[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 139 (Wednesday, August 5, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4889-S4890]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              FREE SPEECH

  Mr. YOUNG. Mr. President, ``Freedom is the freedom to say that two 
plus two makes four. If that is granted, all else follows''--so wrote 
novelist George Orwell.
  In the late 1980s, I traveled to the former Soviet Union as part of a 
youth soccer program. Now, decades have passed since that trip, of 
course, but the memories to me are still vivid. The shelves were 
barren. Citizens drank from communal water fountains. The items most in 
demand and hardest to find were American items: blue jeans--Levi 
Strauss--and bubble gum.
  Of course, those weren't the only things common in Indiana that were 
contraband behind the Iron Curtain. For decades, news, literature, art, 
or entertainment that was not broadcast or approved by the state was 
scarce and available only by bootleg.
  The monuments towering over Russia were built to honor those who 
controlled it, the same men who regularly erased parts of Russia's 
history to suit their own political purposes, not to serve others.
  This was a society where ideas and dialogue existed only underground, 
where watching American movies was a jailable offense, where free 
thinkers weren't found in newspapers or airwaves but locked away in 
labor camps, where information protected the State instead of 
empowering the individuals, where history was constantly purged and 
revised.
  By the time I visited, though, Soviet leadership, in self-
preservation mode, had gradually allowed citizens access to information 
and media as new technologies emerged. It was only a ray of sunlight 
through a very small crack, but through it, people all across the 
former Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc could finally see and hear 
what had long been hidden from them: jazz, rock `n' roll, Star Wars, 
Chuck Norris, Dr. Zhivago, and Robinson Crusoe. History once erased was 
restored. The truth of Stalin's murders was revealed.
  Inevitably, the fatal conceit of a centrally planned Communist 
economy was exposed, and large numbers of Russians realized just how 
poorly their quality of life compared to the free, Western alternative. 
They were even permitted rights to express dissatisfaction with their 
circumstances.
  A totalitarian regime's greatest ally is darkness and silence. 
Keeping a people in the dark is the surest way to guarantee they never 
demand their God-given rights. But just a trickle of information, just 
a hint of truth, a small offering of differing perspectives, and a 
touch of freedom of expression helped lead to the Soviet Union's 
demise--``the freedom to say that two plus two make four.''
  Free people become and stay free through open dialogue because of the 
free exchange of information and ideas--even ones we disagree with; 
because of patience with perspectives that are not our own; because we 
study our history, celebrate its highs, and learn from its lows.
  That is why--that is why--it was painful to read recently that over 
60 percent of Americans are now scared to admit their beliefs or air 
their opinions for fear of offending others and the consequences that 
will come with it. It is painful to learn but easy to understand.
  This is the logical reaction when Americans are regularly canceled, 
as we say today, for things said or written decades ago, with no chance 
of grace or allowance for growth. It is not just people who are being 
canceled. It is words. It is music. Classrooms and libraries are 
banning ``Huckleberry Finn'' and ``To Kill A Mockingbird'' rather than 
encouraging students to examine or understand their authors' words and 
messages. ``Hamilton'' is falling from grace now for the ``sin'' of 
acknowledging America was created in 1776. Whole parts of our American 
story are being wiped away.
  Communities have a right to lawfully determine who and what adorns 
their

[[Page S4890]]

squares and streets, but that is a world away from toppling statues of 
George Washington and U.S. Grant in the same manner those of Lenin and 
Stalin were once removed at the end of the Cold War.
  Our entertainment industry is getting in on the act too. American 
movies once inspired freedom seekers. Today, they are self-censored to 
appease another totalitarian regime in Beijing.
  America is a good nation. Those who call it home are decent and kind. 
We are not perfect, but our imperfections are not irredeemable.
  The year 2020 has made it clear, though, that much work remains in 
the task of building a more perfect union. That effort is ongoing. 
Every generation since our founding has worked toward it. Every 
generation has made hard-earned progress, and our own work to create a 
more just future will be no less difficult--certainly more so than 
knocking down bronze and marble men or waging war on books or on each 
other across social media.
  Every time our Nation has moved closer to better realizing the 
promise at the heart of our Declaration of Independence ``that all men 
are created equal . . . endowed by their Creator with certain 
inalienable Rights,'' it has been because the Founders dared to dream 
that was possible and left us the means to do so: the freedom to raise 
our voices and state our opinions, to disagree and respectfully debate; 
the gift of free inquiry; the right to challenge our country on toward 
what Martin Luther King, Jr., memorably called its noble dream through 
words, music, art, or expression--all free from censorship and 
recrimination.
  These liberties--unparalleled in human history--were won, preserved, 
and handed down to us by many of those whose memorials are falling. Out 
of gratitude, we must remember the men and women who came before us. We 
must see their faults but not lose sight of their virtues and aspire to 
the high ideals they set for us, even if they often fell short of 
realizing them. What will we have without these freedoms, without 
memory and understanding of our past? Desolate public spaces, empty 
bookshelves, silenced citizens with nothing to strive for other than 
self-preservation. But with these freedoms and inspired by our history, 
valuable debate and dialogue will flourish; daring ideas will be 
welcome; and great ideas will live. And the work we are in--the work of 
building a more perfect union and a freer and fairer nation--will be 
possible. Let this be the path we choose.
  It would be natural to close with a quote by one of our several 
generations of Founding Fathers: Washington, Lincoln, King. But today I 
feel it is more appropriate to remember another nation's founder and a 
good American friend--a man who lived behind the Iron Curtain and knew 
well the dangers of censorship and the power of free expression. As a 
playwright and a musician, he suffered under censorship. As a public 
leader, he helped his nation gain the power of free expression. It was 
exactly 30 years ago today that Vaclav Havel, then the President of 
Czechoslovakia, spoke in this building. ``You have thousands of 
problems of all kinds, as other countries do,'' he observed of America. 
``But you have one great advantage,'' he reminded us. ``You have been 
approaching democracy . . . for more than 200 years, and your journey 
toward that horizon has never been disrupted by a totalitarian 
system.''
  Fellow Americans, our journey continues on toward that horizon, and 
only we have the power to disrupt it. In this Nation, two plus two must 
always equal four.
  We can take a positive step forward in one respect. Here is how. 
Beginning today, I will be regularly recognizing notable pieces of 
Indiana's history. It may be through a floor speech or a resolution or 
a social media posting. The purpose will be to celebrate and better 
understand my State's part of America's story and to remember the 
Hoosiers who--through and because of freedom of action, speech, and 
expression--wrote that story. They will not be erased.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oklahoma.

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