[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 205 (Wednesday, December 13, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H6863-H6864]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              FREE SPEECH IS ANTI-SEMITISM CURE, NOT CAUSE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. McClintock) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, when the presidents of MIT, Harvard, and 
the University of Pennsylvania were invited to denounce open race 
hatred on their campuses, they wrapped themselves in the mantle of free 
speech.
  People have a right to say what they think as long as it doesn't 
become threatening conduct, they said. On this narrow point, they are 
right, but that does not explain why anti-Semitism is rampant on their 
campuses.
  It is not a tolerance for outrageous speech that is the problem. It 
is a complete intolerance of patriotic speech.
  According to the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, the 
two most intolerant and oppressive universities in the country are 
Harvard and UPenn. MIT ranks 136 out of the 254 universities surveyed.
  How is it possible that such depraved and discredited philosophies as 
Marxism, totalitarianism, racism, Islamic fascism, and anti-Semitism 
now flourish on these college campuses? It is because, for years, the 
antidote to these social pathologies--the American founding principles 
of freedom, democracy, tolerance, and justice that have always kept 
them in check--have been systematically suppressed and removed from 
campus discussions.
  A generation ago, only the lunatic fringe of our society would deny 
or minimize the Holocaust, cheer the slaughter of innocents in their 
cribs, or praise the fascist governments that produce such horrors. The 
spectacle of university presidents maintaining that genocide was a 
contextual matter would have been absurd. Why? Because people of good 
will had the freedom to present the other side, and the other side was 
always compelling.
  The only way to separate truth from lies or wisdom from folly or good 
from evil is to place the two side by side and then trust the common 
sense and good judgment of the American people to know the difference.
  This free exchange of ideas is the beating heart of democracy. It is 
the sole purpose for which this Capitol Building was constructed.
  We have based our entire form of government on the assumption that 
more than half of the people are right more than half of the time, but 
it assumes that people have the full and unfettered freedom to express 
themselves and to challenge the claims and opinions of each other. In 
such an exchange, the good, the moral, the wise, and the right will 
ultimately rise to the top.
  There are only two ways to resolve disputes among human beings: 
reason and force. The American Founders built an empire of reason 
enshrined in the First Amendment. Freedom of speech, of the press, of 
religion, and of peaceful assembly are the very tools that Americans 
have used for two and a half centuries to resolve our differences 
civilly and chart a path to a better future.
  In this brave new Orwellian woke world that we have entered, speech 
in opposition to leftist views is violence; violence in support of 
leftist views is speech; racial discrimination is social justice; and 
force rather than reason is the legitimate way to resolve our 
differences.
  They tell us that shouting down opponents, disrupting civil 
discussions, rioting in the streets, and threatening or even practicing 
violence against opponents is freedom of expression. The ultimate 
expression of this rot is the moral confusion that sees the killing of 
babies as a legitimate way to resolve grievances.
  Polls on campuses tell us that the vast majority of college students 
fear even expressing views that conflict with leftist orthodoxy.
  We are now learning that the Federal Government itself colluded with 
tech companies to deny the American people crucial facts and analysis 
over everything from COVID to the Russian collusion hoax to Biden 
family influence peddling.
  Major newspapers that once thrived on vigorous debate have said they 
won't even print opinions contrary to leftist orthodoxy on climate 
change.
  Free societies do not fear words and thoughts, even those that are 
hateful,

[[Page H6864]]

ugly, evil, or obscene, because the same freedom that protects these 
darkest impulses of our nature also protects the right of men and women 
of good will to confront them, expose them, and reject them.
  This is what these university presidents and their many confederates 
have taken from our campuses, and this is what the left is taking from 
our society. This is what we must restore if we are to resume the 
upward path toward peace, prosperity, happiness, and justice that our 
freedom ensures and that our First Amendment protects.

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