May 3, 2022
| Rep. Lauren Boebert led 61 of her colleagues in introducing the Protecting Free Speech Act to terminate the Department of Homeland Security’s Disinformation Governance Board, also known as the “Ministry of Truth”, and prohibit any federal funds from being used to establish or carry out the activities of any other entity that is substantially similar. Congresswoman Lauren Boebert (CO-03) stated, “The Department of Homeland Security should not be in the business of censoring free speech on Twitter and Facebook. Following in the steps of Mao and Stalin, Biden’s unconstitutional, dystopian “Department of Propaganda” is trampling on the First Amendment and trying to control what people can and can’t say. Instead of treating Orwell’s book 1984 as a warning, the Left appears to be using it as an outline for their agenda. These efforts are un-American and a direct attack on our freedoms. We the People will not be silent.” House Republican Whip Steve Scalise (LA-01) said, “The Biden Administration’s Soviet-style ‘Ministry of Truth’ is an Orwellian attempt by Washington Democrats to punish anyone who disagrees with their big government socialist agenda by deeming opposing views as disinformation. This isn’t Democrats’ first attempt to limit free speech. For years, Democrats at the highest levels of power pushed the fake Russia collusion hoax to discredit President Trump and his supporters. It was the Biden Administration who labeled concerned parents at school board meetings as ‘domestic terrorists,’ and it was President Biden who caved to teachers union bosses, and kept kids out of the classroom, instead of following the science. I applaud Congresswoman Boebert for leading the charge to prevent taxpayer money from funding President Biden’s radical misinformation board, which would stifle the First Amendment and free speech.” House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (NY-21) stated, “I will always stand up for Americans’ First Amendment right to free speech. As the Biden administration takes one more step towards Communism by creating a Disinformation Governance Board, I am proud to cosponsor legislation to terminate this obstruction to Americans’ free speech and prevent taxpayer dollars from funding any future attack on this Constitutional right.” U.S. Congressman Jody Hice (GA-10) said, “Mayorkas and the DHS are weaponizing taxpayer dollars against the American people instead of using their resources to protect the country. The government should have no power to limit individuals’ Constitutional right to free speech. No government agency should have a say in determining what is and isn’t disinformation.” U.S. Congressman Dan Bishop (NC-09) stated, “A federal ‘Disinformation Board’ has no place in America. Least of all run by the same people who deny there’s a border crisis or peddled the lie that Hunter Biden’s laptop was ‘Russian disinformation.’ What this is about is political retribution. President Biden has already targeted parents as domestic enemies, now he wants to target everyone else who disagrees with him. This ‘Ministry of Truth’ should be defunded immediately, proud to join Rep. Boebert in this effort.” U.S. Congressman Warren Davidson (OH-08) said, “We live in America—a country founded on freedom and values of public discourse. We, the people, have the moral compass to determine what freedom looks like in this country. It is not the responsibility or right of any government entity to determine what is considered “disinformation” and control the narrative of truth. I am proud to join Rep. Boebert in the fight to preserve this freedom. We must not let an administration so power-hungry threaten the values that make us great.” U.S. Congressman Chip Roy (TX-21) stated, “DHS has no business policing speech and acting as an arbiter of truth — especially when the secretary is actively spreading the outright, demonstrable lie that he has operational control of the southern border. Not one dime of taxpayer money should go to this unconstitutional farce.” U.S. Congressman Ralph Norman (SC-05) said, “Democrats’ fixation on “disinformation” has shifted from gimmicky messaging intended to discredit their critics to a bona fide arm of federal bureaucracy set to censor information damaging to their political movement. Secretary Mayorkas cannot seem to handle our border crisis, why trust him to allow the truth about Hunter Biden be reported with interference?” U.S. Congressman Madison Cawthorn (NC-11) stated, “The Biden Administration has embraced an Orwellian mentality to stifle dissent in the wake of their failing narrative. They want to redefine truth because they can’t handle the truth. Joe Biden’s assault on the foundational First Amendment principles our nation was founded on are outrageously disturbing. I’m proud to join Congresswoman Boebert in defending free speech and gutting Joe Biden’s ‘Ministry of Truth.’” U.S. Congressman Matt Gaetz (FL-01) said, “The Biden Administration been on a corrupt crusade to censor the free speech of their adversaries. Their latest attempt at institutionalizing censorship is the creation of the DHS ‘Disinformation Governance Board,’ an Orwellian scheme to make Biden’s Ministry of Truth a reality. I’m joining Rep. Lauren Boebert’s Protecting Free Speech Act as an original co-sponsor to prevent future propaganda arms, sanctioned by the U.S. government, from being created.” U.S. Congressman Louie Gohmert (TX-01) stated, “Biden’s Orwellian Ministry of Truth is an assault on our most basic Founding principles and must be stopped. Freedom and liberty cannot survive in our country if we have a biased, political “disinformation governance board” deciding what is true in society. To make matters worse, the individual appointed as executive director of the board has continually spread misinformation and propaganda herself. Once again, it appears the only thing Orwell got wrong was the year.” U.S. Congressman Byron Donalds (FL-19) said, “The Biden administration creating the Disinformation Governance Board and empowering a taxpayer funded agency to silence Americans into submission is an Orwellian-style attack on our constitutional republic,” said Rep. Donalds. “The Democrats’ calculated attempt to control the conception of truth and police free speech cannot continue. I firmly support Rep. Boebert’s Protecting Free Speech Act to protect the principles of individual liberty in which the United States was founded upon.” U.S. Congressman Paul Gosar (AZ-04) stated, “All Americans should be deeply troubled by Mr. Biden’s decision to create the Disinformation Governance Board. The creation of this “Truth Ministry” is a well-known communist practice of having the regime “tell” the people what the “truth” is. In reality, it is propaganda for the regime and the real truth will be labeled a lie or be deemed subversive. We saw this with two years of COVID lies. We saw this with the Hunter Biden laptop lies. We saw this with the Russia collusion hoax. We see this with inflation, with Joe Biden and the Democrats blaming everyone but themselves. And we continue to see it with the 2020 election lies. We used to live in a free society where differing opinions were allowed. This latest effort is to stop all dissent.” U.S. Congressman Greg Steube (FL-17) said, “It’s very simple: The Department of Homeland Security is tasked with securing our homeland. As this administration continues to allow illegal immigration to overwhelm our communities, it is evident they are failing at their sole duty. Yet they seemingly have the time, resources, and manpower to create a Disinformation Board. I’m glad to cosponsor critical legislation that will terminate DHS’s Disinformation Board and put a stop to this administration’s dangerous attempts to limit free speech.” U.S. Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar (FL-27) stated, “I represent Miami, home to one of the largest exile communities in the country. Many of my constituents – Cubans, Nicaraguans, Venezuelans, etc. – fled abusive governments that censor and silence the speech of those who dare to speak their mind. This move by the Biden Administration is straight out of the tyrant’s playbook. Let me be clear: the federal government should never be allowed to determine what is and is not true.” CPAC Chairman Matt Schlapp said, “It is alarming that a President would believe his administration can determine what is truth. The whole purpose of representational democracy is for people to work out their differences through the political process for the betterment of all. It is dangerous to use government to dictate “truth.” Empowering a law enforcement arm of government with this power is what dictators do. CPAC stands with Representative Boebert and fellow conservatives in Congress who are calling on this new censorship department to be terminated before it even gets off the ground. All Americans, not just conservatives, who believe in the First Amendment, should stand with Rep. Boebert and call for an end to overt government censorship.” FreedomWorks President Adam Brandon stated, “The Disinformation Governance Board board is yet another thinly veiled attempt from the Left to suppress free speech. ‘Disinformation’ is merely the catch-all term they’ve adopted to label speech with which they don’t agree. Rep. Lauren Boebert’s Protecting Free Speech Act would terminate the Biden Administration’s ‘Ministry of Truth’ and defend Americans’ First Amendment rights.” Heritage Action Vice President Garrett Bess said, “Once again, the Biden Administration is ignoring the safety and security of the American people. Rather than focusing on stopping illegal immigration, drug and human trafficking, and cartel operations, President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas are creating an Orwellian-style Disinformation Governance Board to go after anyone who may disagree with their policies. Fortunately, Congresswoman Boebert has taken action to root out this farce by introducing legislation to terminate the board and prohibit funding from going towards similar flawed efforts.” Background: On April 21st, former President Obama gave a speech at Stanford University stating that Social Media censors don’t go far enough, calling for further government intervention in order to “diminish disinformation”. On April 25th, Elon Musk bought Twitter and promised to end the censorship and restore free speech on this social media platform. On April 27th, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Alejandro Mayorkas, testified before Congress that DHS created a “Disinformation Governance Board” to combat misinformation ahead of the 2022 midterms. Secretary Mayorkas refused to give many details about the new entity but stated that the Executive Director would be Nina Jankowicz, a Russia hoax espousing radical who is on video singing and asking who she needs to have sex with to become famous and powerful. When asked about the Department on Fox News Sunday, Secretary Mayorkas refused to answer whether or not the Steele Dossier would be considered disinformation. In contrast, Jankowicz previously referred to the Hunter Biden laptop as a “Trump campaign product” used for disinformation. Nina Jankowicz also dismissed scientists who claimed COVID-19 could have emerged from a Wuhan lab as disinformation. Finally, Jankowicz recently stated that she “shudders to think about” the additional free speech that will occur on Twitter now that Elon Musk has purchased the platform. 61 Members of Congress joined Congresswoman Boebert in introducing her Protecting Free Speech Act including: Minority Whip Steve Scalise, Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, House Freedom Caucus Chairman Scott Perry, RSC Chairman Jim Banks, Rick W. Allen, Andy Biggs, Dan Bishop, Ken Buck, Ted Budd, Kat Cammack, Madison Cawthorn, Warren Davidson, Jeff Duncan, Byron Donalds, Tom Emmer, Michelle Fischbach, Chuck Fleischmann, Scott Franklin, Matt Gaetz, Louie Gohmert, Lance Gooden, Paul Gosar, Diana Harshbarger, Vicky Hartzler, Kevin Hern, Jody Hice, Clay Higgins, Darrell Issa, Mike Johnson, Jim Jordan, Mike Kelly, Doug Lamborn, Debbie Lesko, Billy Long, Tracy Mann, Thomas Massie, Lisa McClain, David McKinley, Carol D. Miller, Mary Miller, John Moolenaar, Alex Mooney, Barry Moore, Greg Murphy, Troy Nehls, Ralph Norman, Jay Obernolte, August Pfluger, Bill Posey, Guy Reschenthaler, Chip Roy, María Elvira Salazar, Mike Simpson, Jason Smith, Victoria Spartz, Greg Steube, Chris Stewart, Tom Tiffany, Jeff Van Drew, Jackie Walorski, and Lee Zeldin Organizations supporting Congresswoman Boebert’s bill include: the American Conservative Union, Americans for Limited Government, Citizens for Renewing America, Club for Growth, FreedomWorks, Heritage Action and the Tea Party Patriots Action. The full text of Rep. Boebert’s Protecting Free Speech Act is available here. |
