Protecting Speech From Government Interference Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. ROSE. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of my amendment designated as Amendment No. 9 to H.R. 140, the Protecting Speech from Government Interference Act, and I thank my friend from Kentucky (Mr. Comer) for introducing this important piece of legislation.

Federal employees should absolutely not be censoring lawful speech, and I am proud to support this bill which will clearly prohibit that practice.

My straightforward amendment simply requires mandatory annual training on the requirements of the underlying bill. We were all recently made aware of the shameful instances of Federal Government- driven censorship that occurred in conjunction with Twitter over the last several years, and with that revelation, we must be suspicious that similar censorship has occurred in conjunction with other Big Tech social media platforms.

The goal of H.R. 140 is to eliminate such instances of Federal Government censorship, and my amendment furthers that goal by requiring Federal employees to undergo annual training to inform and remind them of their obligations under this bill to refrain from any and all censorship activities.

Kara Frederick, director of The Heritage Foundation's Tech Policy Center, recently penned a Heritage Foundation backgrounder titled: ``Combating Big Tech's Totalitarianism: A Road Map.''

In her piece, Ms. Frederick writes: ``The Biden administration is attempting to circumvent the Constitution by pressuring private tech companies to take down content under a broad and politically biased definition of misinformation. When Big Tech companies do the government's bidding by removing users and content that the government tells them are objectionable, they are essentially acting as government agents, a potential violation of the First Amendment.''

Mr. Chair, I am proud that this Congress has made this bill a priority. Government censorship and government-pressured censorship of lawful speech are just plain wrong.

Today, we are pushing back on this anti-freedom activity. My amendment will strengthen H.R. 140 by helping to ensure a high level of compliance with its requirements.

Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. ROSE. Mr. Chair, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Chair, when it comes to censorship or pressured censorship by Federal Government employees, ignorance is not bliss. My amendment seeks to further the anti-censorship goals of H.R. 140 by requiring mandatory education for Federal employees on the bill's new anti- censorship requirements.

Therefore, because of my amendment, Federal employees will not be able to claim ignorance of the new requirements we are implementing in the Protecting Speech from Government Interference Act.

Mr. Chair, I urge Members to vote ``yes'' on my amendment and the underlying bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. ROSE. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Chair, I rise in support of my amendment designated as amendment No. 10 to H.R. 140, the Protecting Speech from Government Interference Act.

Mr. Chair, I sincerely hope that after H.R. 140 is enacted, there are zero violations of the bill's new anti-censorship requirements. However, if any violation or allegations of violations do occur, then the public has a right to know.

My amendment is simple. It states that it is the sense of Congress that inspectors general should publicly report the number of complaints and tips received, the number of investigations opened, and statistics on how investigations were managed and their disposition by the inspector general related to compliance with the underlying bill.

The amendment specifies that the inspectors general should publicly report no less than annually. The amendment also sunsets after 7 years.

Whether or not my colleagues on the other side of the aisle support the underlying Protecting Speech from Government Interference Act, I hope they will support this amendment as it is vital that the public have an accurate picture of whether the laws that Congress passes are being followed.

Public reporting of the number of tips and complaints received and statistics on investigations related to compliance with H.R. 140 is a pro-transparency measure to hold the government accountable that I hope we all can support.

This amendment is a commonsense and gentle nudge to inspectors general that it is the sense of this body that public reporting related to compliance with this bill is an important endeavor.

Mr. Chair, I urge support of my amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. ROSE. Mr. Chair, I have no further speakers and I am prepared to close.

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Mr. ROSE. Mr. Chair, I yield myself the balance of my time.

By voting ``yes'' on Amendment 10, Members are reaffirming their commitment to transparency and government accountability. If my amendment passes, along with the underlying bill, the American people will be more well-informed of violations of the underlying bill.

In closing, I urge Members to vote ``yes'' on my amendment and the underlying bill.

Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

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