[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 129 (Monday, September 14, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H9466]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           FREEDOM OF SPEECH

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, a few days ago, there was a townhall 
meeting not too far from here in Reston, Virginia. Over 3,000 people 
were inside and about that many outside who could not get into the 
school. Now this townhall event was held at South Lakes High School, 
and one of the security officers there, a Wesley Cheeks, Jr., did not 
like one of the signs that the protesters were carrying and holding up. 
The sign apparently was not to the officer's political liking.
  So the security officer demanded that out of the thousands of signs 
at the event, the one he didn't like was going to come down, and he 
ordered the person to take it down because it was obviously critical of 
the administration. Note, Mr. Speaker, there was nothing illegal about 
the sign.
  This officer told the man with the sign to put his sign away or he 
would be arrested. Yes, arrested for freedom of speech and the right to 
protest. The protester said, This used to be America. Officer Weeks 
said in response, Well, it isn't any more, okay.
  Well, Mr. Speaker, it's not ``okay.'' Not by a long shot. This is 
still America, the land of the free--the land where we can disagree 
with government, whether government likes it or not--the land paid for 
in blood by bold men of noble character and heart and noble action, who 
understood that free speech undergirds liberty and freedom. They 
understood that the right to speak the truth to authoritarian power is 
granted by the Almighty to those bold enough to stand and claim that 
right. No king, no government, no dictator, and no high school security 
officer has the right to abuse their authority and suppress freedom of 
speech.
  One of the founding principles of this Nation is freedom of speech. 
It is so fundamentally important that our Founding Fathers put it first 
in our Constitution's Bill of Rights, made it the First Amendment to 
the Bill of Rights, because it is the most important. Without the First 
Amendment, the rest are meaningless.
  The First Amendment simply says, Congress--that's us, folks--shall 
make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting 
the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of 
the press; or of the right of the people to peaceably assemble and to 
petition the government for redress of grievances.
  It is the tendency of all governments to encroach upon the rights of 
people in this Nation, and other nations. And while many Americans are 
going about their daily business of work, taking their kids to school, 
to football practice, to Boy Scouts, grocery shopping, and going to 
dinner, mowing the grass, and living their lives, don't underestimate 
that these people are paying attention to what government is doing to 
them.
  Freedom of speech is crucial for folks to get the attention of fellow 
Americans when the size of government no longer fits the Constitution. 
Freedom of speech is sacrosanct, and not just for those who agree with 
government, but it is a holy right, especially for those who disagree 
with government oppression.
  It is the right of a free people to speak truth when the government 
is wrong. It is the right of the people to gather and stand in the face 
of their elected officials and speak what they see--tyranny of a 
government gone amok.
  It is the right of a self-governing people to come together in cities 
around the Nation to speak out and to hold the government accountable 
when those who seek to rule over us have stepped out of their 
constitutional bounds.
  There can be no more fundamental display of our God-given right to 
freedom of speech than what we're seeing from the American Resistance 
Movement today. From townhalls to city streets, the right of free 
speech is one of the very guardians of the freedom and liberty that 
make this Nation the greatest in history. And it is the government that 
would do well to listen, be silent, and then act in the interest of the 
American people.
  And that's just the way it is.

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