[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 14 (Tuesday, January 24, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H553]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1220
                       FREEDOM OF SPEECH STIFLED

  (Mr. KLINK asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. KLINK. Mr. Speaker, for 24 years I was a journalist. I did 
stories on and about murderers, rapists, drug dealers, politicians that 
were in trouble, even police officers who had crossed the line. And I 
was threatened many times, told not to carry a story or threatened if I 
was to move forward.
  Never in 24 years was my freedom of speech stifled until last night. 
And it did not happen in a dark alley, it happened on the floor of the 
U.S. House of Representatives. Only two Members of the minority side 
were allowed to speak last night about a very controversial issue, and 
they were only given 3 minutes.
  Never in my time in the House have I seen this. 202 Members were 
told, ``You can't speak, you can't debate.''
  In all those years when I was threatened, in all those years when 
someone tried to stop the debate, the free flow of ideas, I learned one 
thing about it: that they were afraid of the exposure of that idea. 
They did not want to have a debate. And when you are afraid of debate, 
it shows the weakness in your philosophy and a weakness of where you 
are coming from.
  Ladies and gentlemen, I think we have got to continue pushing for our 
rights to at least have a debate on these issues, win or lose.


                          ____________________