Warning About Suppressing Rights on Constitution Day

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. LATIMER. Mr. Speaker, today, we celebrate the 238th birthday of the U.S. Constitution, and we reflect on the document that enshrines the freedoms that we hold dear.

At the heart of those freedoms is the First Amendment, the right to free speech. It protects popular speech and speech that challenges, provokes, and offends. That is the point.

This week, the Attorney General said that the Department of Justice would ``absolutely target you, go after you'' for so-called hate speech, a dangerous misreading of the Constitution. Though she has since walked it back, the message was clear: This administration would rather silence dissent than defend liberty.

I hear defense of the Second Amendment, the right to bear arms, but I want to make sure that we defend all amendments, including the Fifth Amendment for due process, and the 10th Amendment, rights that are reserved for the States and the people from the Federal Government.

Our rights don't come with an asterisk. We don't surrender the First Amendment or any others to political convenience.

On this Constitution Day, let us remember the greatest threat to democracy is not exercising our rights. It is the effort to suppress those rights.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source