[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 45 (Wednesday, March 13, 2024)]
[House]
[Page H1161]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       A STEEP AND SLIPPERY SLOPE

  (Mr. McCLINTOCK asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, do we really want to give the President 
the power to declare foreign adversaries and then require a 
communications platform within them to be banned or sold to a 
government-approved owner?
  If there are data privacy concerns, we should warn consumers and 
trust them to make their own decisions. If there are propaganda 
concerns, we should defend the free and open debate that our First 
Amendment protects, confident that the best way to judge the truth from 
lies is to put the two of them side by side and trust the people to 
know the difference.
  The last thing we should do is take that power away from the people 
and give it to the government.
  The answer to authoritarianism is not more authoritarianism.
  The answer to CCP-style propaganda is not CCP-style oppression.
  Let us slow down before we blunder down this very steep and slippery 
slope.

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