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[Page H7164]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PRESERVE FREE SPEECH
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from
Michigan (Ms. Tlaib) for 5 minutes.
Ms. TLAIB. Madam Speaker, I stand before you as the granddaughter of
a Palestinian grandmother, my sity, who yearns to experience equality,
human dignity, and freedom. I stand before you, the daughter of
Palestinian immigrants, parents who experienced being stripped of their
human rights, the right to freedom of travel and equal treatment. So I
can't stand by and watch this attack on our freedom of speech and the
right to boycott the racist policies of the Government and the State of
Israel.
I love our country's freedom of speech, Madam Speaker. Dissent is how
we nurture democracy and grow to be better, more humane, and just. This
is why I oppose H. Res. 246.
All Americans have a constitutional right, guaranteed by the First
Amendment, to freedom of speech, to petition their government, and to
participate in boycotts.
Speech in pursuit of civil and human rights at home and abroad is
protected by our First Amendment. That is one reason why our First
Amendment is so powerful. With a few exceptions, the government is
simply not allowed to discriminate against speech based on its
viewpoint or its speaker.
The right to boycott is deeply rooted in the fabric of our country.
What was the Boston Tea Party but a boycott? Where would we be now
without the boycott led by civil rights activists in the 1950s and
1960s, like the Montgomery bus boycott and United Farm Workers grape
boycott.
Some of this country's most important advances in racial equality and
equity and workers' rights have been achieved through collective action
protected by our Constitution.
Americans of conscience have a long and proud history of
participating in boycotts specifically to advocate for human rights
abroad. Americans boycotted Nazi Germany in response to dehumanization,
imprisonment, and genocide of Jewish people. In the 1980s, many of us
in this very body boycotted South African goods in the fight against
apartheid.
Our right to free speech is being threatened with this resolution. It
sets a dangerous precedent because it attempts to delegitimize certain
people's political speech and to send a message that our government can
and will take action against speech it doesn't like.
Madam Speaker, the Supreme Court has, time and time again, recognized
that expressive conduct is protected by the Constitution, from burning
a flag to baking a cake. Efforts to restrict and target that protected
speech run the risk of eroding the civil rights that form the
foundation of our democracy.
All Americans have the right to participate in boycotts, and I oppose
all legislative efforts that target speech.
Madam Speaker, I urge Congress, State governments, and civil rights
leaders from all communities to preserve our Constitution, preserve our
Bill of Rights, and preserve the First Amendment's guarantee of freedom
of speech by opposing H. Res. 246 and antiboycott efforts wherever they
arise.
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