Washington, DC  -  Our nation’s military should be treated just like any other employer recruiting on campus and given fair and equal access to our nation’s most highly educated students, Congressman Mike Rogers said today as the House voted 343-81 to pass Rogers’ bill to help military recruiters.

“This is common sense legislation,” Rogers said. “Passage of this bill should help ensure our Armed Services have equal access to our country’s best and brightest as well as ensure students are aware of the employment opportunities afforded to them by the United States military.”

Rogers’ bill, H.R. 3966, the ROTC and Military Recruiter Equal Access to Campus Act, requires colleges and universities that accept federal funding to be willing to permit military recruiters the same access to students as other prospective employers. The bill also builds on the Solomon Amendment by requiring institutions to certify whether they would host an on-campus ROTC program if requested by the Department of Defense. “I would also like to thank Armed Services Committee Chairman Hunter and Homeland Security Committee Chairman Cox for their support in passing this important legislation,” Rogers said.

The bill also adds two defense-related funding sources – the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Nuclear Security Administration – to the list of potentially prohibited federal funding sources that already exist in law. Rogers said almost all Alabama colleges or universities allowed fair and equal access to military recruiters on their campuses, and called upon the few elite institutions that bar recruiters, primarily those in the Northeast, to end the practice and better support our nation’s military recruitment efforts.