Threats Facing Conservative Speech

Floor Speech

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Mr. NORMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman and I appreciate him for putting this together.

Mr. Speaker, as citizens of the United States of America, we are privileged to have a constitutional right of free speech. This right entitles us to the ability to speak, but not the right to be heard.

Favoring liberal voices over conservative ones, while pretending to be neutral, is both hypocritical and profoundly unfair. However, no law compels private companies to be fair and evenhanded arbiters of information.

Censorship of conservatives online and by Big Tech has become a commonly used mechanism by the left to silence conservatives. Silencing people because you simply disagree with them dangerously infringes on the rights of free speech as protected in the First Amendment of our Constitution.

When I learned that DIRECTV dropped Newsmax from its channels, I was outraged. Newsmax is the fourth highest-rated cable news channel and is watched by 25 million Americans.

Everyone should be allowed to choose what news outlets they want to hear from, especially with the dominance of the democratic media. I frequently reach a wide audience of my constituency to communicate the ongoings of Congress and can personally speak to how large the audience is based on the feedback I receive from my constituents in South Carolina's Fifth District and from other States.

I am glad that House Republicans will hold hearings on this matter to get to the bottom of the blatant censorship of conservative views so that we will know, once and for all, if DIRECTV has been selectively targeting Newsmax.

DIRECTV should be held accountable for its actions, and I fully stand behind conservatives having their voices heard.

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