[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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