ICYMI: Senators Welch and Durbin put the Government Censorship Agenda on Trial
The debate on the Government Censorship Agenda is just beginning in the Senate this Congress. Senators Welch and Durbin wasted no time turning the Judiciary Committee’s hearing on the Censorship Industrial Complex on its head when they trained the spotlight on the censorship agenda being driven by this Administration.
Here are just some of the tough questions and facts Senators Welch and Durbin posed to their colleagues in that hearing:
“I have some concerns about some of the actions that the current administration is taking,” said Senator Peter Welch of Vermont. “Should Associated Press reporters be removed from the White House press pool because they won’t adopt the name the president prefers for the Gulf of Mexico/America? Should a news organization that provides negative coverage of a political person, including a president, be called illegal? Should a newspaper be sued… because a candidate did not like the poll results that were published in that newspaper? These are extraordinarily significant events that creates a real suppression… of free speech. Should law firms be brought to heel because they defended somebody with whom a president disagrees? These are examples that do raise questions about free expression in this country.”
“The First Amendment is under attack by President Donald Trump and his MAGA allies,” said Ranking Member Dick Durbin of Illinois. “In his recent joint address to Congress, President Trump falsely claimed to have ‘brought free speech back America.’ His actions have utterly failed his words. Instead of bolstering free speech in America, President Trump has sought to use his executive power to punish his perceived opponents and those whose speech he disagrees with. In two short months, his targets have included the press… universities, students, and law firms. These attacks on free speech and association have a chilling effect and signal to others that if they don’t fall in line with the Trump administration’s preferred views, they could be next. If you really care about the First Amendment, these actions should trouble you.”
You can watch the full hearing here.
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