McConnell: 'The Fairness Doctrine Was Anything But Fair'

Press Release

McConnell: 'The Fairness Doctrine Was Anything But Fair'

U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor Thursday regarding the DeMint Amendment to abolish the so-called Fairness Doctrine:

"In recent months a number of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle have expressed support for reinstating the so-called ‘Fairness Doctrine.'

"But let's be honest: the Fairness Doctrine was anything but fair.

"It amounted to government control over political speech - and in the end it actually resulted in less, not more, political discourse over the airwaves because broadcasters didn't want to deal with all of its red tape.

"That's precisely why the Federal Communications Commission repealed it in 1987, and why we must keep it from being reinstated now.

"The reality behind this so-called Fairness Doctrine is that some of my friends on the other side don't like what they're hearing on the radio these days.

"So instead of addressing the criticisms head on, they want to silence them.

"Americans won't stand for that, and we won't let it happen.

"Government is not the speech police, and I will not support these efforts to restrict free speech.

"The Founding Fathers enshrined the right to free speech in the very first amendment to the Constitution because they knew it was fundamental - that it was the one right without which the others would lose their force.

"They also knew that future generations would have to continue to defend that right from those who viewed it as an obstacle to their goals.

"We should pass the DeMint amendment to kill the so-called ‘Fairness Doctrine' once and for all."

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