Freedom of speech is a fundamental right that must never be infringed upon. That’s why I stand shocked over a rule making its way through Congress that will have a huge impact on our freedom of speech. Communication between Members of Congress and their constituents is a vital part of the job, and in recent years we’ve been blessed with new web technologies like YouTube and sites like Facebook that make it all the more possible. Even more important is how easy these sites make communication from constituents to their Member of Congress.

What this rule would essentially do is prohibit Members from informing their constituents about what they are doing in Washington, what they are saying, and what they are proposing. How would they do this? This communication would be regulated on websites that are not “approved” by the Committee on House Administration. This is the panel that creates rules governing the internal operations of the U.S. House.

As a result, a site like YouTube would have to meet a certain set of regulations and guidelines in order for it to post content from Members of Congress. If this rule is adopted, a list of “approved” websites would be developed and monitored by the House Administration Committee. Members of Congress could contribute videos and content only to those websites.

All this rule accomplishes is increased government censorship of free speech. What’s the purpose? Isn’t a Member communicating with his or her constituents a good thing?  This is a serious attempt by the Democrats to limit and control free speech. This is not what America represents.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 10th, 2008 at 2:08 pm and is filed under Politics .