Watch Kennedy’s comments here.

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Federal Courts, Oversight, Agency Action and Federal Rights, made opening comments during the subcommittee hearing examining the relationship among amicus briefs, freedom of speech and association and transparency. Key comments include:

• “We're here today to look at the connection of money in our federal judiciary. The debate over money in politics is not new, but I think the partisan, I'll call it bickering, in Congress over the Supreme Court and other federal benches has almost reached a fever pitch. During the last administration, I personally witnessed an unprecedented—unprecedented—level of vitriol leveled at Justice Brett Kavanaugh and Justice Amy Coney Barrett. Their confirmation proceedings at times became circuses without a tent.”

• “Other nominees for federal judgeships have also been targeted, and nominees have been targeted for their personal beliefs, including their belief with respect to human life and when it begins. I hope that in this Congress we can do better, and I mean that sincerely. 

• “Our First Amendment has to be honored, and that's something that I hope we can talk about today. People have a right in America to express their opinion. You're not free if you can't say what you think. You're just not.” 

• “ . . . we do live in a cancel culture, and I think we do need to be careful that you can technically say someone has a First Amendment right, but—if they're canceled for exercising it—they really don't.” 

Video of Kennedy’s statement is available here, and video of his questioning witnesses is available here.

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced $3,826,928 from the Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for acquisition and elevation projects in Denham Springs, La. and Iberia Parish.

“This is great news for the city of Denham Springs and Iberia Parish, which have been struck by floods far too often. I look forward to seeing these elevation projects completed and these communities one step closer to flood recovery and damage prevention,” said Kennedy.  

In Denham Springs, this grant will elevate 10 buildings to a foot above base flood elevation. FEMA is funding 86% of this project, as the agency prioritizes flood mitigation.

A FEMA grant will also fund the elevation of 15 structures in Iberia Parish, covering 83% of the cost of the project.

Kennedy is a member of the Senate Banking Committee, which has jurisdiction over the National Flood Insurance Program.

WASHINGTON – Today the Senate unanimously passed the Concerns Over Nations Funding University Campus Institutes in the United States (CONFUCIUS) Act. Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) introduced the legislation to address concerns about Confucius Institutes’ suppressing free speech on American college campuses. 

“Confucius Institutes are under the control of the Chinese Communist Party in all but name. They are propaganda centers thatthreaten academic liberty and free speech without shame, and too many American schools are falling victim to the political con every day. This bill would give colleges and universities full control over their resident Confucius Institutes and restore freedom of thought on their campuses. The Senate passed the CONFUCIUS Act unanimously just months ago, and it is good news for students and educators that my colleagues did the same again today. I hope the House joins us in sending the CONFUCIUS Act to the president’s desk,” said Kennedy.

At universities across the U.S., the Chinese government is waging an influence war through its Confucius Institutes. Though ostensibly designed to promote cultural studies on college campuses, Confucius Institutes receive direct funding from the Chinese government.

The CONFUCIUS Act reduces the Chinese Communist Party’s influence on U.S. colleges and universities by granting full managerial authority over Confucius Institutes to the universities that host them. 

Specifically, the CONFUCIUS Act provides that Confucius Institutes must:

• Protect academic freedom on the campus where the Confucius Institute is located,
• Prohibit the application of any foreign law on any campus of the institution, and
• Grant full control over what a Confucius Institute teaches, the activities it carries out, the research grants it gives and the individuals it employs to the college or university on which it is located.

This bill would prohibit federal government funding to colleges and universities that host Confucius Institutes and are not in compliance with the above provisions. The funding prohibition would only apply to funding directed to the college or university and would not include funding disbursed to students, such as Pell Grants.

Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) have cosponsored the legislation.

The Senate twice passed the legislation unanimously in the 116^th Congress.

Background:

• According to the nonpartisan National Association of Scholars, there are at least 55 Confucius Institutes on U.S. soil, 48 of which are on university or college campuses.
• In May 2020, the College Republican National Committee and the College Democrats of America wrote a joint letter calling for the “immediate and permanent closure of all Confucius Institutes in the United States” due to their “concerns over the present state of academic freedom” and “the continued exploitation of liberal, democratic academic institutions by authoritarians.”
• These institutes can threaten universities by withholding funding in order to achieve their objectives, such as regulating speech the Chinese government opposes. Universities forced to choose between losing funding or upholding free speech are often tempted to yield to an institution funded by a foreign government over the interests of free speech. This allows foreign governments like China’s Communist Party to exert influence over American schools (such as prohibiting the Dalai Lama from speaking on a campus) and even apply Chinese Communist laws on U.S. soil.

The bill text is available here.

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Banking Committee, and Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) today introduced the Fair Access to Banking Act, which would prevent discrimination by banks and financial service providers against Constitutionally-protected industries and law-abiding businesses. The bill builds off the Trump Administration’s Fair Access Rule.

“Banking isn’t a red versus blue battleground. Law-abiding Americans should have access to financial services regardless of political position. The Fair Access to Banking Act would ensure that banks rely on impartial risk assessments—rather than politicized discrimination—when providing their services. If banks want to become advocacy groups that ignore the Constitutional protections of their clients, they would be breaking the law,” said Kennedy. 

“Fairness matters. There is no place in our society for discrimination, and big banks are no exception. Financial service providers do not have the right to circumvent the Constitution or the law to create de-facto bans on legally-compliant businesses like energy producers or firearms manufacturers when they believe it is politically convenient. Our legislation makes it illegal to do so and imposes serious consequences on those who choose to violate the law,” said Cramer. 

The need for this legislation is driven by the recent actions of some of the largest U.S. banks that are using their economic standing to discriminate against energy producers. Last year, five of the country’s largest banks announced they will not provide loans or credit to support oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge even though Congress explicitly authorized it. Last fall, JPMorgan Chase declared it would refuse financial services to coal producers, and Bank of America began a politically-motivated effort to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions from its financing activities by 2050, an effort directly targeting producers of reliable American energy.  

Discrimination by financial service providers also extends to industries protected by the Second Amendment, with banks like Capital One including “ammunitions, firearms, or firearm parts” in its prohibited payments section, and payment services like Apple Pay and PayPal denying their services for transactions involving firearms or ammunition.

In response to these developments, the Trump Administration created the Fair Access Rule—which this legislation would codify—to prevent these and other acts of discrimination, but President Joe Biden has paused the rule’s implementation. 

Sens. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), James Risch (R-Idaho), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) have also cosponsored this legislation.

The bill has a wide array of industry support, including endorsements from the National Shooting Sports Foundation, Independent Petroleum Association of America, National Rifle Association, Kentucky Coal Association, Lignite Energy Council, National Mining Association, National Association of Wholesale Distributors and the Day 1 Alliance.