[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 24 (Wednesday, February 5, 2020)]
[House]
[Page H836]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1800
           REACTION TO PRESIDENT'S STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS

  (Mr. HOYER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, obviously, each of us had our own reaction to 
the speech that was given by the President last night. He had every 
right under the First Amendment to say what he believed, what he was 
going to do, and what he wanted us to do.
  I suggest to you that if I took this card and tore it up because I 
didn't like what was on the card, I am protected by the First Amendment 
in doing that. That is a form of speech. If the effort is to shut one 
another up, perhaps we will go down that road.
  But, clearly, most of you in this House, or at least some of you in 
this House, have said an act of destroying things that the leader 
alleges are property of the House--I will ask for a ruling on that, Mr. 
Speaker, in just a minute--but is an act of disagreement.
  It is not an assertion, per se, that what was said was wrong, 
disagreed with, or anything else. It was not an outcry to the President 
of the United States that ``You lie'' that clearly undermined the 
decorum of this House.
  Frankly, I did not see the Speaker tear that up. I have seen it on 
television. It has been played, but I would suggest to you very 
seriously--well, whether anyone saw it or not, that is not my argument. 
My argument is, if each of us watches closely on the floor each of our 
actions and we deem those actions to be disrespectful, either to the 
Speaker, that is, the Speaker at the rostrum or from the microphones 
behind the desk, do we bring a resolution that that was disrespectful?
  Each of you who say ``yes,'' well, I will watch very closely, and we 
will go back and forth, and that will not be a good precedent because 
it will undermine the premise of the First Amendment that action is 
speech.
  Now, an action that is criminal, an action that defames, an action 
that brings the House into disrepute, that is another issue. But an 
action which says: ``I feel this way'' should be protected. Now, not 
necessarily agreed with, maybe even subject to criticism, but 
certainly, not subject to a resolution.
  This resolution will not go forward, of course, because I will move 
to table it if it is offered because I believe it undermines the First 
Amendment and the House.

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