WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, yesterday took to the Senate floor and called on Congress to defend the right to free speech and freedom of the press. Senator Welch discussed how our First Amendment rights are essential to the well-being of America’s democracy, and highlighted how President Trump has sought to silence or to punish journalists and citizens who speak out about the Trump Administration’s lawless agenda.  

“This is a very important inflection point in our democracy. The First Amendment is being challenged by the executive, who’s unravelling the protections that have been absolute through thick and thin. We all, in this chamber, have to stand up for the First Amendment. And we can have disagreements on the speech that we agree with and that we disagree with, vehemently…But our obligation, as a separate branch of government, as members of the U.S. Senate, is to defend the rights of people to have free speech—whether they agree with our political position or they don’t,” said Senator Welch. 

Watch Senator Welch’s speech below: 

Read the Senator’s remarks as delivered here. 

On Tuesday, Ranking Member Welch addressed far-right false claims of a vast censorship conspiracy during a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution hearing titled “The Censorship Industrial Complex.” Instead of focusing the first Subcommittee hearing on actual and proven instances of censorship by the Trump Administration against journalists, political adversaries, and critics, the Majority focused the first Subcommittee hearing on an alleged—and unproven—censorship enterprise against conservatives.   

Learn more about Senator Welch’s work by visiting his website or by following him on social media. 

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