[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 4]
[House]
[Pages 5691-5692]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND FREEDOM OF RELIGION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Messer). The Chair recognizes the 
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, our Nation was founded on two core principles: 
freedom of speech and freedom of religion, both of which are contained 
in the First Amendment of the Constitution. No one in America is 
arrested for criticizing elected officials, including the President. No 
one in America is imprisoned for going to a mosque on a Friday, a 
synagogue on a Saturday, or a church on a Sunday.
  The fact that we as Americans can express ourselves so freely and 
choose to worship whenever and wherever we want are at the heart of 
America's greatness. That is why I am so troubled by the recent events 
surrounding the high-tech entrepreneur and Mozilla cofounder, Brendan 
Eich, who, despite his unquestioned professional credentials, was 
forced to resign because of a $1,000 personal donation he made in 2008 
in support of Proposition 8, the California ballot initiative in 
support of traditional marriage.
  Regardless of your views on marriage, any American who values the 
First Amendment should be deeply troubled that this man was essentially 
driven from his job because of his personal beliefs. I want to stress 
his personal beliefs, not his company's, but his own.
  Nowhere have I read that Mr. Eich ever discriminated against 
coworkers. In fact, by all accounts, he is a fair and honorable 
employer. Yet, because of his private beliefs about traditional 
marriage, which I share, he has been demonized and his livelihood has 
been compromised.
  As troubling as this particular incident is, the chilling effect it 
will have on the broader issues of free speech cannot be overstated.
  I find it notable that Andrew Sullivan, a leading activist in the gay 
community, has come to Mr. Eich's defense. Mr. Sullivan has been widely 
quoted as writing:

       The whole episode disgusts me, as it should anyone 
     interested in a tolerant and diverse society. If this is the 
     gay rights movement today, hounding our opponents with a 
     fanaticism more like the religious right than anyone else, 
     then count me out.

  Yes, public opinion on gay marriage has shifted since 2008, when both 
then-Presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain supported 
defining marriage as a union of one man and one woman. But America has 
never been defined by mob rule.
  Even if just 1 percent of the country supported defining marriage as 
between a man and a woman, which is hardly the case, that 1 percent 
still has a right to hold that view, particularly when it is a view 
based, in many cases, on one's most deeply held faith convictions.

[[Page 5692]]

  I understand that reasonable people can disagree on issues. In fact, 
robust debate in the public square is itself an American hallmark. What 
happened last week was not debate. It was stifling of the debate. It 
was the silencing of dissent. It was compromising of our Nation's most 
cherished principles: freedom of speech and freedom of religion.
  The implications are vast and deeply troubling. We should all be 
concerned. I know I am.

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