[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 188 (Thursday, November 29, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H9694-H9695]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           THE SPEECH POLICE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Poe) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, the First Amendment is first for a 
reason. It is the most important right we have as Americans and at the 
very core of who we are.
  Without the First Amendment, freedom of religion, free speech, 
freedom of the press, freedom in assembly, the rest of the Amendments 
are meaningless.
  The purpose of the First Amendment is to permit free and open 
discussion about the important issues of the day. It protects the right 
to speak freely about the two most controversial subjects of the day: 
religion and politics. This is exactly what was forbidden under King 
George, and it is exactly why our Founding Fathers chose to make it 
first among the original 10 in the Bill of Rights.

                              {time}  1015

  But, somehow, the speech police have decided to replace free speech 
with their self-determined fair speech. If it is not fair to them, then 
it must be banned.
  What does fair mean?
  Fair means different things to different folks. In some places in our 
country like Texas, fair is where you take the chickens or prized pig 
to sell it or eat anything you want to on a stick when it is deep 
fried.
  Fair means different things to different folks. But the word ``fair'' 
is not in the Constitution. The Constitution protects free speech, not 
fair speech. It says Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the 
freedom of speech, and the Constitution applies to the elitist speech 
control police whether they think that is fair or not and whether they 
like it or not.
  Our Founding Fathers established individual rights to protect our 
liberties, not our feelings. We have become so caught up in the 
politically correct restriction that everyone has the right not to be 
offended that we are, in fact, losing the right of free speech.
  Where does the Constitution say you have the right not to be 
offended?

[[Page H9695]]

  The right of free speech belongs to the speaker and cannot be 
regulated by the listener because it may be offensive and certainly 
cannot be regulated by government because it is not fair--fair in the 
eyes of government.
  But our most important freedom is being replaced by fear: the fear to 
speak openly. Some wish to prohibit the voice and speech of others they 
disagree with or if the opposing view may be offensive. So the 
controlists want speech regulated or, to put it bluntly, it must be 
politically correct.
  It is interesting that the one place where diversity of thought, 
ideas, and speech should be promoted is at our universities. But 
universities are prohibiting free speech in the name of protecting the 
students, while at the same time professors say anything they want to 
say about all issues--the doctrine of free speech for me but not for 
thee.
  To make matters worse, the controlists want government to regulate 
speech. That is a Stalinist concept. Stalin used government to silence 
all opposing views, views that offended the government and the 
elitists. It is not just those in the public eye. Everyone feels they 
must weigh every thought and decision against who and how it could 
possibly be offensive to someone, somewhere, somehow. It is ridiculous, 
and it is a threat to our freedom and our prosperity.
  We cannot live in fear of speech. We cannot live in fear to speak.
  The Founding Fathers intended free speech to include criticism of the 
government and to advocate unpopular ideas, including controversial 
ideas. Freedom of speech allows individuals to express themselves 
without interference of the government and truly debate all issues. But 
we must not allow that to be lost to this out-of-control, politically 
correct crowd that only wants to allow speech that agrees with their 
agenda and, literally, destroys anyone who disagrees.
  Law professor Alan Dershowitz said: ``Freedom of speech means freedom 
for those who you despise, and freedom to express the most despicable 
views. It also means that the government cannot pick and choose which 
expressions to authorize and which to prevent.''
  Voltaire, who lived at the time of our Revolution, said: ``I 
disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right 
to say it.''
  Lively disagreements are the foundation of a free republic.
  George Washington said it very well when he said: ``If freedom of 
speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to 
the slaughter.''
  America must always remain a free and open space where the 
marketplace of ideas--even those we detest or disagree with--are freely 
expressed. It seems our very founding document is at risk of fading 
into the abyss of history.
  The irony of it all is that free speech is becoming anything but 
free, and that ought not to be. We should all speak out against the 
controlling speech police.
  And that is just the way it is.

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