WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Jim Risch and Mike Crapo (both R-Idaho) joined Senator Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) in introducing legislation to bar federal funds from being used to establish a Disinformation Governance Board at the Department of Homeland Security. Text of the legislation may be found here.
“The Administration has created a ‘Disinformation Board’ in the name of protecting the U.S. from threats. However, the real threat to our democracy is giving unelected bureaucrats the power to chill free speech,” said Risch. “I will continue to defend our Constitutional right to freedom of speech and support legislation to defund acts of government overreach that trample our American principles.”
“Idahoans are rightfully concerned with the Administration’s latest attempts to brazenly establish a federal propaganda panel under the guise of countering disinformation,” said Crapo. “If the Administration truly intended to counter disinformation threats to national security, it would not have established this so-called Disinformation Governance Board under a months-long veil of secrecy. This Orwellian Ministry of Truth effort is an unconstitutional waste of taxpayer dollars and a threat to free speech. The Administration should stop playing games and focus on securing our southern border, addressing skyrocketing inflation and reducing its excessive overreach into the lives of Americans.”
“The Biden administration wants a government agency dedicated to cracking down on what its subjects can say, an idea popular with Orwellian governments everywhere. This board is unconstitutional and un-American—my bill puts a stop to it,” said Cotton.
Additional cosponsors of the legislation include: Senators John Boozman (R-Ark.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Roger Marshall (R-Kansas), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), John Kennedy (R-La.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), and Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.).
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