Authorizing the En Bloc Consideration in Executive Session of Certain Nominations on the Executive Calendar
Floor Speech
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Mr. MARKEY. Madam President, the First Amendment is the beating heart of our democracy. It protects the right of Americans to speak freely, to criticize their leaders, and to entertain and inform without fear of government reprisal. The Framers did not write an exception for late- night comedians or for political satire. They did not carve out an exemption for monologues that offend those in power. The principle is clear: In America, the government does not get to decide which jokes are permissible and which criticisms are punished.
Yet, yesterday, we saw a shocking breach of this constitutional order. Brendan Carr, the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, went on a partisan podcast and threatened ABC, the American Broadcasting Company, and its parent company, Disney, over a joke told by comedian Jimmy Kimmel. Carr called Kimmel's comments the ``sickest conduct possible'' and suggested revoking the broadcast licenses of ABC affiliates.
He then delivered a line toward ABC and Disney. It sounded like something out of ``The Godfather.'' He said:
We can do this the easy way or [we can do it] the hard way.
Let me say that line again:
We can do this the easy way or [we can do it] the hard way.
That is not oversight; that is intimidation. That is not regulation; that is retaliation. That is ``The Godfather'' giving Disney an offer they can't refuse from the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. That is the language that mobsters use to shake people down, and it came from the mouth of the FCC Chairman of the Federal Government, with vast legal authority to punish Disney and ABC and their affiliates.
The chilling effect was immediate. Within hours, Disney and ABC indefinitely suspended Jimmy Kimmel from the air. A comedian was silenced because a government regulator, the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, flexed his authority.
This is not an isolated slip of the tongue; it is part of a broader pattern by the Federal Communications Commission under Brendan Carr's leadership. Over and over again, he has used his office to attack and undermine journalists and broadcasters and news organizations that dare to speak in ways which he personally dislikes. He has threatened media companies with investigations for their editorial choices. He has amplified partisan attacks on reporters who cover him critically. He has turned the FCC into the ``Federal Censorship Commission,'' with his being the censor in chief.
These are not the actions of an independent regulator; they are the actions of a partisan censor. And make no mistake, if left unchecked, this campaign will not stop with ABC or with Disney. Every newsroom, every broadcaster, every local affiliate will hear the message loud and clear: Criticize the people in power, and you risk your license, your livelihood, your very ability to operate.
That conversation is taking place in newsrooms all across our country today. Look what happened to Disney. Look what happened to ABC. Be afraid. Don't think that the First Amendment protects you anymore. Don't think that you have a right to speak what your opinion is.
The FCC was created to ensure that the public airwaves--our shared national resource--are used in the public interest. It was not created to dictate what late-night hosts may joke about. It was not created to punish networks for broadcasting opinions that government officials dislike. It was not created to be the speech police for the United States of America.
The Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, sitting in his office, watching TV, saying ``I don't like that. I am taking away their license,'' is not what the Federal Communications Commission was established to do in our country. Yet Chairman Brendan Carr has pretended otherwise. He has distorted the FCC's mandate to serve his own partisan ends. Instead of acting in the public interest, he is trying to force broadcasters to act in Donald Trump's interest. If you say something that Donald Trump doesn't like, we will take away your license. We won't allow you to be a broadcaster anymore. We will fine you.
He should know better. It was not too long ago, before he was Chairman, when Brendan Carr was singing a completely different tune. He actually condemned perceived attempts by ``government officials to silence political speech that they don't like.'' That is the old Brendan Carr. He defended talk show hosts, saying:
From internet memes to late-night comedians, from cartoons to the plays and poems as old as organized government itself, Political Satire circumvents traditional gatekeepers and helps hold those in power accountable. Not surprising that it's long been targeted for censorship.
Did I say that? No. Brendan Carr said that--Brendan Carr. But this is a different guy now. He just got a job in the Trump administration, so he is bending the knee to Donald Trump on all of these issues, because, then, he rightfully defended the First Amendment. He said:
Free speech is not a threat to democracy--censorship is [a threat to democracy].
Chairman Carr has betrayed those principles, and he should resign. He is not fit to be the Chair of the Federal Communications Commission. He is using it now to intimidate people whom he considers to be political enemies of Donald Trump. That is not his job.
But that is not enough. The Senate must speak with one voice in rejecting his unconstitutional actions.
The resolution I bring before this Chamber today condemns Brendan Carr for weaponizing government power against Disney and ABC. It affirms that the Federal Communications Commission does not and must not have the authority to punish broadcasters for the content of their programming. It declares that no American--whether a comedian, a journalist, an ordinary citizen--should ever have to fear government retaliation for speaking their mind. And it doesn't make any difference whether you are a Democrat or Republican, whether a Democrat doesn't like what a Republican said, whether a Republican doesn't like what a Democrat said.
We have to stand for the Constitution, not for censorship, to stand for freedom and not intimidation, to stand for a free press, not a government-controlled press.
Chairman Carr has shown himself unwilling and unable to uphold the responsibilities of his office, but the Senate can still uphold our responsibilities to the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution--the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, the one they put up first because they knew that free speech and freedom of the press was what ultimately would protect the democracy against dictators and Kings and those who would subvert our Constitution to their own individual whims.
By passing this resolution, we can make clear that the First Amendment is not negotiable; it is not partisan; it is not subject to the whims of a single regulator.
From my perspective, again, the First Amendment is the beating heart of our democracy. It protects the right of Americans to speak freely, to criticize their leaders of both parties, and to entertain and inform without fear of government reprisal.
Res. 407, submitted earlier today; and, further, that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.
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