; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Reserve Officers Association of the United States, urge the Congress to expand the Solomon and Pombo Amendments to include denial of all federal funds to cities, counties, states, and school districts that deny or discourage access to their jurisdictions by military recruiters, or that deny or restrict the establishment, maintenance or efficient operation of a Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) unit.

Renewed by ROA National Convention on 10 February 2010.
Adopted by ROA National Council on 13 February 2008.
Rewrite of ROA Resolution 05-04.

 
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