OPINION:
Every two years, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the radical Democrats in the House set their sights on canceling the constitutional protections that were reasserted by the U.S. Supreme Court in the landmark Citizens United victory for free speech.
As president of Citizens United, I’ve grown accustomed to the relentless attacks on the First Amendment that come from the left and wear them as a badge of honor. Now, 11 years since Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision, the liberals are at it again and with even more ferocity.
Our 2010 Supreme Court decision defended the First Amendment’s language that states, “Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech.” These are words that Mrs. Pelosi and the radical left don’t want you to read and view as a mere inconvenience in their quest for absolute power. The Citizens United case has made it easier for Americans who aren’t Washington insiders to participate in our political process and that’s why career politicians on the left hate it so much.
Once again this year, as part of their anti-freedom “cancel culture” agenda, House Democrats have introduced H.R. 1. and labeled it the highly misleading “For The People Act.” After all, who could be against that? But once you get past the title and read the bill, it’s a piece of legislation that should be of great concern to every citizen who values robust free speech rights and trustworthy elections.
It’s inaccurately described by the biased mainstream media as a measure to combat corruption so Mrs. Pelosi’s cronies can be seen as being in favor of “good government.” Nothing could be further from the truth. H.R. 1 would double down on the disastrous mail-in voting experiment that we witnessed in November. Instead of asking important questions about what happened in the last election and making common sense reforms, Mrs. Pelosi and the Democrats want to expand universal mail-in voting and ram it down our throats while throwing tried and tested voter integrity safeguards out the window for good.
H.R. 1 would also greatly hinder citizens at the grassroots level from participating in political advocacy campaigns — exactly what the D.C. swamp creatures desire. At its core, this legislation is an incumbent protection act masquerading under the guise of campaign finance reform. The bill’s draconian disclosure requirements and overly burdensome regulatory regime would have a chilling effect on freedom of speech for conservatives, which is a top priority for the left.
In years past, this left-wing power grab would be dead on arrival in Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s Senate. But in 2021, the Senate is being run by New York’s Chuck Schumer, who’s vowed to “change America” with his scant 50-50 majority (with Vice President Kamala Harris acting as the tie-breaker).
Furthermore, the left’s true intentions are now on full public display, unlike previous years. Flashy poll-tested slogans like “For The People Act” under the moniker of “good government” no longer don’t pass the smell test. The curtain has been pulled back and now the American people can see H.R. 1 for what it truly is. It’s a naked attempt by the left to destroy our sacred election system so they never lose another election and to silence every American who doesn’t agree with their far left agenda.
With everything that’s going on around us, H.R. 1 can’t be debated in a vacuum. The left is busy shutting down opposing thought inside and outside government. Big Tech is actively shutting down conservative speech. Before the election, Twitter and Facebook censored the New York Post’s monumental investigative reporting on Joe and Hunter Biden’s family corruption in China and Ukraine.
And since the election, Big Tech has thrown President Trump off their platforms while at the same time allowing leaders in Communist China and Iran to speak freely. Silencing the former leader of the free world who received 74 million votes in a national election makes it clear that there isn’t anything the left won’t do to crush their political opponents.
It doesn’t end there. Parler — Twitter’s only competition — was actually de-platformed for a time because it allows robust free speech that the left doesn’t agree with. The liberals are currently plotting ways to censor Fox News, One American News Network and Newsmax by kicking them off television.
Socialist Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is pushing for a government commission to “rein in” media platforms and journalism that the left doesn’t agree with. A New York Times columnist suggested that the Biden administration should consider creating some sort of big government Orwellian “Reality Czar” who would decide what constitutes disinformation and what doesn’t.
This is frightening Soviet-style governing that has no place in our constitutional Republic. It’s time for President Biden to speak out aggressively against censorship and government attempts to drastically restrict the freedom of speech. We’ll soon find out if the president is truly interested in unity and being president of all the people like he says.
This is all part of the left’s manifesto to mute and reprogram Americans who don’t agree with their radical beliefs. The nightmare of H.R. 1 becoming law could become a reality if Chuck Schumer makes good on his threat to destroy the Senate filibuster. Freedom loving Americans must remain vigilant because these heavy-handed actions are happening every day in real time without a sufficient counterbalance. I implore you to read H.R. 1 and tell your representatives in Congress this bill is an unconstitutional attempt to undermine our sacred freedoms that must be defeated.
• David N. Bossie is president of Citizens United, and he served as deputy campaign manager for Donald J. Trump for President.
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