Iowa Lawmaker Reveals 'Suck It Up Buttercup' Bill For Protestors

CBN
11-16-2016

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After Donald Trump won the presidency, protests and violence broke out like no other post-election reaction in the past.

Universities across the country have also been catering to students who are grieving Hillary Clinton's loss, by canceling midterms and offering "healing spaces." 

One Iowa Republican, state Rep. Bobby Kaufmann, is not tolerating the safe space agenda or the protests. 

He finds the "whole hysteria to be incredibly annoying." 

Kaufmann is introducing a bill called, "Suck It Up Buttercup," aimed at the anti-Trump protestors and those "hurt" by the election results at different universities. 

Kaufmann defends the title as a saying that's used against disgruntled farm workers.

"People say, 'Suck It Up Buttercup, that's kind of over the top.' But so are the protests that are happening," he said.

The bill is designed to focus on the state universities that offer election-related sit-ins and grief counseling that goes beyond normal resources normally available for students. 

The colleges that fund such programs with taxpayer dollars would be vulnerable to a budget cut for double the amount they spend. 

Kaufmann told The Washington Post that he heard of four to five universities in other states that were staffing grief counselors in zones where "kids can come cry out their sensitivity."

Kaufmann's new bill would also create new criminal penalties for protestors who shut down highways. 

More than 100 protesters shut down Interstate 80 in Iowa City for about a half hour on Friday night. An Iowa State Patrol spokesman said the event could have posed a threat to public safety.

"You've got a right to be a brat. You've got a right to protest, that's constitutionally protected. But you do not have a right to throw a temper tantrum on Interstate-80 and put my constituents' lives in danger," he said.

After his announcement regarding his new bill, The University of Iowa issued a statement encouraging students to seek counselors if they needed help. 

 

 

Others took to Twitter as well to share their thoughts on his new bill: 

 

 

 

 

Kaufmann also plans on creating a law enforcement task force to consider options on how to fix the issue and create tougher penalties for disrupting traffic. 

"I have no issue with protesting," he said. "In fact, I would go to political war for anyone who wanted to protest or dissent and they couldn't. But you can't exercise your constitutional right by trampling on someone else's," Kaufmann said. 

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