[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 154 (Friday, September 19, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Page S6781]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I must speak for another moment about the 
FCC.
  We are in a moment of peril--dire peril--in America because yesterday 
Donald Trump said he intends to put a dagger through the heart of what 
America is about when he said that he doesn't believe in free speech, 
that maybe the licenses and ability to speak of people and broadcast 
companies that disagree with him should be taken away.
  When Donald Trump says the FCC should consider revoking licenses of 
networks with shows and hosts who are ``against me'' and who ``give me 
only bad publicity,'' he is talking about a dictatorship. That is what 
dictatorships do--they shut down anyone who has any disagreement with 
them. But that is what he is threatening to do today through Brendan 
Carr. He said:

       I would think maybe their licenses should be taken away. It 
     will be up to Brendan Carr.

  That is censorship. It is disgusting. It is a violation of the First 
Amendment. What Trump is doing comes right out of Xi and Putin's 
playbook. He is launching in broad daylight a naked attack on perhaps 
the most basic freedom in America: free speech. For hundreds of years, 
America has been proud to be a land of free speech, and Donald Trump is 
the first President who really attempts to put a dagger through its 
heart.
  Where are our Republican colleagues? They know this is wrong. 
Silence; obeisance to Donald Trump's destruction of free speech and 
democracy. He is launching in broad daylight an attack on one of the 
most basic freedoms in America, which is free speech, and it is being 
challenged through his flack at the FCC, Brendan Carr, who coerced ABC 
to suspend Jimmy Kimmel for his comments that he or Trump didn't like.
  Donald Trump's attack on free speech is despicable. It is anti-
American. It is the road to dictatorship. And it is not the first time 
Donald Trump has done this. He is launching investigations into 
companies to bully them into submission. And it is not just late-night 
talk show hosts; Donald Trump and MAGA have said they will try to 
silence others.
  When Carr goes on a podcast and says the FCC ``can do this the easy 
way or the hard way'' to make sure Kimmel is silenced, that is an 
attack on every single media outlet, whether it is traditional or 
digital. That is an attack on every single American.
  So today I am, with Senators Markey and Lujan, calling on Chairman 
Carr to demand to know how the FCC defines ``public interest'' under 
Carr, which networks must adhere to; to ask Carr did his staff 
communicate--he or his staff--with Disney, ABC, or their affiliates.
  We all know the murder of Charlie Kirk was abhorrent and evil, plain 
and simple, but it is repulsive that the Trump administration is 
exploiting this tragic death as an excuse to go after anyone they don't 
like politically, including by silencing free speech.
  While Donald Trump tries to take away people's freedoms, Republicans 
in Congress are bowing in obeisance to his throne because they are too 
scared to stand up to him. They know he will cast retribution on them, 
as he has on networks and people in the press.
  In conclusion, freedom is as fundamental as it gets in America. 
Everyone knows that. Republicans know that. Conservatives know that. 
For the longest time, everyone--Ronald Reagan on down--has defended 
free speech. But if you lose freedom of speech, it is the road to 
autocracy.
  Mr. Carr is one of the greatest threats to free speech in American 
history. He must resign immediately, and if not, Trump should fire him.
  I yield the floor.

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