Protecting Speech From Government Interference Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. FRY. Mr. Chair, I rise in strong support of H.R. 140, Protecting Speech from Government Interference Act.

I thank Chairman Comer for his leadership and work to bring this issue to the floor, and I appreciate the hard work of the House Oversight Committee.

As promised, House Republicans have already opened the transparency floodgates, shedding light on a slew of this administration's failures and oversteps in their position of power, working against the American people.

Because of this work, the House Oversight Committee has deduced that Federal officials have been using their influence and position of authority to censor Americans on social media platforms.

This is a blatant threat to every single American's First Amendment rights, Mr. Chair. The Federal Government should not be able to nitpick what speech is or isn't allowed in this country or limit citizens from freely voicing their opinions, which includes on social media platforms.

Our government, Mr. Chair, and, indeed, our Constitution were created to protect those freedoms, not suppress them.

I strongly urge my colleagues to support this bill and prohibit Federal employees from using their authority to influence and censor the lawful freedom of speech.

Mr. GOLDMAN of New York. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Chair, I remind you and everyone that the First Amendment does not protect all speech. It protects lawful speech.

For example, if you make a death threat over the internet, that is not protected speech. That is a Federal crime.

Let's remember, as we take on this absolutist view that all speech is free speech, that there are many restrictions under our laws about what is lawful speech and what is not.

Mr. Chair, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Raskin), our constitutional legal scholar and esteemed and distinguished ranking member.

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