The heated debate over the appointment of Donald Rumsfeld as a distinguished visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution continued at last night’s ASSU Undergraduate Senate meeting following the introduction of a bill to invite the former Secretary of Defense to speak on campus.

Senator Sarah Golabek-Goldman ‘10, who serves as chair of the Campus Advocacy Committee, authored the bill, which would “invite former Secretary Rumsfeld to participate in a forum, open to members of the University community.”

Golabek-Goldman hopes that by discussing his legacy and answering questions from members of the Stanford community, Rumsfeld would “advance the knowledge of the University community hosting him.”

The bill also puts pressure on the Hoover Institution to “explicitly encourage Secretary Rumsfeld to accept the invitation.”

“If [Rumsfeld] rejects the invitation by the Undergraduate Senate, he would deny the 6,654 students that it represents,” Golabek-Goldman said in a prepared statement to the Senate.

In the case that Rumsfeld does not accept the Senate’s invitation within 30 days, the bill states that the Campus Advocacy Committee “shall proceed with hosting an event to proliferate knowledge of Donald Rumsfeld’s tenure as Secretary of Defense.”

Such an event would host both University professors and Hoover Institution representatives to expound on the criteria used to appoint Rumsfeld as a distinguished visiting fellow. Golabek-Goldman said she would also like Hoover representatives to speak on the work the former Secretary would be doing, as well as the relationship between the Hoover Institution and the University.

The bill, which is sponsored by Undergraduate Senate Chair Priyanka Sharma ‘09, sparked debate after the Senate meeting between Golabek-Goldman and Senator Stuart Baimel ‘09.

“The Undergraduate Senate has better things to be spending its time on than inviting people,” Baimel said. “I think it’s clear that the Undergraduate Senate supports political activism, and I think it’s clear that we recognize there’s debate over the Rumsfeld issue. I’m not sure what this bill would do that isn’t already clear on public record.”

Golabek-Goldman said she and other Senators do not expect Rumsfeld to accept their invitation, but by sending him a public invitation the ASSU would not be accountable for failing to respond to student concerns.

“If [Rumsfeld] turns down our invitation and it’s made public, then he’ll be accountable,” Golabek-Goldman said. “He’s now part of the Stanford community.”

Baimel said he believes the bill is not necessary because its language does not express a position on whether the Senate would like Rumsfeld to speak or not.

“Rumsfeld is under no obligation to speak,” Baimel said. “Frankly, we should not be inviting him if we know he’s not going to speak. That’s just a waste of our time and a waste of the Hoover Institution’s time.”

In the end, the heated conversation between Golabek-Goldman and Baimel did not sway either.

“Someone needs to oppose the bill,” Baimel said. “I am the one who’s going to oppose it.”